Sarah Roberts is of the school that believes in starting from the bottom and learning your craft by putting in long hours and trying your hand at everything. Even with a BA Honours in Drama from Natal University and an MA in Modern Theatre from Cardiff University, she was still prepared to scrub the stage, launder and stitch costumes, brush wigs, build props… whatever it takes. Theatre has so many disciplines it is essential to learn all you can. Nothing too big or too small, learning is the thing.

This philosophy came from not knowing precisely what she was best at. By doing it all her true talent bubbled to the surface until she was recognised as one of the top set and costume designers in the country. Armed with all the tools of theatre, she scratches around in the heads of directors, searches through books, collects post cards, doodles, she walks, paces, conjures her muses. Arriving at either a costume or set-design is an intense process, but it is what drives her.

She has been so prolific in her career, it is hard to imagine she has much time left in the day, but Sarah has a bent for academia where she is equally prolific, lecturing and publishing papers. She is presently an associate professor in Drama at Wits University.

“…Everybody with a qualification thinks that on day one they can get a job – they can’t…”

interviews