Sarah Mann was a dresser at the Theatre Royal Brighton when she was 16 and was so inspired by the theatrical world she made it her career.

She ended up at the venue when she had to do a week's work experience from school. She enjoyed it so much she went back again every time they needed a dresser.

These days the 38-year-old, of Somerhill Avenue, Hove, heads a drama school and theatre company.

She said: "It was a brilliant way to get a view into the theatrical world and very exciting at that age.

"I found myself transfixed at the side of the stage all the way through - apart from when I had to get someone dressed.

"The Theatre Royal is one of the most beautiful theatres I have ever been in. Its size is perfect - not too big - and it just has this lovely atmosphere. It definitely inspired me to do more with drama."

Ms Mann dressed many stars but her most vivid memory was of dressing the actor Jimmy Edwards in a 1985 show of Wife Begins At Forty with Lisa Goddard.

She said: "He liked a drink and he used to send me out before every show with a nod and a wink to purchase him a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label.

"This he used to drink religiously throughout the show with apparently no ill-effects. However, disaster came on matinee day when between shows he asked me to fetch him another bottle.

"Needless to say the double whammy knocked him for six and he forgot to go on and I had to push him staggering from the wings. He started speaking but unfortunately it was the wrong scene and the wrong words, causing the other actors to do much improvisation to get the plot back on track.

"The audience must have been a little confused as when he came on for the second time, the scene was pretty much repeated."

Ms Mann headed straight to drama school after her A-levels and is now director at the London Drama School and Incisor Theatre Company, which takes shows to Edinburgh Festival and puts on an annual play in St Anne's Well Gardens, Hove.