CPPM Manifestal'24: WOMEN WHO RAGE. Amy Reade

Amy Reade is a theatre director from the UK. She strives to make work that is both politically engaged and theatrically groundbreaking.

In Amy’s directing work she is always striving to expand the boundaries of what theatre can be and in particular works on new writing as well as having created site specific and immersive work. She collaborates across art forms; working with a choreographer to make dance/theatre theatre/dance, and creates devised music and movement for her work.

Directing includes: TART (Mick Lally Theatre, Galway Theatre Festival), Plan Bee (Yorkshire Dance), Swamp Monster (Swings and Roundabouts), All of us want something to get over (Bread & Roses Theatre), Not the End of the World (Cockpit Theatre), SENSE (St Pancras Crypt), WALLS (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Playlist (Royal Court), Good Chance No Chance (Southbank Centre), Women of Tamil Nadu (Satkaarya Trust, Chennai).

As Artistic Director: ACT II (Arcola Theatre), Foreign Language Theatre Festival (Teatro Technis).

Associate & Assistant Directing credits include: The Tempest by William Shakespeare, dir. Deborah Warner (Ustinov), The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, dir. Jamie Glover (Theatre Royal Bath UK Tour), For all the women who thought they were mad by Zawe Ashton, dir. Jo McInnes (Hackney Showroom), Last Chance: A Plea For The Unaccompanied Children of Calais dir. Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin (Young Vic).

Amy is an Associate Artist and was part of the founding team of Good Chance Theatre, a theatre space set up with and for refugee artists in the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais. She ran the theatre on the ground for the duration of the company’s time in Calais. She continues to work with Good Chance on many projects including Encampment at the Southbank Centre and on projects in Paris.

For The Walk directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi, produced by David Lan and Tracey Seaward, Amy was Casting Specialist for refugee artists for Handspring Puppet Company and Research Associate for Kosovo and North Macedonia.

Amy is Creative Consultant on The Jungle directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, which began at the Young Vic & National Theatre before transferring to London’s West End, St Ann’s Warehouse New York, The Curran San Francisco, and will return to New York in 2023. She is a key member of the creative team, having also worked on dramaturgy and casting for the R&D at the National Theatre New Work Department and also as Ensemble Manager.

Amy’s acting credits include: Rosalind, As You Like It by William Shakespeare, dir. Polly Creed, RADA Studios; Elphaba, Wicked (motion capture R&D), dir. Stephen Daldry; Musician, The Grandfathers by Rory Mullarkey, dir. by Jesse Jones, National Theatre; Young Molly, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo adapted by Simon Reade, dir. Susan Roberts, BBC Radio 4.

Amy trained with the Bristol Old Vic Young Company where she performed in many devised productions at the Bristol Old Vic with directors including Ian Tidbury, Jesse Jones and Miranda Cromwell.

In addition to her producing work for Good Chance she has worked as an engagement specialist for FUEL and as an Assistant Producer for Theatre Royal Bath Productions, producing their work on UK Tours and in London’s West End, including Oleanna by David Mamet dir. Lucy Bailey, Copenhagen by Michael Frayn dir. Polly Findlay and Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall dir. James Dacre.