I am freelance director with 15 years experience. I’ve always balanced my time between directing in professional, community and education settings.

I’m the Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Young Ensemble and will be directing the Lyric panto in 2021.

Making theatre more diverse, accessible and inclusive has always been a passion of mine; from 2013-17 I set up and ran OpenWorks Theatre, an organisation dedicated to changing who goes to the theatre by changing who makes it.

In 2011 I developed a disability which meant I had to radically change how I work, and learn how to articulate my access needs to employers. I would like to use this experience to collaborate with SDUK members to rebuild an industry where our wellbeing is at the centre; an industry that serves not just those for whom the traditional power structures were built, but all of us, regardless of background, ethnicity or circumstances.

I’m a Japanese-American director based in the UK since 2004. I work freelance, and run a South East touring company, Theatre Témoin. I’ve been proud to serve on SDUK’s board for 3 years, representing associate directors in large arts organisations, artistic directors of small- and medium- scale organisations, and those who are juggling the two.

As a devising director I’m dedicated to industry-standard policies which reflect our shifting landscape, and in my past tenure I chaired a working party pursuing fair pay for directors who co-create with playwrights. I’m passionate about anti-racism and inclusion: I’m an active member of the Migrant Arts Network, work on a voluntary ad-hoc basis to support Inc Arts, and am a delegate member and workshop leader of Artistic Directors of the Future. I’d be honoured to be re-elected; this is a transformative time for our industry, and I want to keep doing the work.

I was one of the founding board members of SDUK and I am proud of the how the organisation has grown over the years. When I left the board in 2017 I was delighted with the progress we had made, but with circumstances having changed hugely in the last year, I would like to return to the board to help us do what we need to do to protect members in these incredibly difficult times.

I am an experienced theatre director who has been working for 17 years in the industry. I was Associate Director at the Sherman before leaving to return to freelance, so I have knowledge of working within a venue too. I still reside in Wales, and i can give a unique perspective of local challenges. I think it’s important that we have board representation outside of London and England and hear from as wide a cross section of members.

I hope you will vote me on to the board so I can help us all get the support we need and deserve In these very difficult times.

I began my career co-founding and running Snapdragon Productions (2009-16), an independent production company dedicated to bringing unknown works to new audiences. Our shows toured the UK, won awards, and transferred to New York.

Since 2016 I’ve worked exclusively as a freelance director. Recent productions include King John for the RSC, Boudica for the Globe Theatre, and Wendy and Peter Pan for the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh.

My application to the SDUK board is borne out of my work as a freelancer for multiple buildings – I want to fight the corner of freelancers who are rarely protected or compensated fairly for their work. I’m particularly keen on mentoring – I’m currently working with Burnbright, mentoring female playwrights – and I want to work with SDUK to make the industry more accessible to women, especially those from minority and working class backgrounds. I’m about to become a mum, and so the needs of parents working in the arts is a subject that holds massive importance to me.

I am a theatre director originally from Sydney, Australia. I migrated to the UK in 2013, and since then have worked primarily in new writing. Given my Iranian heritage, I am often drawn to work with Middle Eastern and North African themes and characters. I trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art. I have directed work for Octagon Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, English Touring Theatre, The Space, and Tamasha. As a staff/assistant director, I have worked with organisations including the National Theatre, Almeida, Stratford East, Sheffield Theatres, and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. I am Co-Vice Chair of MENA Arts UK, an arts organisation which champions Middle Eastern and North African arts professionals based in the UK. I am also Associate Director at The Space Theatre.

I would just like to be in a position to help fight for directors. Covid has revealed just how vulnerable we are as freelancers, and there remains a massive gap between the realities of our, often exhausting, responsibilities and the ‘power’ other creatives and actors believe that we have. There are certainly no financial rewards that fairly match up to the responsibility of leadership. I want us to fight much harder for the stability that comes with better pay and longer term, more structured relationships with buildings; structured relationships that put the onus on them to support and care for us. I’d like us to do this alongside other organisations that represent freelance creatives. Let’s form alliances. We don’t make enough collective noise. And this is not about causing trouble; it’s about being heard and respected so we can negotiate from a position of strength.

I identify as a working-class artist and I know that at this time we need to fight for those whose careers and livelihoods are most under threat from the collapse of the cultural sector.

As well as directing, I have also worked as an actor and playwright and a producer. I’ve been an Associate at the Young Vic and The Globe, so have an understanding of how institutions work. I have worked as a director in many areas of our sector: Co- creating work with communities, working in small studios, on the fringe, in the largest of our regional and national theatres, commercially in the West End / Broadway, and internationally on large scale productions. I have learnt from each of those experiences and believe it all has equal value. I am equally passionate about all of it, and about the director’s role at every level and in every situation.

I understand the importance of organisational and fiscal resilience. I can effectively draw on my own lived experience in the sector to advocate for directors around the UK. I have worked in a freelance capacity as well as being part of a the senior management team and Associate Director at Stratford East 2015-2018. I am a Trustee for Artistic Directors of the Future (Co-Chair) and Pop-Up Projects (Trustee).

I am passionate about giving voice to underrepresented groups, telling stories that explore our shared histories; our colonial and post-colonial experiences & stories that re-dress the balance of the whitewashing of history. I believe that this all contributes to a more inclusive and representative theatre ecology.

Credits include: Hobson’s Choice (Manchester Royal Exchange – Creative Producer), Approaching Empty (Kiln, Tamasha and Live Theatre) Rapunzel (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Lions and Tigers (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), Counting Stars, The House of In Between (Theatre Royal Stratford East).

I direct plays, musicals and opera, and am the Artistic Director of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and a board member of Mountview.

I’m in the privileged position of being an AD, and hope I can draw upon some of my experiences and the knowledge I have access to for our collective benefit.

I am an award-winning choreographer, movement director, filmmaker and director born in Colombia and British citizen. I have worked for the screen and stage nationally and internationally for 18 years bringing a unique style of movement to world wide creations.

Recently received the grant Developing Your Creative Practice by Arts Council England to keep investing in my career and to research about interactive technologies like VR, Motion capture and AI.

In 2009 whilst working with the British Council and Kneehigh Theatre Company, I was invited by Kneehigh to come to the UK for an artistic residency. Take two… based in London for the past 12 years, my work includes National Theatre, West End, Royal Shakespeare Company and South Bank and for screen Disney ad Marvel productions. I have  been Dance consultant for Lee Evans and for Colin Salmon for the US TV Series “Single Ladies” with Queen Latifah.

As a mixed raced East Londoner I feel very important to connected dance with diverse backgrounds and disciplines as acting, film and technology. 

In 2018 working with the RSC, I felt the need to create a group for Latin Americans working in the Performing Arts to understand and learn about our participation in the UK, so LAIPA was born becoming 

an influential movement of representation that led into including a LatinAmerican box in all ACE reporting.

I am co artistic director of the Unesco award winning Company Salida Productions.