I started singing for Opera Australia as a child. I did Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, The Magic Flute and Baz Luhrmann’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream so, from the age of seven to 13, my summers were spent within the opera house. That’s really shaped me as a person but my trajectory as well. When I look back, it all comes back to classical music. But then I got so interested in Shakespeare and theatre, Sophocles, all the Greek dramatists.

Brett Brown in his solo version of Henry V. Photo © Florin Chirea

I studied at RADA. When I was 16, I won a national Shakespeare competition in Australia, and part of that was going across to the Globe to perform with Mark Rylance and three other Australians. That was my first time in London. And suddenly all my interests seemed to be in the one place, so abundant with theatre and music and galleries. The Globe was relatively new, and there was such a buzz. I thought this is where I want to be. I still love all of that.

My voice changed and I...