Former War Horse actor and puppeteer Laura Cubitt is home for Christmas.
The Warwickshire-born performer and movement director is juggling two roles at the RSC鈥檚 Swan Theatre this season.
In Thomas Dekker鈥檚 Elizabethan comedy The Shoemaker鈥檚 Holiday, she is a seamstress, who has no lines 鈥渂ut farts a lot鈥.
And in Tom Morton-Smith鈥檚 major new play Oppenheimer, she plays a New York intellectual in 1930s Manhattan.
鈥淪orry about the wig,鈥 she says in between rehearsals for The Shoemaker鈥檚 Holiday sipping herbal tea, banana in hand.
The wig in question is an auburn, tightly-curled, dishevelled bun, disguising her long bleach-blonde hair.
鈥淚n London we were rehearsing the Shoemaker鈥檚 .
鈥淪ome days I was hopping between playing a grubby maid and an intellectual psychologist and socialite attending cocktail parties in 1930s Manhattan.
鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 be more different.鈥
It is Laura鈥檚 first professional job at the RSC. She grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon where she attended The Willows Church of England Primary School and Stratford Girls鈥 Grammar School.
Laura, who used to work as a barmaid at The Dirty Duck opposite the RSC, says: 鈥淚n The Shoemaker鈥檚 Holiday I am the lowliest of the low. I am a maid to Margary Eyre, who is the wife of the shoemaker. She鈥檚 a sort of invented character and doesn鈥檛 have any lines but she does fart a lot. I love hanging out with the shoemakers 鈥 they are the cool kids. The whole shoemakers lot are a rumbustious crowd 鈥 they all live and work together in a little micro-climate of society.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a real ensemble piece and deals with some burning social questions about society and class.
鈥淚t was set in 1599, but it鈥檚 so amazingly relevant. It鈥檚 just so modern in its tone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be really exciting to put in front of an audience, more so than anything else I鈥檝e been in.
鈥淚 cannot wait to see how it goes down. and beautiful.鈥
Laura is also playing Ruth Sherman Tolman in Oppenheimer, which opens at The Swan on January 15.
She was one of the three women closest to enigmatic American physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist often described as the father of the atomic bomb.
He married journalist and botanist Kitty Harrison in 1940; and continued a passionate love affair with psychiatrist Jean Tatlock.
Ruth was ten years older than Oppenheimer and married to another Manhattan Project scientist.
She was a psychologist, author and lecturer.
鈥淩uth had known Oppenheimer for years and years.
鈥淭hey became very close and have a relationship.
鈥淚n the play he goes to her as a professional psychologist to ask for help.
鈥淪he is an amazingly intelligent woman and a forerunner of women in psychology. She worked for the CIA.
鈥淎ll of the women in Oppenheimer are phenomenal achievers and highly intellectual in their own right.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time I have acted in a play based on real people.
鈥淭he research process was just fascinating. We all got really motivated by just scratching the surface of these lives.
鈥淭hey were all socially motivated and learning about physics.
鈥淲e all did what felt like a physics GCSE. It鈥檚 fascinating and I am really keen to do something else science-based.鈥
In the summer Laura was in the National Theatre鈥檚 family production of Elephantom about a ghost elephant.
One of her biggest jobs to date was in , which transferred to the West End after two critically acclaimed sell-out seasons at the National Theatre.
She was an actor and the puppeteer in charge of Joey鈥檚 hind legs and tail and associate movement director for the Berlin production of War Horse.
She said: 鈥淚 was trained by the Handspring Puppet Company. We had a wonderful level of experience and had an amazing time. It was huge at the National but when War Horse transferred none of us knew how it would go. It was good training in a big ensemble and I鈥檝e worked with people from there since.鈥
The Hull University graduate is thrilled to be working at the RSC.
鈥淎 lot of my friends work in the theatre.
鈥淲hen I was a teenager I used to come to the RSC all the time.
鈥淚 would get a 拢5 standing ticket. I saw so many productions,鈥 she says.
鈥淚 really enjoyed growing up in Stratford. I had a really nice group of friends at school and did lots of sport.
鈥淚 went to Hadland School of Dance and Drama since I was three and did lots of ballet.
鈥淭hat was a really good training for getting into theatre. One of my teachers there put me in for The National Theatre when I was 15.
鈥淢y parents and school friends have all booked to come to The Shoemaker鈥檚 Holiday, as everyone is back for Christmas.
鈥淢ost people say: 鈥楢re you playing an elf?鈥 It will feel quite Christmassy 鈥 a lot of the themes are about generosity and the Christmas spirit.鈥
* The Shoemaker鈥檚 Holiday runs until March 7, 2015. Oppenheimer runs from January 15 - March 7, 2015. Ring 0844 800 1110 or
