Catching up with writer/actress Nicola May-Taylor

“Growing up in London, I wasn’t able to experience much opera but fell in love with it through this project,”

Adjustments, a film written by and starring Nicola May-Taylor is the inaugural project of newly launched If Opera. I caught up with Nicola to find out more about her life, her acting and what inspired her to start writing. 

The film, produced by If Opera and the Lot Productions stars Nicola in the lead role of Maya. Never far from the stage Nicola has a wide range of roles under her belt, however, the film Adjustments is her first foray into writing for screen. 

From the outset Nicola is warm, open and articulate and I begin by asking about her childhood. Did she always know that she was destined for the stage? 

“In school I was a shy child, but also quite inquisitive. I asked a lot of questions and I was a bit goofy as well, so I was always coming up with different scenarios and acting”.

She describes how as a child her imagination became a best friend to her.

“At home we had bunkbeds growing up and I would use them as a stage and act out scenes with my toys and teddy bears.” 

She laughs suddenly, catches herself, and I notice a flash of embarrassment which is both surprising and refreshingly unassuming.

Despite her artistic and vivid imagination, she often talks about being the most reserved member of her confident and outgoing family. 

“My family set me up to become the person I am now. I always got the comment ‘oh she’s such an actress,’ I was always encouraged to perform for the family because I was the youngest and the cutest.” 

From school, she went on to study at Drama Centre London and then found success on the stage. Her acting credits include an impressive variety of productions, including Macbeth, Might Never Happen, The Kilburn Passion and In His Hands, as well as being a part of Rutherford and Son at the National Theatre.  Always the first to support her in everything she does, her family are an incredibly important part of Nicola’s life.

“When I’ve had a bad day at work my sister says, ‘get in your performance mode,’ encouraging me to treat anything challenging as an acting role.” 

We talk at length about the ability of performers to engage their ‘on stage’ persona to protect themselves in real world scenarios and it’s clear that although there is a confident and driven Nicola, there is a also a diffident and more modest persona.

Her ability to act has been the defining drive in her life. When not on the stage, she continues to be creative in everyday life,

“I do think that people who are creative, it doesn’t really leave you, even if you’re doing something else.”

Despite her successes Nicola is not afraid to say that she finds being an actor can be a challenge in ways that many do not realise.

“I’ve been acting for a while, but I’m still trying to break through doors and secure opportunities. Being a black woman in the industry is a huge factor. We don’t always have the option of being offered every female or male role that will be on the table. The industry is definitely changing, but it’s still a big challenge. I know it’s all just about persevering and sticking to it because there are highs and lows to this profession.”

I’m interested to find out what attracted Nicola to writing? She explains that she’s no stranger to expressing herself through pen and paper. A keen diarist and poet from an early age she talks of writing from the safety of her bedroom as a personal form of expression. The security of this private space and knowledge that her words would never see the light of day gave her the chance to hone her skills before unleashing it on the world.

“Writing was a way for me to express the complexities of growing up and gave me an opportunity to work through my inner thoughts which at times could be quite overwhelming.” 

The transition from keen diarist to screenplay writer happened during lockdown. When the pandemic forced theatres to close in March 2020 Nicola found that she was no longer running from audition to audition or working all hours of the day so she had time to think about the direction in which she wanted to take her life. Witnessing the courage of some of her friends who were changing career paths, Nicola saw the pandemic as the perfect time to bring her writing into the spotlight.

“When I started to explore writing it was definitely a push for me to do something that scared me. The pandemic brought many of us some good, it forced people to slow down and try things that we hadn’t had time to explore before”. 

It wasn’t plain sailing for Nicola, doubt was never far from her mind and a desire to write about subjects that many shy away from would make her writing a much bigger challenge.

“It took a lot not to listen to those voices in my head that kept telling me that this was something I shouldn’t pursue.” 

The result of her lockdown writing was the short film, Adjustments. The story explores the destructive nature of grief and the daily struggles of rejoining everyday life whilst still trying to process the loss.

“With coronavirus related deaths being the headline on the news every night, grief was very much a part of all of our lives”. 

Adjustment’s sensitive exploration of grief is only possible due to Nicola’s ability to listen and absorb people’s emotions and complex relationships.

“I think I am an empathetic person, so I can discern the energy in a room. If the room is feeling quite intense, I can sense that, and all those layers of energy and emotions I have tried to incorporate into my writing.” 

Adjustments follows sound engineer Maya on her first day back at work after suffering the loss of her father. Grief is consuming her every thought and action, but her grief, sense of agency and ability to control outcomes in the workplace is changed by her encounter with Melanie, the opera singer. The experience offers Maya the chance to start the journey of acceptance and healing. 

The project is If Opera’s inaugural project and produced in collaboration with The LOT Productions, is directed by Harry Mackrill and features the sublime singing of soprano Nadine Benjamin. Reflecting the vision of  If Opera, the film is a visual representation of some of the changes we feel are needed within the world of opera.

“Adjustments evolved to represent different people that aren’t necessarily seen all the time. Maya is a sound engineer who is female, and also a black woman, and then the element of opera in general – it’s not normal!” 

Nicola was adamant about the importance of opera in this piece from the beginning of this conversation.

“Opera would not be expected, but also having the singer be a black woman is incredibly impactful.”

Nicola explains that this project is a springboard into exploring areas of our lives that we may prefer to ignore and embodies the very ethos that If Opera and Nicola share – art should be inclusive and enjoyed by all.

“Growing up in London, I wasn’t able to experience much opera but fell in love with it through this project,”

Nicola says,

“I came to appreciate the art form and how beautiful it is. Writing the film has introduced me to opera in a way I hadn’t been before.”

It is interesting to hear this ‘conversion’ because opera is really just a sideline to the central intent of the film and perhaps it is time that opera inserted itself into general life, as opposed to the industry only ever trying to bring people into our world?

Nicola has continued to explore the genre, listening to it when she’s studying and she tells me that she is constantly blown away by the passion and emotion. “Music has always had the power to move people. I think it penetrates deeply when it comes to things like grief and mental health because it can be so healing and super-powerful.” 

The success of Adjustments is only the beginning of this new stage of Nicola’s career. Having written another short film alongside Adjustments she hopes to be able to continue to create accessible art. She has already started auditioning again and has her eyes on expanding her repertoire in front of as well as behind the camera. “I am writing and developing a play at the moment and just dabbling around a bit more. The experience of doing screen was incredible, I really enjoyed it, so I feel like I would love to do more screen acting and of course more writing. The stage is my first love though because it’s where I started.” 

Nicola has made plans to join us in the summer to experience If Opera performances at Belcombe Court and hopes her love for opera continues to be nourished.  As a rising star who, like If Opera, is determined to open doors for those who are underrepresented in the arts, she’s ready to take the world by storm.

You can watch Adjustments for free on this website.