Jesse Meadows

There’s so much I could say about being a working mother in the arts, but for now I’ll say this… visibility is key. It feels vulnerable to talk about, especially when there’s a fear it might affect employability. But I wish I’d had more role models, more examples of people doing it, so I could believe I could do it. So, here we are. Big up these wonderful Mamas of Mog’s Christmas 😻 First pic: Company Manager @tanith.ilsley , performer @jessemeadows_ , actor-musician/MD @daniellaagredopiper with our offspring, at the pub (yes, check us all out at the pub! 🍻) Second pic: Director @helenamiddletondirects in the audience for press night with her son, partner and parents - and my daughter, partner and parents too. Our kids ranged from 5 months to 6 years old. We were all working away from home for varying lengths of time (10 days, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 7 weeks). Here’s how we did it. ✨ Five-month-old Nico was in the room with us every day throughout rehearsals. I actually highly recommend a show baby every time. An emotional boost for all. He could be fed when needed and passed around when needed. Dani also had her own family dressing room for naps and feeds, and her partner Ollie was welcomed in the company. ✨ The other kids were welcomed backstage when needed. Tan made a brilliant list of local, kid-friendly things to do. And grandparents helped us all. ✨ We found digs that worked for our family setups and were financially supported to enable extra childcare and travel. This meant my partner and daughter could stay up with me most of the time. ✨ @royalderngate and @thewardrobeensemble were flexible, accommodating and genuinely supportive - as producers, director, company and venue. We could still attend a school visit, a carol concert, leave to care for a sick child, and breastfeed when needed. A tiny insight into working parents in theatre. Ps the producer and designer are also mums! A small amount of flexibility goes a long way in making it feel possible and that bit easier. Let’s normalise it. 💛 #mothersintheatre #motherhood #FamilyTheatre #theatremums #WorkingMum

What a treat to end 2025 with this very special show ❄️😸❄️ Performing family theatre at this time of year feels like pure magic - kids buzzing, multiple generations sitting side by side, and stories that really land. Feeling very grateful to have got to tell this one again and again, made even more special by an incredible team of legends. A total joy on and off stage. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Mog's Christmas! Thank you to everyone who's been part of the 3yr Mog journey! I loved giving her a festive glow up! (And having only Christmas Day off suited me just fine 😂.) Mega thanks to all the wonderful staff at @royalderngate and especially @remy_mg_ for creating such a supportive, accommodating, joyful place - especially with some kids in tow 💛 #MogsChristmas #FamilyTheatre #MogTheForgetfulCat #royalandderngate

'Mog's Christmas' @royalderngate Dec 2025 @thewardrobeensemble I love performing Christmas shows! An absolute joy to have reworked Mog for its festive outing. A gorgeous team and a wonderful venue. Bring on the rest of the run! Dir @helenamiddletondirects Cast @the_tipplemouse @faye_lord @heatherporte @aimeelou_bevan @daniellaagredopiper Ben Vardy Composer @joeyhicky Movement @catgiles Design @laurajanemcewen Lighting Lucia Roldan Sanchez Sound @bethduke_ Produced by @royalderngate #FamilyTheatre #christmasshow #northampton #MogsChristmas ❄️🌲😸🌲❄️

Mog (and motherhood) This show's a special one! What a joy to revisit Judith Kerr's beloved world this week at the gorgeous Southbank Centre. Due to covid delays, by the time we finally went into rehearsals in 2022, I suddenly had an 11-week-old baby. Since then, my daughter has been along for the ride of this show - alongside the rollercoaster of me figuring out how to navigate this industry as a mother. Big up @royalandderngate for supporting me through that journey of firsts and unknowns. Baby Meadows got her own dressing room, her own venue pass, and was first at the pub every day after rehearsals with my partner - who was her main carer for seven weeks on an amazing paternity leave (that all dads should have). We’ll be back there this Christmas! 🎄 Big love to @thewardrobeensemble (her theatre aunties and uncles) for supporting me on that first tour and pouring so much love into M - she turned 1 on the first day of tour at @bristololdvic and 18 months when we finished. Unsurprisingly, her first word was CAT. 🐾 She often came on the road, but I quickly found it was easier to leave her at home. I cherished the unbroken sleep, but couldn’t wait to be reunited. Big up to my partner and parents for holding the fort so I could be away. We were then on the road as a family for two months - it was an insane childcare juggle but I loved having her in warm-ups and seeing her with her theatre family. She’s now 3½, and the juggling act is still real. I still regularly spend up to six nights away. It doesn’t get easier, but it has become our norm — and I feel so lucky to have made shows she can come and see (she watched Mog 7 times this week!) We were joined at @southbankcentre by wonderful new cast member @daniellaagredopiper and her 4-month-old - both of us given ‘childcare’ dressing rooms so our little ones could be backstage all week. It made all the difference. Here’s to all the working mums in theatre where logistics make up 90% of parenting. Here’s to solidarity, visibility, and making it all feel a bit easier. 💛 😺 👉 Swipe to see the beginning of the journey. Swipe again for the middle... #WorkingMum #TheatreMum #TheatreLife #ActorLife

👋 Better late than never! As I approach 15 years of working professionally in the theatre industry, I’m starting this little corner of the internet (got locked out of my last corner!) to gather fragments of the work I’ve been part of - past, present, and in motion - and to celebrate the wonderful collaborators I have the joy to work with. Kicking things off with 'Mog: The Forgetful Cat' which we @thewardrobeensemble finally created in 2022, toured in 2023, are bringing to London @southbankcentre next week and then turning into Mog’s Christmas for @royalderngate next month! A project close to my heart as my daughter was less than 3 months old when we started rehearsals! 📷 @manuelharlanphotography #TheatreMaker #PerformerLife #FamilyTheatre #MogTheForgetfulCat #TheWardrobeEnsemble #UKTheatre