Julia Locascio

Hello there! Nice to meet you here.

I am a theatre director, maker, and facilitator of collective creation. I direct feminist reimaginings of classics, new musicals, opera, and devised adaptations. In 2011 I founded The Waking Theatre, a devising company dedicated to outdoor spectacle, bighearted characters, and technicolor movement and music. We have produced new work in London, Edinburgh, Chicago, New York, and the rural American Midwest.

I am also passionate about my work with young people. I teach acting, directing, approaches to devising, and workshops on Shakespeare's verse.

I have taught for Guildhall, Drama Centre, San Jose State University, Chicago's Japanese Culture Center, the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA), and the education departments at the RSC, Lyric Hammersmith, Nottingham Playhouse, and The Old Vic.

Credits

DIRECTING - FULL PRODUCTIONS

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR and FEMALE SWING, The Last Ship, PW Productions/US Tour, 4 months (planned), 7 weeks (actual, canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic), 2019/20

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, The American Clock by Arthur Miller, Old Vic, 6 weeks, 2019

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR and ONSTAGE FOLEY ARTIST, Ragtime, Trinity Rep (Providence, RI, USA), 4 weeks, 2018

RESIDENT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Dido, Queen of Carthage, RSC/The Swan, 6 weeks, 2017

RESIDENT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Salome, RSC/The Swan, 8 weeks, 2017

STAFF DIRECTOR, The Kite Runner, Wyndham's (West End), 12 weeks, 2016/17

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, English Eccentrics (Opera), British Youth Opera/Sadlers Wells Peacock Theatre, 2 weeks, 2016

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, SLUG and REFORMATION NATION by Sabrina Mahfouz, nabokov/Latitude Festival, 1 week, 2016

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (with tour responsibilities), KING LEAR, Royal & Derngate/ATG UK Tour, 13 weeks, 2016

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Filter Theatre's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Lyric Hammersmith, 4 weeks, 2016

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/DESIGNER, But I Know This City! (participatory community production - 750 readings in 25 site-specific venues over 12 hours), Excavate Theatre/locations across Nottingham, Durational Event, 2015

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, The Rubenstein Kiss by James Phillips, Nottingham Playhouse/Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 3 weeks, 2015

DIRECTOR & DESIGNER, Charlie Blows a Bulb, The Waking theatre/Fratellanza, Edinburgh Fringe Street Performance, 3 weeks, 2015

DIRECTOR, Cymbeline, The Waking Theatre, site-specific promenade production in a warehouse in Chicago's Chinatown, 3 weeks, 2014

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes, The Court Theatre (Chicago), 6 weeks, 2014

DIRECTOR, Oh the Humanity and other good intentions by Will Eno, The Waking Theatre/The Den (Chicago), 3 weeks, 2013

DIRECTOR, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, devised adaptation of the Aimee Bender novel paired to a 5-course meal, The Waking Theatre/133rd St Arts Center (New York) and West Loop Studio (Chicago), 4 weeks, 2012

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, This One Girl's Story, New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), 2 weeks, 2011

DIRECTOR, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, The Waking Theatre/Red Cloud Opera House (Red Cloud, Nebraska, USA)/Looking Glass Theater (NYC), 4 weeks, 2009

DIRECTING - WORKSHOPS, EVENTS, & READINGS

DIRECTOR, Magdalene (Devised, Workshop), Battersea Arts Centre, 1 week, 2019

DIRECTOR, Ada (New Play, Workshop), Nottingham Playhouse, 1 week, 2018

DIRECTOR, Dead or Alive Poetry Slam (feat. BBC Slam Champions), RSC/The Swan, Event, 2017

DIRECTOR, The Metamorphoses by Brad Birch, RSC/The Swan, Semi-staged Reading, 2017

DIRECTOR, Light is On A Timer by Alex Murdoch, RSC/The Other Place, Reading, 2017

DIRECTOR, Woman On Paper: A Georgia O'Keeffe Bioplay (Devised, Workshop), Nottingham Playhouse, 1 week, 2016

DIRECTOR, Everybody's Legs (New Play, Workshop), Tiger Dublin Fringe, Staged Reading, 2015

DESIGN

DESIGNER, Kreutzer vs. Kreutzer, Sheffield Theatres/The Studio, 1 week, 2016

DESIGNER, Tipping the Top Hat, immersive adaptation of Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, Pecs Drag Kings/Ugly Duck Tanner Street Factory (London), 1 week, 2015

COSTUME DESIGNER, Vanya by Sam Holcroft, Eleusis Collective, immersive staging in Victorian mansion (Chicago), 2 weeks, 2012

ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER, War Horse, National Theatre/US Tour, 2-year tour, 2012

ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (After David Foster Wallace), Workshop, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 1 week, 2011

COSTUME DESIGNER, Date of a Lifetime, New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), 2 weeks, 2011

INSTALLATION TECHNICIAN (SCENIC), Sleep No More, Punchdrunk/Emursive/McKittrick Hotel, 9+ years (still running until the pandemic), 2011

ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER, After the Revolution by Amy Herzog, Williamstown Theatre Festival/Nikos Stage, 2 weeks, 2010

Training

MFA in Theatre Directing, Birkbeck, 2014-16

Continuing Coursework in Architecture and Interior Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), 2013

OBSERVER, The Wild Bride, adapted & directed by Emma Rice, Kneehigh/Berkeley Rep, 6 weeks, 2011

BFA in Acting & Directing, NYU Tisch, Playwrights Horizons Theater School "Creating Original Work" Program, 2007-2011 (4-year conservatoire program focused on Devising, the only of its kind in the US)

Trainee Costume Designer, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 8 weeks, 2010

Devising in a Democracy, Workshop with Rachel Chavkin and The TEAM, 1 week, 2009

SITI Company Saratoga Summer Intensive, 5 weeks, 2008

Northwestern University's "Cherubs" Theatre Arts Program and Musical Theatre Extension, 7 weeks, 2006

Oxbridge Academic Programs, Shakespeare and Puppetry course, Jesus College, University of Cambridge, 4 weeks, 2005

Interlochen Center for the Arts - Musical Theater Major, Laban Training, 4 weeks, 2004