Yvana joined the Barn in 2003, acting in that year’s festival one-act play The Lure of the Reichenbach. She played an Amazon Queen in The Rape of the Belt and cut her directing teeth for the Barn on The Dock Brief, following this with two main house productions Humble Boy and The Safari Party. Her previous experience was with the Brookland Players where, as well as being their Chairman, she acted in many plays over 25 years, taking best actress in the Barnet Borough Festival in 2002 for her leading role in Gym and Tonic. She learnt to direct with the BPs, mostly working at The Bull Theatre in Barnet where plays included Prisoner of Second Avenue, California Suite and Straight and Narrow, as well as guest-directing Time and the Conways for St Margaret’s Players in Twickenham.