A YOUNG theatre director from North Yorkshire is clearly on the right lines. Anne Tipton, from Scruton, has won a £10,000 bursary which will enable her to spend a year at the Old Vic theatre in Bristol.

This success coincides with her winning the seventh James Menzies-Kitchin Award, in which she took the £6,000 prize in what was described as "an inspirational application."

Miss Tipton, 24, is a former pupil of Allertonshire School and Northallerton Grammar School who went on to study performing arts at Middlesex University.

She then spent time in London, working in catering jobs to fund her work to get into the theatre. She has also done voluntary work with fringe theatres.

The bursary is a Channel 4 scheme which will allow her to be assistant director at Bristol Old Vic under Simon Reade and David Farr.

"Which is more than any young director could hope for," she said.

Miss Tipton is currently associate director at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill. She won the Menzies-Kitchin award when she was chosen from eight finalists to direct a classic play at Battersea Arts Centre.

Her production of Attempts on her Life by Martin Crimp is on at Battersea from July 23 to August 15.

Her parents, Ian and Margaret Tipton, live in Scruton. "We are very proud of her. She has done really well," said Mr Tipton.

Sheila Weber