DALE EDWARDS

I decided I wanted to be a director in my mid twenties. Coming from a working class background, being a director was something that was never on my radar, it took a lot of exploration and discovery to reach a point where I had enough self-confidence to believe this was possible, it wasn’t until I was shortlisted for the JMK award that I felt comfortable calling myself a director. Since then I have found many opportunities in the industry are aimed towards ‘young people’ which I feel raises a lot of questions. I trained in construction which offers many transferable skills and is the foundation of my interest in stagecraft, particularly in production design.

I am a storyteller. I believe the impulse to tell and be told stories is primal, essential and necessary. We tell stories in an attempt to organise the chaos of human experience into meaningful patterns, to feel less alone, to affirm our experiences, to learn more about each other. Theatre extends a powerful invitation for us to exercise our judgement and empathy.

As an emerging director I am at a stage of discovery and exploration. My personal life experiences are a catalyst for inspiration but I wouldn’t like to say it defines the scope of my work because I don’t like the idea of being categorised as a black director, not because I don’t want people to acknowledge my background but because I want to be treated the same as white directors.

Credits

Assistant Directing

The Mountaintop
The Royal Exchange
4 weeks
Roy Alexander Weise

The Last Yankee
Bolton Octagon
4 weeks
David Thacker

Theatre re-enactment
#because we're here
The Royal Exchange
Andrew Barry

Directing

Blue Sky Thinking
Dukes Lancaster Blast Festival
1 night

Rite to Party
The North Wall - Catalyst
1 night

In Defence of Adventurous Mothers
The North Wall - Catalyst
1 night

R&D
Untitled
HOMEMCR
1 week

2019
Sus
Manchester Fringe Festival
1 night

2019
Sus
Lowry UOB Showcase
1 night

One Act Play
Snapshot of an Elephant
Joshua Brooks
1 night

Training

I have received director training through being a member of the Royal Exchange Open Exchange Network attending workshops with practitioners such as. Rash Dash, Bryony Shanahan, Matthew Xia, Raz Shaw, Rebecca Gatward and Roy Alexander Weiss.

I am a member of JMK Directors Network. And the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme (RTYDS) where I have completed two introduction to directing residentials in 2018 and 2019.