Maisie Newman

Director Choreographer Poet Writer Dramaturg

I am a queer, working class, Jewish, performance director, writer and choreographer for theatre and opera and a multi-award winning poet (Eric Gregory Award, Society of Authors). My work is highly visual and heavily influenced by European practitioners. I am an experienced dramaturg and a devising lead director. I have worked as an artist, academic and writer and has exhibited, curated and performed in some of the UK’s most pioneering spaces which continues to influence my work as a design-lead performance director. My experience as an award winning poet and translator determines my radical relationship to text as a theatre maker. I was recently the Young Company Director at The Bristol Old Vic and creative fellow at UCL University. I have lead workshops, seminars and lectures on theatre and performance for people aged 5-25 and for undergraduates and post-graduates at universities including Oxford University, York University, UWE and UCL.

The performances I direct are rooted in constructing large scale, dramatic and detailed images through my movement centred approach. I am also lead by a focus on the human experience and the relationships between people at a macro and micro level. I enjoy making unpredictable, morally complex and dialogue driven stories which pull on the absurdity of the world, systems and people around us.

To contact please email
Maisie.Laurie.newman@gmail.com
Or contact me through my website
www.maisienewman.net

Credits

Director, REFUGEE! (Previously Project O), written by Aisha Zia, in development, workshop Stratford East, 2023

Movement director, Pitch, Pleasance Theatre, nominated for an Offie Award, 4 Week, 2023

Director, adapter, choreographer, Bakkhai, National Youth Theatre, 1 week, 2023

Assistant Director, Gone Too Far, Stratford East, 1 week, 2023

Assistant Director, Much Ado About Nothing, Duke of York's Theatre, 1 week, 2023

Choreographer, Candide, Scottish Opera, 1 week, 2022, nominated for a UK theatre award for outstanding achievement in Opera

Director, Vixen, Travelling Light Theatre Company, UK tour incl Bristol Old Vic Theatre and schools tour, 2021/22

Director, Opal Fruits, Pleasance Edinburgh and Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 4 weeks, 2022

Director, Posh, Bristol School of Acting, 1 week, 2022

Director, Rechnitz (The Exterminating Angel), Headlong Workshop, 2021

Dramaturg, editor and director, How To Start a Fire, Digital Theatre, Stockroom, 2021

Director, Antigone, Bristol Old Vic Young Company, 1 week, 2020

Interim Young Company Director, Bristol Old Vic, 2020/21

Associate director/ choreographer on multiple Young Company productions at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre and Studio, 2014-2020

Writer, Our House is on Fire, Bath Theatre Academy, 1 week, 2019

Training

- National Youth Theatre Bryan Forbes Directing Bursary 2022/23

- Director on Headlong’s Origins training scheme 2021

- MFA, Fine Art, Oxford University (part-time)

- Made in Bristol, Bristol Old Vic Theatre 2014/15

- Drama and Theatre Studies, BA (hons) Liverpool Hope University 2011- 2014

Location

London

Experience

5-10 years

Art forms / Disciplines

  • Dance
  • Film - documentary
  • Film - short
  • Gaming and interactivity
  • Literature
  • Live art
  • Multi-disciplinary / cross art form
  • Opera
  • Theatre / Live perfomance
  • TV - documentary
  • TV - drama
  • Visual arts

What I do

  • Choreography
  • Curating
  • Devising
  • Directing
  • Dramaturgy
  • Editing
  • Facilitating
  • Movement Direction
  • Performance Art
  • Physical Theatre / Mime
  • Site Responsive/Immersive
  • Theatre making
  • Verbatim theatre
  • Video Design
  • Working with learning disabled adults / children
  • Working with learning disabled artists
  • Working with young people
  • Working with young people with special educational needs
  • Working within a Community / with community participants
  • Workshopping & Development
  • Writing

Social

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