My mother has always been my champion and has pumped culture into me for a very long time. Theatre and the arts were part of our bonding. She used to say, if you see a show that you like the look of, I’ll get tickets. So I’d go on the Royal Court website and if there were many black people in the cast, I’d want to go because I could see myself.

I would have been around 16 when I saw Sucker Punch by Roy Williams. It’s about two young men who know that their bodies can be a kind of tool to better themselves so they fall into boxing. An aspiring white promoter zeroes in on their talent. It is about rivalry, but also about how community works together, and is a really good investigation of masculinity and the ownership of black bodies.

I had been to shows at the Royal Court before but they transformed the space for Sacha Wares’ 2010 production. It was completely 360-degree, in the round. I remember the accuracy of the boxing ring, the ropes. It was visceral. The actors were dripping with sweat. And when they moved, we moved, because we thought we were going to get punched! The acting felt so charged and so full-body, as if they’d been plucked from the street. We were fully in it – as if you could ultimately step into the characters’ roles if you just walked a couple of metres. It felt very real. I came away feeling, I need to understand how this is made.

It was my first time seeing Daniel Kaluuya. I remember him winking at me and my mum in the audience. And Mum shoved me in front of Daniel afterwards. He said it had felt special for him seeing us in the audience because so often the audience is white. He said: “I acted better for you.”

I was a Stagecoach kid – I had been to their classes from a very young age to do drama, singing and dancing. But by that time I was not gagging to be where Daniel Kaluuya was. I had no idea directing could be a career – I wanted to become a barrister. When I realised there was this role, that you could create the vision, that you were actually the orchestrator of the actors, my mind really just opened. I was like, wow, that’s where my skill set lies.

Years later, after university, I joined the Young Vic’s introduction to directing course and Sacha Wares was the programme leader. So I walked into her room and said, gosh, the best show I’ve ever watched was made by you. Please tell me everything …

Marie and Rosetta by George Brant, directed by Monique Touko, is at Chichester Festival theatre, 25 June-26 July