Susie
MacDonald
Freelance Theatre Director
Recent
Projects
‘A Midsummer Night's Dream…
(sort of)’,
King Edward’s School Witley, November 2022
A new Musical inspired by the classic Shakespeare tale.
Four lovers, a pair of Pucks and a troupe of scouts walk into a forest…
In collaboration with Sam MacDonald (Musical Director, Composer and Arranger), I wrote and directed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream…(sort of)’.
This production was very generously supported by King Edward’s School Witley.
With a cast, band and crew of 35 students aged 11 - 18 years old, this was just such a joy to make.
This marks the second Shakespeare play I have adapted for young people (previously Twelfth Night).
Colossal
Soho Theatre 2023, Perth Fringe 2023, Edinburgh Fringe festival 2022
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'What's the best part of a story?'
A one-man comedy play about love stories, and how we tell them. Combining sketch comedy, gig theatre and spoken word, Colossal is an hour of dynamic theatre which navigates the maze of modern relationships, from the first date to the last text, from falling headfirst to falling apart.
"Colossal is a veritable smorgasbord of theatrical stylings; spoken word, comedy, music, storytelling, all pressed into this perfect nucleus of theatrical brilliance.
Director, Susie MacDonald, has somehow taken everything that’s going on and distilled it into pure perfection.
If you only see one show at Edinburgh this year, make sure it’s Colossal”
Theatre Weekly
"An inventive and essential slice of storytelling"
The LIST
"Hilarious, engrossing and surprising in equal measures."
WHYNOW
you wake up / octopus
SPRINT FESTIVAL, Camden People's Theatre March 2022
An immersive audio-visual, branching narrative created by you: a newly awakened octopus on a journey to the centre of the earth /or/ distant space to find your missing mother.
you wake up / octopus is an ethereal and moving exploration of identity, gender, loss and (re)discovery performed in collaboration with its audience.
A new play by ariella como stoian exploring the unrealities of magical, corrosive grief and loss through a queer lens.
"With a compassionate and delicately woven script from Ariella Como Stoian, seamless and nuanced directing from Susie MacDonald and shining atmospheric design from Zygmund de Somogyi this is a captivating and endlessly surprising production that should be seen by all. It's one thing to portray grief on stage, but to articulate it so finely and powerfully is a testament to their powers of storytelling."
Matthew Jameson, Deputy Director at The Space Theatre
To be a bat
London Horror Festival, The Space, October 2021
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Original Shakespearean text re-imagined in a modern day festival setting : live music, rave parties and drunken shenanigans.
A cast of over 30 students aged 13 – 17.
Live band, dancing, and gig theatre.
Twelfth Night
King Edward’s School Witley, November 2021
Finding Percy Erebus
An allegorical journey of an 8-year-old child after the death of their best friend, Percy, featuring clowning, puppetry, original music and magic.
We developed Finding Percy Erebus over several months working with various specialists including a child psychologist and a magic consultant. The play received 5 star reviews and we hope to tour it in the coming year.
Arts Council England Funded Research and Development created by Elephant Talk Theatre, in partnership with Applecart Arts and the charity Child Bereavement UK, 2021
“The beautifully interspersed moments of humour and playfulness remind us that there can be joy and hope even in the darkest of times”
★★★★★Theatre Weekly
The Emoji Project is an intergenerational, participatory anthology of new writing responding to emojis as an ever-evolving, nuanced language.
A collaboration between 10 playwrights, 3 directors and a cast of 8 actors.
The Emoji Project
The Hen & Chicken’s Theatre, August 2021
Your Unfortunate Servants
The National Archives, July 2021
A radio play written in residence at The National Archives in collaboration with In Their Own Write: a research team funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Inspired by letters detailing the plight of Welsh paupers in a Victorian Workhouse under the New Poor Law.
Created in a lockdown, we rehearsed and recorded remotely.
