Agent
Assistant
Biography
Elayce Ismail is a director and dramaturg, working in the UK and internationally across theatre, opera and film. She is the Artistic Associate at Music Theatre Wales and has previously been the Head of New Work at the Donmar Warehouse; the inaugural RTYDS Associate Director at Northern Stage; and a Resident Director at the National Theatre as the recipient of the JP Morgan Award for Emerging Directors.
Theatre direction includes: Love and Other Acts of Violence (Donmar Warehouse), Shedding a Skin (Soho Theatre) Nanjing (Shakespeare’s Globe); If Not Now, When? (National Theatre); Under Milk Wood, The War of the Worlds (Northern Stage); Girls (Soho Theatre/HighTide Festival/British Council Edinburgh Showcase); The Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco, Chorus, Spooky Action at a Distance (Gate); The Lost Ring (Deutsches Theater Berlin); Stay Another Song (Young Vic).
Opera includes: Our Dark Side and The Moon (creator/librettist; Royal Opera House); They Whisper Don’t Gaze at the Stars… (director; ENO); 4:48 Psychosis (revival director; Opéra national du Rhin/Royal Opera House); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (associate director; Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier); The Virtues of Things (assistant director; Royal Opera House).
Film includes: Nanjing (director; Theatertreffen Stückemarkt); AMAZON (creator/writer; MTW/London Sinfonietta); Simone (director; Young Vic).
Credits
In Development
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MOTHER | Goldie |
New Opera with Goldie |
Short Films
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
MY ENGLAND - SIMONE 2018 |
Young Vic |
Written by Lynette Linton |
Theatre
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT 2023 |
Hightide UK tour |
Dir: Elayce Ismail |
|
CALVINO NIGHTS 2023 |
Minack Theatre |
Co-directed by Mike Shepherd and Elayce Ismail |
|
SHEDDING A SKIN 2021 – 2022 |
Soho Theatre |
By Amanda Wilkin |
|
LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE 2021 |
Donmar Warehouse |
By Cordelia Lynn |
|
CONSENT 2019 |
LAMDA |
Writer: Nina Raine |
|
UNDER MILK WOOD 2018 |
Northern Stage |
A Play for Voices written by Dylan Thomas; |
|
NANJING 2018 |
Shakespeare's Globe |
Written and Performed by Jude Christian; |
|
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS 2018 |
Northern Stage |
By H.G. Wells; |
|
GIRLS 2017 |
Edinburgh Fringe Festival / UK Tour / High Tide |
Written by Theresa Ikoko; Part of the British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017 |
|
SPOOKY ACTION AT A DISTANCE 2017 |
Royal Court / Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama / Gate Theatre |
Written by Eve Leigh |
|
WHEN I AM A QUEEN 2017 |
Almeida Theatre | |
|
GIRLS 2016 |
HighTide / Talawa / Soho Theatre |
Writer: Theresa Ikoko |
|
STAY ANOTHER SONG 2016 |
Young Vic / St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls / London Nautical School for Boys |
Musical Direction: Matthew Floyd Jones |
|
THE IPHIGENIA QUARTET: CHORUS 2016 |
Gate Theatre |
Writer: Chris Thorpe |
|
NANJING 2016 |
Yard Theatre / NOW '16 Festival |
Writer: Jude Christian |
|
THE TRIAL OF HAMLET 2016 |
Wyndham’s Theatre (Shakespeare Schools Festival Gala) | |
|
THE LOST RING: FOOD FOR THE SOUL 2015 |
National Theatre / Deutsches Theater Berlin / Mitos21 |
Devised production Elayce created with actors George Siena and Janna Horstmann in response to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s 1779 play, NATHAN THE WISE |
|
THE RISE AND SHINE OF COMRADE FIASCO 2015 |
Gate Theatre |
Writer: Andrew Whaley |
| SIMPATICO | Young Vic |
Part of the 5 Directors, 5 Plays, 5 Days project |
|
BED & BREAKFAST 2011 |
Hot Ice Theatre / Brighton Festival Fringe / UK Tour | |
| As Associate/Assistant Director | ||
|
THE SOUND OF YELLOW 2014 |
Young Vic |
As Associate Director |
|
A SEASON IN THE CONGO 2013 |
Young Vic |
Jerwood Assistant Directors Programme; |
|
COMING HOME 2010 |
Arcola Theatre |
As Assistant Director; Director – Cordelia Monsey; Author – Athol Fugard |
| As Dramaturg | ||
|
OTHELLOMACBETH 2018 |
Lyric Hammersmith / HOME |
Directed by Jude Christian |
Opera
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
THE GLASS EYE 2023 |
Oxford International Song Festival |
As Librettist. |
|
AMAZON 2020 |
Music Theatre Wales & London Sinfonietta |
Commission from Music Theatre Wales & London Sinfonietta, for HOME Manchester’s HOMEMAKERS project |
|
OUR DARK SIDE AND THE MOON 2021 |
Royal Opera House |
Creator and Librettist |
|
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT`S DREAM 2019 |
Opera Montpellier |
(As assistant director) |
|
4:48 PSYCHOSIS 2018 |
Royal Opera House |
(As assistant director) |
|
THE VIRTUES OF THINGS 2015 |
Royal Opera House / Opera North / Aldeburgh Music |
(As Assistant Director) |
