Francesca Goodridge

Francesca is a Welsh, working class theatre director and was previously Associate Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd. 

Later this year Francesca will direct the inaugural production for Welsh National Theatre, Our Town, starring Michael Sheen in a co-production with the Rose Theatre and with creative associate Russell T Davies.  Later this year she will co-direct the revival of Nye by Tim Price alongside Rufus Norris for the National Theatre and Wales Millennium Centre. 

Francesca creates multi discipline, non-naturalistic theatre that champions unheard voices. She is interested in extraordinary real-life stories from everyday people. She enjoys working with new writing and reimagined classics and her work usually incorporates music and movement. 

She trained at the National Theatre Directors Course and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She was the first recipient of the 18-month Carne Traineeship for directors in Wales, mentored by Tamara Harvey, and prior to that was Trainee Director at The Other Room in Cardiff. 

Francesca was selected for the inaugural Warner Brothers Discovery Access programme in partnership with Waterloo Road and the BBC, developing female directors for screen. Francesca was chosen as one of the Development Artists for the RSC being mentored by writer and director Robert Icke and renowned international theatre company Cheek by Jowl. 

Upcoming productions include Snake in the Grass (Theatr Clwyd/Bolton Octagon); Nye (National Theatre/Welsh Millennium Centre); Worn Out (BYMT/The Lowry); and a new all-female musical, Miss Wales, which was a recipient of the National Theatre Studio's Generate Programme, selected for BEAM showcase 2023 and commissioned by Theatr Clwyd. 

Selected credits include Rope, Sleeping Beauty: A Rock ’n’ Roll Panto, A Pretty Sh*tty Love, Truth or Dare, Once Upon a Christmas (Theatr Clwyd); Faustus: That Damned Woman (Storyhouse Theatre); The True Adventures of Marian and Robin Hood, The Brothers Grimm Presents 'Cinderella' (Barn Theatre); Rapunzel: A Rock ’n’ Roll Panto (Liverpool Everyman); Sorter (Swansea Grand Theatre); The Crocodile (Cornerstone Theatre); Adam and Eve and Steve (King’s Head Theatre); Shout! The Mod Musical (Royal Court Liverpool); Let The Right One In (Leeds City Varieties); Constellations (RWCMD); Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again, Philistines, Posh (LIPA); The Future (National Youth Theatre of Wales); Carousel (Mountview).