Karen Simpson

13 Jan 2015

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Karen trained at Bretton Hall and has taught at a range of Universities and Drama Schools prior to joining Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds as its Director in 2013. She had also been Artistic Director of two touring companies and the Education and Creative Development Director for The Crucible, Sheffield.

Directing credits: Some Like it Hotter (Watermill Theatre/Fresh Glory); Vertigo, Jungle Book, Loving April, Hansel and Gretel, River’s Up, Peach Boy and Alice in Wonderland (Oxfordshire Theatre Company); Handful of Henna (Rasa Theatre and Sheffield Theatres) Battina and the Moon, The Minotaur, Eyecatcher, Leopard, The Sound Collector, The Magic Book, Jago’s Box, Warrior Square and The Jazz Conductor (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield); The Ugly Duckling (Nottingham Playhouse) and Nanna’s Nightingale (Haymarket Theatre, Leicester).

Karen founded new writing company, Action Transport Theatre for which she produced and directed over 60 productions.  She has also directed open-air productions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Comedy of Errors and Midsummer Night’s Dream, two community plays; The Pool of Dreams and The Big Ditch; and a number of family Christmas shows including The Snow Queen, Pinocchio, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperors New Clothes, ‘1001 Nights’ and Gawain and the Green Knight.

Radio credits: Young Voices (BBC Radio Sheffield).