Rachel completed her WRoCAH-funded PhD at the University of Sheffield in 2021. Her thesis examined the history of the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent as the first permanent theatre-in-the-round and its establishment in the industrial area of North Staffordshire by Stephen Joseph and Peter Cheeseman. Since completing her thesis, Rachel has been working as a freelance theatre historian and oral history specialist. Her monograph ‘Pioneering Theatre-in-the-Round: The Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent 1962-1986’ will be published by Bloomsbury in 2025.