Abigail Graham

Director Educator

Abigail (she/her) is an award winning freelance Theatre Director and Educator.

Her production of Merchant of Venice (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Globe) reclaimed the play from its racist, anti semitic production history. Her production of Aladdin at The Lyric Hammersmith won 3 awards at the UK Pantomime Awards, including Best Panto.

From 2013-2017 she was the founding Artistic Director of OpenWorks Theatre, an organisation dedicated to changing who goes to the theatre by changing who makes it.

She was Director of The Bush Theatre’s Neighbourhood Company 2020-21 and created a piece of work with them and Titas Halder which premiered at the Bush and online in June 2021

She was the the Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Ensemble 2019-2020 for whom she commissioned Titas Halder to write a new play. Sadly, due to Covid-19 the production never happened.

Abigail has directed community and education projects for The Young Vic, National Youth Theatre, Clean Break and Almeida, and has worked as a Mentor Director for National Theatre Connections since 2015. She has also been a guest speaker for The Arvon Foundation and taught acting at The Globe.

Abigail is on the board of Stage Directors UK and Attic Theatre.

Credits

Theatre work as a Director includes: Merchant of Venice (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Globe), Aladdin (Lyric Hammersmith), MUM (Soho, Theatre Royal Plymouth) Earthquakes in London (Guildhall); The Tyler Sisters (Hampstead); Linda (RADA); 31 Hours (The Bunker); Dogville (Rose Bruford) Death of a Salesman (Royal and Derngate/UK Tour); And Now: The World! (OpenWorks, UK tour); Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh); Debris (OpenWorks, Southwark Playhouse); Molly Sweeney (Print Room/Lyric Belfast/Northern Ireland tour); Blue Heaven (Finborough) and The Boy and The Dog Who Walked to the Moon (Pleasance, Edinburgh).

Abigail has also directed community and education projects for The Young Vic (Maria Theatre and Maudsley Hospital), National Youth Theatre, Clean Break and Almeida, as well as being a guest speaker for The Arvon Foundation

Work as a film director: Timetable (Anderson Shelter Productions)

Theatre work as an Associate Director includes Great Expectations (Bristol Old Vic), Death and the Maiden (West End), Ruined (Almeida), The Glass Menagerie (Young Vic), Enron, Wallenstein, Separate Tables (Chichester Festival Theatre).

Training

Trained with Living Pictures 2006-2012. Workshops with Katie Mitchell, Ian Rickson, Paul Hunter, Thomas Ostermeir.

Also completed Royal Court and Soho Young Writers programmes.

Location

London

Experience

10+ years

Art forms / Disciplines

  • Film - short
  • Theatre / Live perfomance

What I do

  • Devising
  • Directing
  • Dramaturgy
  • Music - Can Read
  • Music - Singing
  • Teaching / Coaching
  • Verbatim theatre
  • Working with disabled artists
  • Working with disabled non-professional adults / children
  • Working with learning disabled adults / children
  • Working with young people
  • Working with young people with special educational needs
  • Working within a Community / with community participants
  • Workshopping & Development

Additional Languages

conversational level spanish

Social

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