Emma Rice Emma Rice is joint artistic director of Kneehigh Theatre. Kneehigh are based in Cornwall and create vigorous and popular theatre. ‘In my experience, our basic needs and desires are the same - to be communicated with, to be delighted, to be surprised, to be scared. We want to be part of something and we want to feel. We want to find meaning in our lives.’ ‘I want a celebration, a collective gasp of amazement. I want the world to transform in front of the audiences eyes and demand that they join in with the game. Theatre is nothing without the engagement of the audience's creativity.’ Vicky Featherstone Vicky Featherstone is the first female Artistic Director of London’s Royal Court Theatre. The Royal Court is a theatre that promotes new writing. ‘I feel thrilled about being able to create an environment where writers can take risks and surprise themselves’ Katie Mitchell Katie Mitchell is a highly regarded theatre director. Mitchell's process involves long and intensive rehearsal periods and use of the Stanislavsky method. Her productions have been described as "distinguished by the intensity of the emotions, the realism of the acting, and the creation of a very distinctive world” Paulette Randall Paulette Randall is a British theatre director of Jamaican descent. She is former artistic director of Talawa Theatre Company and associate director of the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Randall is the first black woman to direct a play in the West End. Fences by August Wilson starred Lenny Henry in the lead role. For Randall, born to Jamaican parents in south London, being "gobby and a showoff" has always come naturally. "It was working in Brixton market, that was my real first understanding of theatre, just the characters you met and stories you heard." Phyllida Lloyd Phyllida Lloyd is a successful British theatre and film director. She directed Mamma Mia, the musical in the West End and then went on to direct the film version. Recently she directed the film The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep. She is also known for her all female productions of Shakespeare’s plays. Lucy Bailey Lucy Bailey is a British theatre director, notable as the founder of the Gogmagogs chamber-music group and the Print Room theatre in West London. She is well known for her productions of Shakespeare plays, most notably Titus Andronicus at the Globe Theatre in London. This production was so gory that members of the audience would regularly faint during it! Indhu Rubasingham Indhu Rubasingham is the Artistic Director of The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn Rubasingham is highly rated as a director after critically acclaimed productions at the Almeida, National and Royal Court theatres. Rubasingham is highly rated as a director after critically acclaimed productions at the Almeida, National and Royal Court theatres. Marianne Elliott Marianne Elliot is the director of such high-risk projects as the National Theatre's runaway hit War Horse and its more recent smash, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. "Theatre is incredibly demanding … so why bother putting everything into it if you are not producing something that is really worth doing? Something that pushes you and pushes everyone else involved? If it is just another run-of-themill show, then what is the point?" Jude Kelly Amongst her many successes as a director, Jude’s production of Singin’ in the Rain transferred twice to the Royal National Theatre and was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production in 2001. She directed Sir Ian McKellen in The Seagull and The Tempest, Patrick Stewart in Johnson over Jordon and Othello and Dawn French in When We Are Married. She has directed over 100 productions including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, the English National Opera, the Châtelet in Paris and in the West End. She is currently Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London,] Britain’s largest cultural institution. Southbank Centre consists of the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall (containing the Purcell Room), and the Saison Poetry Library. Sarah Frankcom Sarah Frankcom is Artistic Director of the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre. She has recently directed Hamlet with Maxine Peake in the title role. Gemma Bodinetz and Deborah Aydon Gemma Bodinetz is Artistic Director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. Deborah Aydon is Executive Director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. Together, Bodinetz and Aydon have helmed Liverpool’s intimate and muchloved theatres for a decade, a theatrical double act presiding over a modern day Renaissance which has seen record audiences, critically acclaimed premieres and a roster of thrilling new talent.
