Sarah Desmond, 1992 - 1994
09 October 2009
After Sarah’s degree at Queen Mary and Westfield and three years at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, she graduated at the age of twenty four and has been in the acting profession ever since. She has worked in the theatre – including a UK tour of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, ‘Volpone’ at the Manchester Royal Exchange, ‘Blithe Spirit’ at the English Theatre of Frankfurt and ‘Perfect Wedding’ in The English Theatre of Vienna. Sarah describes these as wonderful times! For more information you can visit her website at www.sarahdesmond.com.
Sarah has also done a lot of travelling, and in 2008 won a writing competition in ‘Marie Claire’ magazine and went to Malawi for a week to oversee water projects in remote communities. Sarah describes this as the most amazing experience of her life. She took her sister Josephine, as Virginia was working in Budapest at the time on the Grand Prix. They flew to Malawi and were driven in a very rickety van through the wonderful red landscapes. They went to four remote villages over three days and saw how ‘World Vision’ and ‘Volvic Water’ were working together to bring fresh water to local people. The first village they visited had no fresh water – the people drank out of a hole in the ground, a place where animals bathed and went to the toilet. Sarah describes it as saddening to see young children with swollen bellies and hear of how they were frequently dying of Malaria. Sarah says that ‘despite this the people were incredible – so happy and welcoming. They put on a play for us and sang and danced for us. It was so moving it brought tears to my eyes.’ The other three villages had slightly improved conditions – some had education, a health centre, and the last village they saw was getting its’ first pipe line to bring water to different parts of the community. All things we take for granted! Their idea of a school was a stark room, a black board and sometimes, but not always, desks for the children – basic in a way we could never imagine.
At the end of the week they flew in tiny planes to ‘Monkey Bay’ and were put up in a luxury safari retreat on the side of Lake Malawi. Sarah comments ‘It felt very strange staying in such luxury after what we had experienced - it did not feel quite comfortable if you know what I mean! However the scenery was stunning, and having monkeys and gibbons on your roof made me feel in the heart of Africa.’
Now Sarah is back in London, sharing a house with her two sisters and her cousin Helen, so a house full of Desmond girls! Sarah has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles this year, brushing up on her craft and working on screen and film acting techniques.