Alessandra Davison

(she/her)

I'm a Romani theatre maker from Birmingham, primarily working in London as a theatre director, dramaturg and photographer. Most recently I directed a show with a cast of inmates from a male, category D prison (HMP Springhill) with Kestrel Theatre Company. Prior to this I directed two pieces as part of Living Archive Vol.1 at the Royal Court Theatre (JTU) and directed a showcase of new writing at the Harold Pinter Theatre for The Jamie Lloyd Company. I'm a reader for Park Theatre and a board member of Stage Sight. I've also undergone dramaturgy training on the Paines Plough Re:Assemble professional development programme.

Current/upcoming: I'm currently the Resident Assistant Director at Donmar Warehouse

I'm especially interested in work that focuses on heritage and human relationships, especially that which interrogates the way we react and respond to each other. I particularly enjoy working on new writing and text focused projects.

As a director I aim to make work that reflects the authentic human experience and stages a conversation, I’m not interested in communicating only one viewpoint or dictating a way of thinking. The stories I’m most interested in are those that urge us to look at choices and situations from multiple angles and encourage a nuanced perspective that is reflective of life’s complexities. I never want to preach or instruct an audience how to think/feel with my work, but rather invite them into a conversation to wrestle with the concept and form their own judgements.

I believe the best theatre is the work that (similarly to life) can hold as many different truths as possible (that may sometimes contradict each other) and I want to explore the complexities and intersections of culture and identity. The stories and conceptual presentations I’m most interested in are those that don’t prescribe a clear cut ‘right and wrong’ to audiences, but instead encourage people to look at choices and situations from multiple angles and cultivate a deeper and more nuanced perspective that is more reflective of life. I’m passionate about making work accessible, it is important to me to ensure that anyone is able to access and engage with elements of how a production is realised and that nobody is disabled by the creative language of the performance.

Additionally, I’m also really keen for my own work to make the ‘big, scary, impenetrable concepts’ accessible by finding a ‘way in’ to topics through an individual human journey or experience. In my own life I find that some concepts and problems are so huge that it is very difficult to comprehend the scale of the issue when trying to look at it overall and without individual experiences to relate it to. Issues such as climate change can be so overwhelming that we dissociate and I’m interested in making work that provides small access points to such concepts through individual character journeys and very specific lenses.

Alongside my work making theatre, I also run my own theatre photography business specialising in rehearsal and production shots.

Credits

DIRECTOR, The Christmas That Got Forgot (Martha Watson Allpress), Kestrel Theatre Company at HMP Spring Hill, 3 shows, 2022
DIRECTOR, Tipping Point (Italian new writing play in translation), Royal Court Theatre JTU, 1 show, 2022
DIRECTOR, Carbonio (Italian new writing play in translation), Royal Court Theatre JTU, 1 show, 2022
DIRECTOR, TAMZARA, Unge Viken/Presence Theatre at the Norwegian Embassy, 1 show, 2022
DIRECTOR, SCRATCH, Harold Pinter Theatre (with the Jamie Lloyd Company), 1 show, 2022
DIRECTOR, Ephemera, Royal Court Theatre JTU, 2 shows, 2022
DIRECTOR, Live at the Royal Court, Royal Court Theatre JTU, Covid cancellation, 2022
DIRECTOR, Three Wishes, Lyric Hammersmith (Main Stage), 1 show, 2021
DIRECTOR, Hot Off The Press, Lyric Hammersmith (Studio), 1 show, 2021
DIRECTOR, Drylands, Tramshed Theatre, 3 shows, 2021
DIRECTOR, Call Me Maybe, Arcola Theatre, Online Streaming, 2021
DIRECTOR, By Way of Kensal Green, Theatre 503, 2 shows, 2019
DIRECTOR, SWAY, Virtual Collaborators Festival, 2 shows, 2020
DIRECTOR, WoLab Showcase, Bunker Theatre/Lion and Unicorn Theatre, 3 shows, 2020
DIRECTOR, Hatch, Barons Court Theatre, 2 shows, 2019
DIRECTOR, By Way of Kensal Green, Theatre 503, 2 shows, 2019

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, Torch Song, Turbine Theatre, 2 months, 2019

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, two Palestinians go dogging, The Royal Court Theatre, 2.5 weeks in JTU, 2022
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, A Number, The Old Vic, 8 weeks, 2022
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Idyll, Pentabus Theatre (and rural tour), 4 week tour, 2020
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Me for the World, Young Vic, 4 shows, 2020
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, SORRY?, National Youth Theatre, 1 show, 2019
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CARE, VAULT & Latitude Festivals, 7 shows, 2019
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Macbeth, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall, 2 weeks, 2017

Upcoming at Donmar Warehouse as Resident Assistant Director:
Trouble in Butetown by Diana Nneka Atuona - directed by Tinuke Craig
Private Lives by Noël Coward - directed by Michael Longhurst
When Winston went to War with the Wireless by Jack Thorne - directed by Katy Rudd
Henry V (schools tour) - directed by Dadiow Lin
Next to Normal: Music by Tom Kitt and Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey - directed by Michael Longhurst

Training

Intro to Directing (Young Vic), 2018/2019
Training in diverse practise (Diverse City & Extraordinary Bodies), 2018
Young Agitator (Royal Court), 2019/2020
Associate Agitator (Royal Court), 2020/2022
Fresh Direction (Young Vic - mentored by Kwame Kwei-Armah), 2020
Springboard Directors Programme (Young Vic - mentored by Sacha Wares & Jennifer Tang), 2020/2021
Jamie Lloyd EMERGE Programme (mentored by Jamie Lloyd)
Re:Assemble (Paines Plough - dramaturgy professional development programme), 2020/2021
Bayliss Assistant Director (Old Vic), 2022
Donmar Warehouse Resident Assistant Director (current)