CREATIVES

Philip Crawford Director

Having spent many years as an avid amateur actor, Philip trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. After a number of professional acting jobs, he soon developed a love for directing. He worked for a number of years as a newsreader and commercial voiceover artist for Downtown Radio/Cool FM and then trained as a teacher, allowing him to combine his passion for Biology and Drama. Over 15 years he directed a variety of plays in schools, including Brian Friel’s Translations, Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw, Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady and, in collaboration with the writer, a performances of Julian Mitchell’s play Francis at Wellington College, Berkshire and subsequently, in promenade form, at the Abbadia Celestina, near Assisi in Umbria. In 2009, Philip began a collaboration with actor/writer Dan Gordon, directing his play The Boat Factory. The production toured extensively across Northern Ireland, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Clwyd Theatr Cymru and The King’s Head, Islington. It also ran for 4 weeks off-Broadway at the 59E59 theatre.

For the Lyric Theatre, he project-managed Dan Gordon’s collection of Ulster Scotsinspired plays for children, Pat & Plain. Shortly after, Philip was appointed Head of Creative Learning at the newly-opened theatre, where he has since directed numerous productions including 55 Days, Eternal Love and Dr Scroggy’s War (all by Howard Brenton) as well as Caryl Churchill’s Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, The Patriot Game by Tom Murphy, Helen Edmundson’s The Heresy of Love, Dracula by Liz Lochhead and most recently Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale. His production of Davey Anderson’s, Blackout, in collaboration with the Department of Justice NI & Hydebank Wood College toured annually for 5 years and was watched by over 13,000 young people. In 2022, the Creative Learning at the Lyric was the recipient of a UK Theatre Award for Excellence in Arts Education.

ANNE BAILIE DRAMATURG & SCRIPT EDITOR

Dr Anne Bailie is passionate about teaching Shakespeare and bringing the text off the page on to the stage. She studied at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford Upon Avon with Sir Stanley Wells and Professor John Jowett before returning to Queen’s to complete her doctorate in editing Renaissance Drama. She has taught Shakespeare at both secondary and tertiary level and has collaborated with Philip Crawford and the Creative Learning Team for many years. Dr Bailie is delighted to be involved in this Shakespeare project at the Lyric.

Emma Copland Assistant Director

Emma trained at The Shakespeare Institute, Queen’s University Belfast and Lyric Drama Studio. This is Emma’s first production at the Lyric since Drama Studio.

Other theatre credits as Director: Failing Better, Belmont Road (site-specific), Winter Tales (Baron›s Court Theatre), Faster than the Flies (Black Box Theatre), Entra, Silvio (Ulster Hall Group Space), I Left My Heart (Hampden Park), Much Ado (Crescent Arts Centre), Two Gents (Crescent Arts Centre) and several youth theatre productions including Shady Business (Prissian Theatre) Emilia (Prissian Theatre), The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Prissian Theatre) Second Person Narrative (Prissian Theatre), Tristan & Yseult (Prissian Theatre) and The Boy Preference (JAGS Studio Theatre).

As Assistant Director: The Border Game (touring), Teechers (touring), Iyalode of Eti (Arcola Theatre), Titans (Titanic Belfast), A Better Boy (MV Confiance Barge) 1 in 5 (Limavady Workhouse) and Perfect (Brian Friel Theatre).