About Me…
The youngest daughter of Paul Winstanley, a writer and political activist (who once volunteered onboard the Greenpeace ship the Sirius) and artist/art therapist Maureen Bocking, I was born in Eindhoven but grew up in Islington; attending a variety of schools in north London.
At age 10 I began attending the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, which specialised in creating drama through improvisation. Acting roles soon followed, and I left school at 16 to play Cathy Wickes in Phil Redmond’s ground-breaking drama series, Going Out, after which I became a professional actor. A comprehensive list of my acting work can be found on the IMDb website.
On a whim, in 1991, I began weekend-volunteering in the ape house at London Zoo. Having always loved apes, I also joined the International Primate Protection League UK. Among various projects for IPPL-UK, I headed a campaign I called Don’t Say Cheese with Chimpanzees, which aimed to stop photographers in Spain and Tenerife from using baby chimpanzees as props. When, after five years, I knew I was going to leave the zoo I decided I should write about the unique experience I had had. My play, Keepers was the result. Keepers was picked up and produced by Hampstead Theatre.
In the early 2000s, I stepped back from acting and writing to raise my daughter, and learn sign language, returning to writing ten years later to complete a commission from Soho Theatre, for my play Edging Gently Forwards.
In 2017, I completed eleven years of training to qualify as a freelance BSL interpreter, having been inspired to learn sign language after meeting Marli Matlin on the set of Walker in Nicaragua twenty years earlier. This freelance work allows me time to be creative. I specialise in interpreting in medical, and ante natal settings. To date I have interpreted three births for deaf parents - the first during the COVID lockdown. See the NRCPD website for my interpreter credentials.
As well as writer, I was associate producer on Broken Water. I also regularly provide feedback and dramaturgy services.
