Julie Hesmondhalgh and Vicky Featherstone Will Appear in Conversation at The Royal Court Theatre

Award-winning actor Julie Hesmondhalgh – known for her roles in TV shows such as Broadchurch, Happy Valley and Coronation Street, as well as her stage work including God Bless The Child (Royal Court) –and Wit, Mother Courage and Her Children (both Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) – will be in conversation with Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director of The Royal Court Theatre, to discuss the realities of life in today's arts industry, and how to navigate it.

Drawing from her decades of experience on stage and screen, Julie will offer insights on topics such as managing the ups and downs of a career, developing a process that works for you, and looking after mental health. The event will be followed by a Q&A session and a signing of Julie's latest book,  An Actor's Alphabet.

The event is on Saturday 25 November 2023, 11.30am.

Julie Hesmondhalgh was born and brought up in Accrington, Lancashire, and trained at LAMDA. She was a member of Arts Threshold Theatre in London in the 1990s, and is co-founder of the political theatre company Take Back in Manchester, her home city.

She is best known for her award-winning role as Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, a part she played for sixteen years. She has since worked extensively in theatre (Wit, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Greatest Play in the History of the World, There Are No Beginnings), television and film (You & Me, The Pact, Broadchurch, Happy Valley, Black Roses, Doctor Who, Inside No. 9, Catastrophe, Cucumber, Peterloo), and radio, where she is a regular voice on BBC Radio 4.