Emma Rice is the joint artistic director and one of the guiding lights of Kneehigh Theatre. The innovative Cornwall theatre group organises itself as a close-knit, almost familial unit and has won acclaim for its productions of A Matter Of Life And Death and Brief Encounter (for which Rice, as director, was nominated for an Olivier award).

She is director of The Red Shoes, a new take on the story made famous by the Powell and Pressburger movie, which will be at Chichester Minerva Theatre from November 2 to November 6. Call 01243 781312 for tickets.

Is there a performer who made you think, “I want to do that?”

Imelda Staunton did a lot of work at Nottingham Playhouse when I was growing up. She was young, funny, smart, natural and incredibly brilliant. I was, and still am, in awe of her. She refuses to be put in a box or defined by anything except the diverse work she chooses to do.

Do you remember the first record you bought – what was it, and where did you buy it?

Ian Dury, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.

I bought it from a little shop called Select-a-Disc in Hockley, Nottingham. Dury was irreverent and exotic and it had the words “two fat ladies” in it.

I don’t think I really understood it, but was trying to look cooler and older than I really was.

Tell us about any guilty pleasures lurking in your CD or film collections – something you know is a bit naff but you can’t help yourself.

The Bee Gees and The Muppets’ Christmas Carol.

Do you have a favourite film? And why?

A little known film called Baghdad Café – it’s about a friendship between a black American woman and a Bavarian woman. It’s magical, curious and tender and explores how we can gently change and find magic in our lives.

A timeless, witty and sexy feminist fairytale.

Is there a TV programme you couldn’t live without?

Mad Men.

And how about a favourite album?

Buena Vista Social Club, because there isn’t a false note in it. It makes me feel like dancing, makes me feel sunshine on my face and connects me to another world and another generation. It’s like warm, delicious golden syrup for the ear!

Is there a song or individual piece of music you always come back to?

I Wish I Knew How It Feels To Be Free by Nina Simone. Because it’s the ultimate freedom song, sung by the ultimate voice of joy, talent and defiance.

What are you reading at the moment?

The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood.

< Do you have a favourite book?

Sense And Sensibility. It’s got brilliant female characters and Jane Austen is a top bird herself. She observes humanity with such wit and wisdom and explores female repression, hysteria and hope brilliantly. My hero!

Is there a live music or theatre experience that stays in your memory?

As a young woman I went to Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday party at Wembley. Mandela was still imprisoned at the time and the energy, passion and anger of this event was incredible and stays with me to this day. I also got to see some brilliant bands including Stevie Wonder, George Michael, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and a previously unseen Tracy Chapman. Truly the stuff of history.

Tell us how you went about adapting Anna Maria Murphy’s poetry for the stage.

We started the process together working on the themes and structure of the story. Anna then went away to write a collection of poetry, which was then fed into the process. It’s hard to describe process in a paragraph, but simply, we created the world of The Red Shoes together.

And am I right in saying you wanted to direct The Red Shoes without having seen Powell and Pressburger’s much-loved fim?

Yes. I was asked what I wanted to direct, opened my mouth and out came the words “The Red Shoes”. It was only after that moment of sheer instinct that I went to find the film and the fairy story. The film was alarming because it was operatic and epic, but the fairy story was so resonant and deeply familiar that it was like finding myself.

And have you modified the ending?

Yes. In every version of the story I found, the girl is either killed or at best put into servitude. I always knew my girl wouldn’t be punished for her obsessions and desires – she would find a future on her own terms. And that, reader, is what I did.