Emily Oulton
Theatre Director
Emily (she/her) trained as a Young Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester before the MFA Theatre Directing at Birkbeck. She has since been working as a director, dramaturg, facilitator and producer working on musicals, new writing and audio across the UK and Ireland.
Currently, she is Associate Director on ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Nottingham Playhouse and Alexandra Palace. She is co-artistic director of theatre and audio company Obscura Theatre, exploring land, folk stories and local identity with an eerie essence. Obscura was runner-up for the 2022 Pleasance Charlie Hartill Reserve and shortlisted for the 2022 Untapped Award for their new musical ‘A Shanty for an Atomic Town’.
Emily has also worked extensively as a facilitator and workshop leader, having worked with ArtsEd, ICMT, NSDF, Curve & Royal Exchange’s young companies. Emily was a Director/Theatre Nominee for the 2021 Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund.
Credits
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ‘A Christmas Carol’, dir. Adam Penford, Nottingham Playhouse & Alexandra Palace, 2023
DIRECTOR, ‘Maple Hall’, ArtsEd, devised song cycle, 2023
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ‘Roman Holiday’, dir. Jeremy Sams, Theatre Royal Bath, 2023
PRODUCER, ‘soundlandscape: The Wild Hauntings on the Moor’, Obscura Theatre, Ilkley Literature Festival and the Brontë Parsonage Museum, 2023
DIRECTOR, ‘A Shanty for an Atomic Town’, workshop, Obscura Theatre, 2022
PRODUCER, ‘I Know I Know I Know’, DONOTALIGHT @ Southwark Playhouse, 2022
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ‘Camellia’, dir. Hannah Calascione, Fabula Collective, 2021
DIRECTOR, ‘Rascal’, R&D, Royal Exchange Theatre, 2021
DIRECTOR, ‘soundlandscape: All the Boggles of Derwentwater’, Obscura @ Theatre by the Lake, 2021
CO-DIRECTOR, ‘ÉRAINN’, workshop, ICMT, 2021
DIRECTOR, ‘The Luck of Edenhall’, audio, Obscura @ Theatre by the Lake, 2021
DIRECTOR, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, Sunrise Senior Living, 2020
DIRECTOR, ‘Not Something That Other People Do’, short film, Curve Online, 2020
RESIDENT DIRECTOR, ‘West Side Story’, dir. Nikolai Foster, Curve, 2019
RESIDENT DIRECTOR, ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ dir. Nikolai Foster, Curve, 2019
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ‘The Entertainer’, dir. Sean O’Connor, Curve, 2019
DIRECTOR, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, Delicious Theatre @ Edinburgh Fringe, 2018
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ‘Mixtape’, dir. Matt Hassall, Royal Exchange Theatre, 2018
DIRECTOR, ‘The Best Play Ever’, Delicious Theatre @ Edinburgh Fringe, 2017 & 18
Training
MFA Theatre Directing, Birkbeck
Young Director, Royal Exchange Theatre
Drama BA(Hons), University of Manchester