Biography
Photo: Ben Wulf
Elayce Ismail works in the UK and internationally as a freelance director, writer and dramaturg. She is currently developing new operas with companies including the Royal Opera House, Britten Pears Arts/ENOA, Glyndebourne and Music Theatre Wales.
Other recent work includes directing GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT for HighTide/Shakespeare’s Globe and in an audioplay version; THE OTHER WOMAN audioplay for Audible; and THE GLASS EYE, a new song cycle she wrote with composer Alex Ho, which premiered at Oxford International Song Festival in October 2023.
Elayce’s work encompasses theatre (new writing, contemporary adaptations of classic texts and devising), opera, staged concerts, film, puppetry, community and participatory work. In 2020, Elayce joined Cardiff-based opera company Music Theatre Wales as Artistic Associate, leading on commissioning artists and working as dramaturg across all of MTW’s New Directions and Street Art Opera projects.
Elayce has directed theatre for companies including the National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Young Vic, Gate, Royal Court, Northern Stage, Soho Theatre and Deutsches Theater Berlin. She has directed opera for companies including the Royal Opera House and English National Opera. She has created puppetry for companies including Kneehigh and the Unicorn Theatre; film for the Young Vic and Theatertreffen Berlin; and digital music works for Music Theatre Wales/London Sinfonietta, Streetwise Opera and OperaVision.
Elayce’s writing includes AMAZON for spoken voice, OUR DARK SIDE AND THE MOON for spoken voice and soprano, and THE GLASS EYE for countertenor. Elayce also works as a dramaturg and she has previously been a script reader for the National Theatre, Royal Court, Headlong and Donmar Warehouse..
Alongside her freelance work, Elayce has extensive experience of working as a director in building-based theatre companies. She was Head of New Work at the Donmar Warehouse (maternity cover) in 2020; Associate Director at Northern Stage in Newcastle in 2017/2018, under the inaugural RTYDS Associate Director scheme, where she directed UNDER MILK WOOD and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. She was Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio as the recipient of the JP Morgan Award for Emerging Directors in 2014/2015, under which she directed THE RISE AND SHINE OF COMRADE FIASCO at the Gate. And in 2013, Elayce was a Jerwood Assistant Director at the Young Vic, assisting Joe Wright on A SEASON IN THE CONGO.
Elayce regularly creates work for and with young people and children, and has directed community and learning projects for companies including the Young Vic, NT, Gate, Almeida, Roundhouse, ENO, London Symphony Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia. She teaches performance, puppetry and directing in workshops and on courses for all ages; for amateurs, students and professionals.
Elayce trained at LISPA in London, graduating in 2009 from the two-year Creating Theatre and Performance postgraduate course. The training follows a Jacques Lecoq pedagogy and focuses on devising and physical theatre. She has also studied clown at École Philippe Gaulier in Paris, and holds an MA in Film Studies and a BA Hons in French and Italian, both from UCL.
Prior to training at LISPA, Elayce worked as a performer and in theatre production for companies including Complicite, and founded and co-ran site-specific Offstage Theatre from 2005-2009. After leaving LISPA, Elayce worked as a performer and puppeteer for companies including Oily Cart, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Complicite / ENO, before focusing on directing.
Elayce was on the board of SDUK (Stage Directors UK) from 2017-2021, is a former Associate Artist of Boundless Theatre and is a Jerwood Artist Adviser.
Awards & Nominations
As Director
Inaugural RTYDS Associate Director, 2017/2018
National Theatre JP Morgan Award for Emerging Directors, 2014/2015
Finalist - Young Vic Genesis Award, 2014
Finalist - Les Enfants Terribles Award, 2014
Productions
SHEDDING A SKIN - nominated for 3 Off West End Theatre Awards 2022, including Best Production
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS - nominated for Performance of the Year, Journal Culture Awards 2019
GIRLS - selected for the British Council Showcase at the Edinburgh Festival 2017
GIRLS - nominated for Alfred Fagon Audience Award 2017
THE RISE AND SHINE OF COMRADE FIASCO - nominated for 5 Off West End Theatre Awards 2015, including Best Director
Other
Elayce was awarded a Big Boost Award for Social Entrepreneurship by UnLtd. for HOME, Offstage Theatre’s maiden production in 2006
Selected Credits
THEATRE
Direction
GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT (HighTide tour / Shakespeare’s Globe)
THE OTHER WOMAN (Audible)
CALVINO NIGHTS (Minack Theatre)
SHEDDING A SKIN (Soho Theatre)
LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE (Donmar Warehouse)
CONSENT (LAMDA)
IF NOT NOW, WHEN? (National Theatre, Dorfman)
NANJING (Shakespeare's Globe, 2018 / Royal Exchange Manchester, Birmingham Rep 2019)
UNDER MILK WOOD (Northern Stage)
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (Northern Stage & tour)
GIRLS (Talawa / HighTide / Soho Theatre / British Council Edinburgh Showcase & tour)
NANJING (The Yard, 2016)
SPOOKY ACTION AT A DISTANCE (Royal Court / RWCMD / Gate Theatre)
THE IPHIGENIA QUARTET: CHORUS (Gate Theatre)
THE RISE AND SHINE OF COMRADE FIASCO (Gate Theatre / National Theatre)
THE LOST RING: FOOD FOR THE SOUL (National Theatre / Deutsches Theater Berlin)
TREASURE ISLAND: MAKING A SCENE (National Theatre, The Shed)
STAY ANOTHER SONG (Young Vic)
SIMPATICO (Young Vic)
WHEN I AM QUEEN (Almeida)
THE TRIAL OF HAMLET (Shakespeare Schools Foundation Gala, Wyndham’s Theatre)
THE TRIAL OF RICHARD III (Shakespeare Schools Foundation Gala, Novello Theatre)
STRUGGLE (Talawa Firsts, London & Bristol Somali Festivals)
Associate/Assistant Direction
THE SOUND OF YELLOW (Young Vic, dir. Matthew Xia)
A SEASON IN THE CONGO (Young Vic, dir. Joe Wright)
COMING HOME (Arcola Theatre, dir. Cordelia Monsey)
Puppetry Direction
DIARY OF A MADMAN (Gate Theatre / Traverse)
DR KORCZAK'S EXAMPLE (Unicorn Theatre)
FAST BURN (Kneehigh / National Youth Theatre)
MUSIC & OPERA - live & digital
Creation/Direction/Librettist
CYBORG ÉTUDES (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival - librettist / dramaturg)
THE GLASS EYE (Oxford International Song Festival - writer)
4:48 PSYCHOSIS (Ensemble intercontemporain, Cité de la Musique - Philharmonie de Paris; concert - director / lighting)
OUR DARK SIDE AND THE MOON (Royal Opera House; digital project - creator / librettist / narrator)
AMAZON (Music Theatre Wales / London Sinfonietta / HOME Manchester; digital project - creator / librettist / narrator)
ESSENTIAL BUSINESS (#operaharmony; digital project - director)
THEY WHISPER DON’T GAZE AT THE STARS, BUT THEY DON’T TELL US WHY (ENO Baylis - director)
4:48 PSYCHOSIS (Opéra national du Rhin - revival director)
Associate/Assistant Direction
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier, dir. Ted Huffman)
DIE WALKÜRE (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall; concert - dir. Ted Huffman)
4:48 PSYCHOSIS (Royal Opera House / Lyric Hammersmith, dir. Ted Huffman)
THE VIRTUES OF THINGS (Royal Opera House, dir. Bijan Sheibani)
DRAMATURGY - live & digital
OUT OF TIME (MTW - street art opera)
RAHMAT-MERCY-TRUGAREDD (MTW - street art opera)
INTERBEING (MTW - digital opera)
GRIEF (MTW - digital opera)
UNTOLD (Muziektheater Transparant / Tangram, dir. Julia Cheng & composer Alex Ho - live opera production and winner of FEDORA Opera Prize 2023)
THE MOUNTAINS WE CLIMB (Guildhall School of Music & Drama/Barbican - live theatre production)
THE JOLLOF HOUSE PARTY (MTW - digital opera)
PRIDE (A LION’S ROAR) (MTW - digital opera)
SOMEHOW (MTW - digital opera)
UNSEEN (Streetwise Opera - digital opera)
MONUMENTS (Donmar Warehouse, dir. Sara Aniqah Malik - short film)
OTHELLOMACBETH (Lyric Hammersmith, dir. Jude Christian - live theatre production)
FILM
Direction
NANJING (Theatertreffen Stückemarkt 2021, writer Jude Christian)
SIMONE (Young Vic: MY ENGLAND, writer Lynette Linton)
PERFORMANCE includes
THE MAGIC FLUTE (Complicite / English National Opera, dir. Simon McBurney)
RING-A-DING-DING (Oily Cart, dir. Tim Webb)
IN A PICKLE (Oily Cart / Royal Shakespeare Company, dir. Tim Webb)
PRODUCING includes
OFFSTAGE THEATRE (founder / co-artistic director / producer)
OLD VIC: NEW VOICES (producer on 24 HOUR PLAYS)
SWEETPEA PRODUCTIONS (assistant producer on SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION)
COMPLICITE (administrative co-ordinator, including on the international tour of A DISAPPEARING NUMBER)