Natalie Abrahami
Natalie Abrahami is a theatre, opera and film director.
Natalie started out at the Royal Court Theatre as a Graduate Trainee before training with the Young Vic and National Theatre Studio where she met Carrie Cracknell. Two years later they applied as a duo, to run the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, which is where her collaborative practice began.
As joint Artistic Directors Natalie and Carrie commissioned Tom Basden, Nancy Harris, Sam Holcroft, Lucy Kirkwood, Nick Payne, and Alexandra Wood to pen radical re-interpretations of European classics. During their tenure they were awarded the Paul Hamlyn Breakthrough Fund for Creative Entrepreneurs for their cross-artform dance-theatre work.
Natalie went on to become an Associate Director at the Young Vic where she directed Juliet Stevenson inHappy DaysandWings, George Mackay inAh, Wilderness!and Natalie Dormer inAfter Miss Julie.
Natalie collaborated with playwright Ella Hickson to createSwive [Elizabeth]for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, and to directANNAthe immersive binaural sound piece created by sound designers Ben and Max Ringham at the National Theatre.
Climate conscious practice sits at the heart of Natalie’s work and was the abiding principle forRusalka(Royal Ballet & Opera) andThe Trials(Donmar Warehouse).
Recent projects include:Abigail's Party(Royal Exchange Theatre), Good Grief(online),The Meeting(Chichester Festival Theatre),Machinal(Almeida),Queen Anne(Royal Shakespeare Company and Theatre Royal Haymarket).
Film credits include Mayday, The Roof and Life’s a Pitch.
Natalie is a regular guest lecturer for Birkbeck University’s Master of Fine Arts Directing and was a judge for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2021.
Film, TV & Theatre Agent
Film, TV & Theatre
In Development
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
PIN | Hartshorn Hook Enterprises | A new musical by Tommy Antonio and Marc Teitler |
Forthcoming
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
THE TURN OF THE SCREW | Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House | Benjamin Britten - Composer Myfanwy Piper - Libretto 26 March - 6 April 2026 |
Theatre
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2025 | Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester | By Mike Leigh ★★★★ 'Abrahami and her cast bring subtle shades of light and dark to these well-worn characters' The Guardian |
RUSALKA 2022 | Main Stage, Royal Opera House | Antonin Dvorák - Composer Ann Yee |
2022 | Donmar Warehouse | By Dawn King 'haunting and thought-provoking – this is the best play about our climate emergency.' ★★★★ The arts desk |
2019 - 2020 | Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Globe Theatre | Created by Natalie Abrahami and Ella Hickson Writer Ella Hickson Ella Hickson has joined forces with director Natalie Abrahami, whose production shifts between grimly gleeful anachronism and historical empathy... Hugely stimulating.' ★★★★ The Independent |
ANNA 2019 | National | Created by Ella Hickson, Ben and Max Ringham 'Brilliantly unsettling. Phoebe Fox is outstanding.' ★★★★★ Daily Mail |
2018 | Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre | by Charlotte Jones 'Richly evocative staging from director Natalie Abrahami conjures a world of chalk and flint, beauty and privation.' ★★★★ Daily Telegraph |
2018 | Almeida | by Sophie Treadwell ‘Natalie Abrahami directs an impressive, powerfully disconcerting production’ ★★★★ The Independent |
2017 | Young Vic | by Arthur Kopit “A remarkable performance from Stevenson in Abrahami's sensitive and daring production” ★★★★The Independent |
QUEEN ANNE 2015 - 2017 | Theatre Royal Haymarket & Swan Theatre, RSC | by Helen Edmundson 'Natalie Abrahami’s fluid and confident production' ★★★★ Evening Standard |
2015 | Young Vic | by Eugene O'Neill "Natalie Abrahami's haunting, witty production" ★★★★ The Independent |
2015 | Young Vic | "Natalie Abrahami's production is perfectly paced...Stevenson is magnificent" ★★★★★ Evening Standard |
2014 | Young Vic | "Juliet Stevenson gives an extraordinary expressive performance in Natalie Abrahami's brutal and tender production." ★★★★ Time Out |
2012 | Young Vic | by Patrick Marber |
YERMA 2011 | Gate Theatre & Hull Truck | By Lorca, in a new version by Anthony Weigh |
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM 2011 | Headlong | National Tour |
THE KREUTZER SONATA 2009 | Gate Theatre/LaMama, New York | by Leo Tolstoy, in an adaptation by Nancy Harris. Revived in 2012 at Gate and International Tour. |
VANYA 2009 | Gate Theatre | by Sam Holcroft, inspired by Anton Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA |
GUARDIANS 2009 | HighTide Festival | by Lucy Caldwell |
THE INTERNATIONALIST 2008 | Gate Theatre | by Anne Washburn |
THE ELEVENTH CAPITAL 2007 | Royal Court Theatre | by Alexandra Wood. Young Writers Festival Winner 2006 and winner of the George Devine Award 2007 |
PLAY and NOT I by Samuel Beckett 2005 | Battersea Arts Centre | Winner James Menzies-Kitchin Award for Directors 2005 |
Film
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2016 | Young Vic Short Films | written by Nigel Williams. |
2014 | Young Vic Short Films | written by Nancy Harris |
2013 | Young Vic Short Films | written by Olivia Poulet |
Opera
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
HOW THE WHALE BECAME 2013 | Linbury Theatre, Royal Ballet and Opera | Composed by Julian Phillips with libretto by Edward Kemp, based on work by Ted Hughes. |
Online
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2021 | Finite Films and Platform Presents | Online Play, created & written by Lorien Haynes 'Director Natalie Abrahami is among those helping to give online drama a new assurance.' ★★★★ the Observer |
Other
Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2021 | Audible | Audio play, Written by Alexandra Wood |