I'm loving it

Nov 5 2008 By Mark Goode, Surrey Herald

A larger than life woman who originally planned to be a singer is starring as a songstress in the Rose Theatre Kingston's first homegrown production.

Ella Smith, who lives in Alexandra Palace, North London, plays Jacquenetta in Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost, which runs at the theatre until November 15.

She was originally training to be an opera singer but was told to take two years off from singing so her voice could mature, so she joined an acting school just for fun.Three years later at the age of 21 she found herself working for the BBC after winning a prestigious award which landed her with six months of radio plays on Radio 4.

Ella says: "I was training at the Guild Hall, in London and then I was going to do more opera training but I was advised to take two years out. I had always enjoyed acting so I thought I would give it a go, and it started from there.

"I don't regret it because opera is more like military training, and I didn't really want to take five hours out of every day doing scales. I get quite a lot of singing parts in plays so I get the best of both worlds."

After six months at the BBC, Ella started getting jobs in television and theatre, including a Channel 4 series Cape Wrath, and an ITV comedy series about estate agents called Sold.

Among numerous theatre plays she landed the lead in a play called Fat Pig this year about an office worker who falls in love with a large girl.

Ella says she hopes to one day get into film acting, but said her true love lies in radio acting.

She adds: "Radio is the most fun to work on than any other medium and I enjoy it more than film and theatre.

"I would definitely be happy for the rest of my career because it is very free and creative, and you play a lot of roles and meet a lot of people."

Love's Labours Lost is one of Shakespeare's earlier plays, about four noblemen who swear to devote themselves to study for three years until four French ladies visit, which sees them try for their hearts.

* For tickets and information, call 0871 230 1552 or visit www.rosetheatrekingston.org.