Emily Oulton

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