Emily Aboud

I am a Trinidadian theatre director and artistic director of Lagahoo Productions. I was shortlisted for the JMK Award in 2021 and I'm a recipient of the Evening Standard Future Theatre Award. I hold a Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa, which is how I can live here. My work primarily focuses on decolonization, specifically from the queer lens. I'm very interested in pieces that are inherently theatrical - queer, loud, subversive and sweaty.

I studied Engineering at University so I am fascinated by the intersection of science and art, especially using design as a storytelling tool.

My theatre company, Lagahoo Productions, was created specifically to bridge a gap in the industry to create new-writing for Caribbean people in the UK. Our first play, SPLINTERED, was nominated for an OFFIE and will be returning to the Soho Theatre where it was originally shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award. We're working on our 2nd production, BOGEYMAN, a binaural horror about the Haitian Revolution.

Credits

DIRECTOR, SPLINTERED, Soho Theatre, 2 weeks (5 Stars - The Guardian), 2022
DIRECTOR, Pink Lemonade, Bush Theatre & Contact MCR, 4 weeks, 2021(OFFIE-shortlisted)
DIRECTOR, Queer Upstairs, Royal Court, 2 days, 2021
DIRECTOR, Outside the Box, Cardboard Citizens, 1 day, 2021
DIRECTOR, The Welkin, Italia Conti School of Acting, 1 week, 2021
DIRECTOR, BOGEYMAN R&D, Camden People's Theatre, 1 night, 2021
DIRECTOR, The Antipodes, The University of Bedfordshire, 1 week, 2021
DIRECTOR, Red Velvet, Italia Conti School of Acting, 1 week, 2021
DIRECTOR, The Fairytale Revolution, Theatre503, 1 week (livestreamed), 2020
DIRECTOR, [blank], ALRA, 1 week, 2020
DIRECTOR, Sprawl, Central School of Speech and Drama, 1 night, 2020
DIRECTOR, SPLINTERED, Fringe/Vault Festival, 1 week, 2020 (winner of Show of the Week Award, OFFIE-nominated)
DIRECTOR, Exceptional Promise, Bush Theatre, 2 weeks, 2019
DIRECTOR, Salty Irina, Ovalhouse, 1 week, 2019
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Going Through, Bush Theatre, 4 weeks, 2019
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, A Small Place, Gate Theatre, 4 weeks, 2018

Training

MA Theatre Directing at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
BEng Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh
Soho Writers Lab 2019