Making your directorial debut in one of the country’s most respected theatres might bring your average trainee out in a sweat – but Andy Brunskill keeps a cooler head than most, writes Georgia Mann. “There are no sleepless nights. If I know what has to be done, I plan what to do and attack it,” says the 23-year-old, whose production of Arthur Kopit’s Sing To Me Through Open Windows opens at the Orange Tree Theatre next week.

Brunskill is one of two aspiring directors to have taken part in the Orange Tree’s acclaimed trainee director scheme, which has delivered stars such as Anthony Clark and Timothy Sheader. So what attracted the young director to this somewhat bizarrely titled play?

“I first read it in a collection by Kopit called The Day the Whores Came Out to Play Tennis and Other Plays. He has written lots of plays with funny titles and the title drew me to this one.

“It is a surreal play about the speed of life’s transitions. Kopit doesn’t offer answers but he asks the right questions.”

The play tells the story of Andrew, who visits the home of a magician called Ottoman Judd once a year, where surreal happenings unfold.

So how does he cope with such challenging material for his debut?

He says: “almost every day I think, ‘Is this too hard?’ “But this is my professional debut, you have to make a name for yourself and, if you can’t take a risk now, when can you?”

But along with the risks come the high points of theatre at its best.

Brunskills explains: “when the cast all make a discovery about areas of the play that didn’t make sense before, it is such a feeling of togetherness.”

And the young director has good reason to feel confident as he has already assisted on the direction of six plays at the Orange Tree and come through the challenging process of getting on one of the most sought-after traineeships in theatre.

He adds: “It is competitive, they ask you some very hard questions. But it is not about knowledge and experience, they want to ensure you are doing this as a career, not just a hobby.”

And, if his risks pay off, Andy Brunskill is a name you will be hearing much more of in the future.

Sing To Me Through Open Windows, Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence Street, June 3 to 20, visit orangetreetheatre.co.uk