One of the joys of being in a city such as Liverpool is the abundance of theatres that cater for all tastes and for all actors wishing to tackle the well-trodden boards and add their names to the list of watched and admired artists.

One such aspiring actor is Rio Matchett from the University of Liverpool. The 21 year old from Nottingham came to the city four years ago to study  and has taken the city very much to her heart. Not only has she been part of some outstanding productions that have taken place in the University but also has spread her growing reputation into the city itself with contributions on the other side of the curtain with stage management duties in the excellent How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Assistant Director in Igor Memic’s Happy at the Lantern Theatre and recently as Production Unit Manager at the Epstein Theatre for Neil Innes’ and Vivian Stanshall’s  tremendous night out of How Nice! To be in England!

Catching up with anybody who keeps themselves this busy is a daunting task but to get hold of an actor with such credentials already to her name is one of those moment s to be savoured.  Taking in the October sunshine by St. Luke’s Church, I get to grips with Miss Matchett’s love of theatre.

You have been living in Liverpool for a while now?

“I have, four years now and the city has been very good to me.”

What would you say your relationship with Liverpool is? 

“I feel that Liverpool is in my blood, my family… my dad’s side of the family is from Liverpool and having moved around a little when I was growing up, this was the first place where I felt absolutely at home. There is so much going on here, so much that you can find your roots here and the people are so amazing. This is where I want to be.”

Obviously you are studying hard at the University of Liverpool but your acting prowess is going before you, what drove you into the acting world?

“For as long as I can remember I have loved performing, I think there is something so exciting… I mean it’s a childish drive really. Its people that never grow out of playing dress up I think. It is always something that I have done to a point of where it has become who I am. I can’t imagine my life without theatre because it fulfils so many human needs and for me it covers my existence.”

What was your first memory of being on the stage?

“Ha! There are two that stick out for me, my very first part, I was three and I was the donkey in the school nativity and I remember being terrified of the girl playing Mary as she was a lot older than me and I was terrified that she was actually going to sit on me and that was my main fear (laughs) and then when I was seven and being the somewhat precocious child that I was, I wrote and directed a Greek tragedy, except that it was also a musical because obviously those two mediums complement each other so well and I think that was when I fell in love with the theatre.”

 Do you have any early memories of going to the theatre; was there a particular play that stood out for you at the time?        

“I remember my parents taking me to see plays quite a lot and we had friends who were in the English National Ballet so I remember going to watch them perform and being so enchanted by the stage. It’s a magical place, it’s a place where the rules don’t apply, the rules that we have to spend the rest of our lives in and why would you not want to be in a world where anything can happen.”

How has being a student affected anything you have done towards your chosen career?

“I have an absolute chronic need to keep busy and I honestly feel that the more I do, the more I pack my life, then it’s the higher I perform, it’s just who I am and it’s such an honour to be working with all these different people and for them to actually care about my opinion on things that I love every minute of what I do. It’s such a pleasure and I am learning so much from those people every day, whether that’s in a position of working with them or working under them, you can learn from anybody and everybody.”

You were recently at the newly refurbished Epstein Theatre working alongside the great Neil Innes, Is there an abiding memory you will take from that experience?            

“(Laughs) yes, but it’s not one I think I should share. Yes it was my first time operating a stage curtain and I nearly killed Neil Innes. Yeah I very nearly dropped it on him and that could have been the end of my career right there, I was told it added to the comic effect of the show but I will try not to repeat that one.”

Obviously theatre is your passion, how do you see Liverpool for his theatre scene?

“I think regional theatre in itself is so important because theatre is about people and Liverpool is full of the most interesting and varied people. Everybody has a story and I think there is such a variety of theatre spaces here and performance opportunities for everybody in Liverpool. It has got such a wonderful history as well with people such as Willy Russell who is a big inspiration of mine right up to Gemma Bodinetz of the Everyman/ Playhouse Theatre who is my hero. She is amazing! The rebuilding of the Everyman Theatre is such an exciting time to be involved in theatre in Liverpool so I count myself very lucky.”      

What would be your ultimate part that you would like to play?

“Oh gosh, I would love to play Cleopatra from Shakespeare. I think she is the fiercest most wonderful woman. I would love to play that part. It is really an underdone play as well. I know we had Antony and Cleopatra here not so long ago but that’s the first time I can remember it being performed. I was unfortunately away when it was on in Liverpool so didn’t get to see it, so sad. I heard very good reviews but I think she is such a complex character as well. There is something about Cleopatra that every woman can identify within herself and she’s not ashamed of the quality she sees in herself and there are parts of her that every woman wishes they could be. That is what you want as an actor, you want something that people care about; you want to play a part that people can feel.”

 Aside from the classics is there a play that really springs out for you that you would like to be in?

“The Matchbox! The Matchbox that was at the Playhouse this year, it was just incredible piece of new writing, what the Everyman/Playhouse is doing at the moment with new writing is something to be really proud of. Leanne Best in that was just absolutely enchanting, she was just incredible and I can only aspire to ever get near the performance she gave that day, apparently every day according to the reviews that I read.”

How did it feel to be part of the play Happy by Igor Memic which you assisted directing in, which was such a powerful play, completely insane but utterly compelling and a joy to watch?

“Well Igor is a very good friend of mine and an incredibly passionate man, he really eats and sleep theatre and he is developing this concept of immersive surrealism, which is his term, which we explored in Happy and I think it’s very exciting that young blood are coming into theatre and bringing something new. Gemma Bodinetz in her lecture the other day said that, “We must never allow the theatre to become a representation of a dead art form” and I think it is important that we cherish these new writers. It was a very exciting piece and I learned a lot from it and I think it has allowed me to develop my style as a director.”     

Ian D. Hall