Maisie Johnson (Corpus Christi 2021) first fell in love with theater at Corpus Christi College Chapel. During Michaelmas 2022, she directed her first play and discovered a passion that has shaped her life ever since. Seven months after graduating, Johnson is leaving her home in Bedfordshire to pursue her dream in London.
“I’m trying my very, very hardest to get a job in the industry,” said Johnson. “Hopefully, I’ll get an ushering job just to begin in the theater world.”
That first production tested her in ways that lit the creative spark and fuels her determination today. The play was Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; the stage was challenging. The Chapel, transected by an aisle, is not designed as a theater. Johnson needed to think differently about the staging.
“Because I had to think so much about space and what movement means when you're acting along a corridor, I’ve got quite a different attitude to space. It's been a real gift to see space differently than everyone else does,” said Johnson.
After Twelfth Night, Johnson continued to direct at Cambridge. In February 2024, her production of The Duchess of Malfi—again in the Chapel—earned critical praise. A Varsity review noted:
“Taking the Corpus Christi Chapel as its stage, The Duchess of Malfi claims this unique space with ease. Directed by Maisie Johnson…using movement, light and sound to construct a strong aesthetic coherence that delivered this fifteenth-century revenge tragedy with a fresh confidence.”
“I was happy with it,” remarked Johnson. “But the audience reaction, more than anything, is what really helps me believe in myself and believe that this is something I can build a career on.”
Her reputation and methods have, for some current University theater-minded students, become part of the Cambridge theater vernacular.
“I’ve left the Cambridge theater scene now. But [current students] who are running shows have told me, ‘I’m doing a Maisie Johnson-style rehearsal audition,’” she smiled.
Her style involves bringing auditioning actors together to try out for roles collectively. This way, Johnson can better assess how they mesh and whether they have the all-important chemistry.
Johnson’s move to London coincides with an unexpected opportunity: the Cambridge American Stage Tour (CAST) production she directed in the fall—Macbeth—was booked for a rare return engagement in London. CAST had completed its annual US tour, performing across the Eastern states, and the team had said their goodbyes, never expecting to reunite.
“This is really unusual. I don’t know of any other CAST productions that have gone to London or anything else after the run,” said Johnson.
For Johnson, the chance to bring the CAST crew back together for one last performance comes at a time of excitement and risk. Since graduating in May 2025, she has been writing theater reviews for local publications and applying for assistant director roles. In a fiercely competitive industry, she stays positive and persistent--writing her own plays and planning her next steps.
“I’m trying to think of ways to meet people there and from there, get a job doing the thing I love and am best at.