Photograph by John Kolikis

A PhD was never a dream or ambition for me, and yet here I am, delighted to be a PhD student at Queen Mary University’s School of Drama. Though this was never a plan, all of my interests have fused together: my own heritage and roots, the experience of forced displacement and becoming a refugee as a child, my professional fascination as a journalist with wellbeing, and my love of theatre.

The original intention was to study acting. I had started writing and performing solo pieces and considerd that maybe a theatre MA would be better. But having just written three psychology books, I didn’t want to abandon my research, in fact I wanted to go deeper. Then the MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health at Queen Mary popped up and in seconds my mind was decided. I didn’t have to choose. I could develop my solo theatre practice and my mental health knowledge. The two connected through my research into refugees and mental health, something I had never addressed before, and as it turned out, wanted to continue beyond the MSc.

My research investigates solo theatre artists who like me have a migrant heritage and who themselves may have experienced displacement. This is a practice-based PhD which means in addition to scholarly research and interviews with artists, I will be making one-woman theatre through the lens of my British-born Greek Cypriot heritage. Key themes will be drawn from my survey Attitudes to Mental Health and Wellbeing in UK Greek Cypriots and Greeks.