She was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, to Sir Peter Venables, first vice-chancellor of the University of Aston and a founder of the Open University, and Ethel Howell, an educational psychologist who chaired the Marriage Guidance Council.
[2] She then read drama at Manchester University, gaining a first-class degree, and taught there for three years after graduating.
[4] From 1981 to 1992, she was artistic director at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield,[4] where she had a role in the early careers of Tim Albery, Stephen Daldry and Steven Pimlott.
[2] She was appointed Director of Education at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1999, a post which she held until her death.
One of her last projects was a production of Pericles with the homeless people's theatre company, Cardboard Citizens.