E.M. Parry

Designer

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Biography

E.M. Parry is a transgender, trans-disciplinary artist and theatre-maker, best known for theatre design, specialising in work which centres queer bodies and narratives.  In 2024 they were a Top Ten Finalist for the Queer Britain Art Prize. 

They are an Associate Artist at Shakespeare’s Globe, a Linbury Prize Finalist, winner of the Jocelyn Herbert Award, and shared an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement as part of the team behind Rotterdam, for which they designed set and costumes.  

They trained at Wimbledon School of Art, Motley, and are currently pursuing a PhD in queer studies and performance at the University of Brighton.

It is handsome in its look, E Mallin Parry’s set slowly modernising itself, from a spare court to a graffitied one. The period dress, designed in a lovely palette of creams, golds, greys and blacks, does the same in the second half, which brings us closer into our world
The Guardian on Richard III (Shakespeare’s Globe)

The contribution of Parry’s design is considerable: the comfortable domestic set begins to collapse, revealing a forest of icy pine trees. Enchanted, yes, but strange and unsettling too
Evening Standard on Grimm Tales (Unicorn Theatre)

EM Parry’s exquisite stage frames the water between rope-bound, sail-like sheets, and a tree-shrouded band whose starlike music carries gently on the breeze
The Guardian on The Gretchen Question (Fuel/Shipwright)

Mixing period and modern, Parry’s costumes are a continual delight
The Independent on As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe)

absolutely always dares to dazzle … designer EM Parry’s gothic playground
The Guardian on Dorian (Reading Rep)

Credits

Television

Production Company Notes
DOCTOR WHO
2024 		Bad Wolf / BBC

Costume Assistant
S1, Ep 4 ’73 Yards’
S1, Ep 5 ‘Dot and Bubble’

Theatre

Production Company Notes
RICHARD III
2024 		Shakespeare's Globe

Dir. Elle While
By William Shakespeare
THE TEMPEST
2023 		Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

Costume Design
Dir. Jennifer Tang
THE GRETCHEN QUESTION
2023 		Fuel Theatre/Shipwright

Dir. Melly Still
By Melly Still & Max Barton
AN IMPROBABLE MUSICAL
2022 		Improbable/Royal and Derngate

Dir. Lee Simpson
By Improbable
AS YOU LIKE IT
2022 		Northern Broadsides

Dir. Laurie Sansom
By William Shakespeare
DORIAN
2021 		Reading Rep

Dir. Owen Horsley
Written by Phoebe Eclair-Powell and Owen Horsley
STAGING PLACES: UK DESIGN FOR PERFORMANCE
2019 		Victoria and Albert Museum

Designs included in exhibition

AS YOU LIKE IT
2019 		Shakespeare's Globe

Revival of 2018 production
THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART
2019 		New Vic Theatre

Dir. Anna Marsland
By David Grieg
ROTTERDAM
2019 		Hartshorn Hook

UK tour of Olivier Award-winning production
TRANSLYRIA
2019 		Sogn og Fjordane Teater, Norway

Dir. Frode Gjerlow
By William Shakespeare & Frode Gjerlow
GRIMM TALES
2018 		Unicorn Theatre

Dir. Kirsty Housley
Adapted from Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales by Philip Wilson
SKETCHING
2018 		Wilton's Music Hall

Dir. Thomas Hescott
By James Graham
AS YOU LIKE IT
2018 		Shakespeare's Globe

Dir. Federay Holmes and Elle While
By William Shakespeare
HAMLET
2018 		Shakespeare's Globe

Dir. Federay Holmes and Elle While
By William Shakespeare
EFFIGIES OF WICKEDNESS
2018 		Gate Theatre

Dir. Ellen McDougall
ROTTERDAM
2017 		Arts Theatre

West End transfer

ROTTERDAM
2017 		59E59, New York

Transfer of Olivier Award-winning production
PETER PAN
2016 		Exeter Northcott

Dir. Paul Jepson
By J.M. Barrie
HERE I BELONG
2016 		Pentabus

Dir. Elizabeth Freestone
ROTTERDAM
2016 		Trafalgar Studios 2

Transfer of Theatre503 production
Winner of the 2017 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre
GIANT
2016 		Human Zoo/Pleasance Courtyard

Dir. Florence O’Mahony
THE RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF GEORGE MASTROMAS
2016 		LAMDA Linbury Studio

Dir. James Kerr
By Dennis Kelly
GOODNIGHT CHILDREN EVERYWHERE
2016 		LAMDA Linbury Studio

Dir. Tom Attenborough
By Richard Nelson
ELECTRIC
2015 		Rio Cinema/The Big House

Dir. Maggie Norris
By Andy Day
‘In the basement, amid the heating pipes and fuse boxes, a tiny cinematic wonderland has sprung up’ – The Guardian
‘Stunning production design by Parry’ – The Stage
ROTTERDAM
2015 		Theatre503

Dir. Donnacadh O’Briain
By Jon Brittain
Nominated for 2015 Off-West End Award for Best Set Design and Best New Play

THE MAGNA CARTA PLAYS
2015 		Salisbury Playhouse

Dir. Gareth Machin
By Howard Brenton, Anders Lustgarten, Timberlake Wertenbaker & Sally Woodcock
CRUSHED SHELLS AND MUD
2015 		Southwark Playhouse

Dir. Russell Bolam
By Ben Musgrave
LESERE
2015 		Jermyn Street Theatre

Dir. Donnacadh O’Briain
By Ashley G Holloway
‘The staging’s best aspect, though, is Parry’s design, which gives this tiny theatre a new in-the-round configuration and fills it atmospherically with twisted vines, dirt and weathered wood’ – The Times

SNOW WHITE
2015 		London Children's Ballet

Dir. Lucille Briance
Choreo. Jenna Lee
POSH
2015 		Nottingham Playhouse/Salisbury Playhouse

Dir. Susannah Tresilian
By Laura Wade
Regional Premiere

MILKED
2015 		Pentabus

Dir. Elizabeth Freestone
By Simon Longman
EACH SLOW DUSK
2014 		Pentabus

Dir. Elizabeth Freestone
By Rory Mullarkey
THE NIGHTMARES OF CARLOS FUENTES
2014 		Arcola Theatre

Dir. Nicolas Kent
SOMEONE WHO'LL WATCH OVER ME
2013 		The Theatre Chipping Norton

Dir. Caroline Leslie
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
2013 		Tooting Arts Club

Dir. Bill Buckhurst
THE MISER
2013 		Watermill Theatre

Dir. Nancy Meckler
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
2012 		Taunton Brewhouse

Dir. Robert Miles
OTHER HANDS
2012 		Riverside Studios/UK Tour

Dir. James Bounds
WITHOUT YOU
2012 		Menier Chocolate Factory

Co-designer with Timothy Bird
Dir. Steven Maler
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
2012 		Yvonne Arnaud/UK Tour

Nominated for Off-West End Award
Dir. Helen Tennison
DON JUAN COMES HOME FROM THE WAR
2012 		Finborough Theatre

Nominated for Off-West End Award
Dir. Andrea Ferran
PIPPIN
2011 		Menier Chocolate Factory

Associate Set Designer to Timothy Bird
Dir. Mitch Sebastian
ELECTRIC HOTEL
2010 		Fuel Productions/Sadler's Wells

Costume Design
Dir. David Rosenberg
GUTTED
2010 		Assembly Productions

Dir. Chris George
PLUCKER
2010 		Nylon Productions/Southwark Playhouse

Costume Design
Dir. Anna G Jones
KATY BRAND'S BIG ASS LIVE SHOW
2010 		Leicester Square Theatre/UK Tour

Set Design
Dir. Ed Dick

Opera

Production Company Notes
BELONGINGS
2017 		Glyndebourne Opera

Dir. Lucy Bradley
Composer Lewis Murphy
Librettist Laura Attridge
LA LIBERAZIONE DI RUGGIERO DALL’ISOLA DI ALCINA
2015 		Brighton Early Music Festival

Dir. Susannah Waters
By Francesca Caccini
The Guardian’s Top 10 Classical Concerts and Operas of 2015
EL NIÑO
2014 		Spoleto Opera Festival

Associate Designer
Dir. John La Bouchardière
NEIGE
2013 		Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg

Dir. Catherine Kontz
IERNIN
2013 		Surrey Opera

Dir. Alexander Hargreaves
NOYE'S FLUDD
2013 		Southbank Centre

Dir. Olivia Fuchs
THE SECRET MARRIAGE
2013 		British Youth Opera

Dir. Martin Lloyd-Evans
I LOMBARDI
2013 		University College Opera

Costume Design
Dir. Jamie Hayes
AUTUMN OPERA SCENES
2012 		Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Dir. Martin Lloyd-Evans
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
2012 		Royal College of Music

Dir. Bill Bankes Jones
THE FAIRY QUEEN
2011 		Brighton Theatre Royal/Brighton Early Music Festival

Dir. Susannah Waters
CARMEN
2011 		Sadler's Wells

Community Project
Dir. James Hurley
THE MAGIC FLUTE
2010 		City Music Services, Glyndebourne

Community Project
Dir. Andrew Leveson
ALBERT HERRING
2010 		Trinity-Laban

Dir. Bill Bankes Jones
GIUSTINO
2009 		Trinity-Laban

Dir. Olivia Fuchs
CARMEN
2007 		Blackheath Opera

Dir. Bill Bankes Jones
LES DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES
2007 		Trinity-Laban

Dir. Bill Bankes Jones
E.M. Parry
E.M. Parry
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