Rachel Heyburn

I have recently worked as the Associate Director on the Smith-Brant/ATG UK tour of Fatal Attraction staring Kym Marsh, Oliver Farnworth, Susie Amy and Louise Redknapp. The production has received multiple four-star reviews.

I directed Pussy Riot at the closing evening of Banksy’s Dismaland. The performance was featured in Vice, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and Time Magazine.

I have a love of Shakespeare and contemporary political work. My focus is identity; who we are, why we are how we are and the decisions that we make. I believe the power of theatre is to hold a lens up to our own decisions both as a society and individually, creating questions that encourage growth.

I also coach private acting students for drama school auditions.
My private acting students have received acceptances at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Central School of Speech and Drama, Mountview, Rose Bruford College, Guildford School of Acting, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and London College of Music whilst they have also reached final recall stage at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Oxford School of Drama, ALRA and Drama Studio.

Alongside my work as a theatre director, I am currently studying towards a PhD in Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Institute and the University of Birmingham.

Credits

AS DIRECTOR:

2021 A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare 2020 As You Like It by William Shakespeare, The New Normal Festival and LCM (two days)

2019 Never Have I Ever by Caitlin Middleton, Arcola Theatre (one day)

2018 The Knight of the Night of the Burning Pestle by Francis Beaumont, adapted by Will Hammond, LIPA (one week)

2017 Chekhov in Hell by Dan Rebellato, LIPA (one week)

2016 The Slave by LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka 2015 Dutchman by LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Tristan Bates Theatre (three weeks)

2015 Refugees In with Pussy Riot, Banksy's Dismaland (one day)

2011 In Quest of Conscience by Gitta Sereny adapted by Robert David MacDonald, Finborough Theatre (three weeks/Sunday and Mondays)

2010 Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll adapted by Benjamin Till, Questor's Youth Company, Questor's Theatre (one week)

2010 Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn, Haymarket Youth Company, The Royal Haymarket Theatre (one week)

AS ASSOCIATE AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:

2022 Fatal Attraction by James Dearden - Assistant Director to dir. Loveday Ingram (Smith-Brant/ATG UK Tour, six months)

2015 Pentecost by David Edgar - Associate Director to dir. Anna Ledwich, Central School of Speech and Drama (one week)

2014 How Does a Snake Shed its Skin by Susanna Hislop - Associate Director to Anna Ledwich, The Yard Theatre and The Ovalhouse Theatre (one week)

2013 One Night in November by Alan Pollock - Assistant Director to Hamish Glen, The Belgrade Theatre (one week)

2011 Dublin Carol by Connor McPherson - Assistant Director to Abbey Wright, The Donmar at Trafalgar Studios Season (three weeks)

2010 Dream of the Dog by Craig Higginson - Assistant Director to Katie McAleese, Finborough Theatre and Trafalgar Studios (three weeks at Finborough Theatre and three weeks at Trafalgar Studios Two)

2010 Miss Lilly Gets Boned Or The Loss Of All Elephant Elders by Bekah Brunstetter - Assistant Director to Lily Bevan, Finborough Theatre (three weeks)

2009 Through The Door by Laurence Mark Wythe (book by Judy Freed) - Assistant Director to John Brant, Trafalgar Studios (one week)

2009 The Ones That Flutter by Sylvia Reed - Assistant Director to Abbey Wright, Theatre 503 (three weeks)

Training

Rachel also works as a workshop leader, private acting coach and visiting practitioner. Experience includes:

So You Want To Be An Actor? Workshop Director, Savvy Theatre Company, May - June 2021

Visiting Practitioner, Rose Bruford College, March - April 2021

Let’s Get Classical, Classical, Director for Fakedown Casting Mock Auditions, September 2020

Industry Mentor for Acting Out (in response to the Covid-19 pandemic), June 2020 - present

Audition Panellist at LIPA, February 2020 and April 2018

Workshop Leader at National Youth Theatre (for LIPA), December 2019

Script Reader for Scene Gym, April 2019 - present

Student Mentor and Guest Speaker at the University of Reading, January 2016 – present

Panellist at The Tate Modern; Identity, Agency and Advocacy, February 2018

Personal Assistant to Jerry Mitchell during the technical and dress rehearsals for Legally Blonde the Musical, December 2010

Resident Assistant Director at the Finborough Theatre, February – July, 2010

Personal Assistant to Matthew Warchus during the Broadway rehearsals for The Norman Conquests, February 2009

Production Internship at Sonia Friedman Productions, January 2009 – April 2009

EDUCATION

MA in Theatre Studies by Research: Pass with Merit, University of Reading

BA Honours in Film and Theatre: First Class Honours, University of Reading