Natalie Abrahami Explained

Natalie Abrahami is a British theatre, film and opera director. She was Associate Director and Genesis Fellow ^[1] at the Young Vic in London 2013-16 and Associate Artist at Hull Truck Theatre. From 2007–12 she was joint Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre with Carrie Cracknell.^{[2] [3]}

Career

Abrahami attended Ibstock Place School, Roehampton before sixth form at Latymer Upper School in west London.^[4] She read English Literature at Christ's College, Cambridge before joining the Royal Court Theatre as a Graduate Trainee and then continuing her training at the National Theatre Studio and the Young Vic. Abrahami was awarded the James Menzies-Kitchin Trust Award for Directors for her production of Samuel Beckett's Play and Not I.^[5] Abrahami and Cracknell were awarded a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Breakthrough Fund for Creative Entrepreneurs in 2009 to develop their vision of the Gate Elsewhere, involving co-production, touring and off-site presentations.^[6]

In 2015, Abrahami directed the debut production of Helen Edmundson's play Queen Anne for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan Theatre.^[7] In 2017, she directed the play's revival at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.^[8]

Credits

Selected directing credits include:

Theatre

• Anna created by Ella Hickson, Ben and Max Ringham, Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre 2019, cast includes; Phoebe Fox, Max Bennett, and Diana Quick.^[9]
• The Meeting by Charlotte Jones, Minerva Theatre, Chichester, Chichester Festival Theatre, 2018, cast includes: Lydia Leonard, Gerald Kyd and Jean St Clair.^[10]
• Machinal by Sophie Treadwell, Almeida Theatre 2018, cast includes: Emily Berrington, Jonathan Livingstone and Kirsty Rider.^[11]
• Wings by Arthur Kopit, Young Vic 2017, cast includes Juliet Stevenson and Lorna Brown.^[12]
• Queen Anne by Helen Edmundson, Royal Shakespeare Company 2015 and Theatre Royal Haymarket 2017, cast includes: Emma Cunniffe, Romola Garai and Beth Park.^[13]
• Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O'Neill, Young Vic 2015, cast includes: Janie Dee, George MacKay, and Martin Marquez.^[14]
• Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, Young Vic 2014 and revived 2015, cast: Juliet Stevenson and David Beames.^[15]
• After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber, Classics for a New Climate, Young Vic, 2012, cast: Natalie Dormer, Kieran Bew, and Polly Frame.^{[16] [17] [18]}
• The Kreutzer Sonata by Nancy Harris (adapted from Leo Tolstoy's novella), Gate Theatre (World Premiere 2009) and La MaMa E.T.C, New York 2012, cast: Hilton McRae, Tobias Beer, and Sophie Scott.^{[19] [20] [21] [22]}
• Yerma in a new version by Anthony Weigh – after Federico García Lorca, Hull Truck Theatre and Gate Theatre, World Premiere 2011.^{[23] [24]}
• Pericles by William Shakespeare, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, 2011.^{[25] [26]}
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, Headlong Theatre, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton and Hull Truck and Regional Tour, 2011.^[27]
• How To Be An Other Woman by Lorrie Moore (adapted by Abrahami), Gate Theatre, World Premiere 2010.^[28]
• Vanya by Sam Holcroft (inspired by Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya) Gate Theatre, World Premiere 2009.^[29]
• Guardians by Lucy Caldwell HighTide Festival, Halesworth, World Premiere 2009.^[30]
• Unbroken by Alexandra Wood (inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde) Gate Theatre, World Premiere 2009.^[31]
• Women in Love by Mark Ravenhill, site specific production, Pembridge Square, London, 2008.^[32]
• The Internationalist by Anne Washburn, Gate Theatre, UK Premiere 2008.^[33]
• The Eleventh Capital by Alexandra Wood, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, World Premiere, Winner of the 2007 George Devine Award 2007.^[34]
• Play and Not I by Samuel Beckett, Battersea Arts Centre, 2005.
• Human Rites by Amélie Nothomb, Southwark Playhouse, UK Premiere 2005.

Short films

• The Roof by Nigel Williams, A Young Vic Film, 2016, cast includes: David Lan, Peter Brook, Natalie Dormer, Noma Dumezweni, Jude Law, Sinead Matthews, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Skinner.^[35]
• MAYDAY by Nancy Harris, A Young Vic Film,^[36] 2014, cast: Juliet Stevenson, David Beames, and Tanya Moodie.
• Life's a Pitch by Olivia Poulet, A Young Vic Film, 2013, cast includes David Lan, Jane Horrocks, Rory Kinnear, and Eddie Redmayne.

Opera

• How The Whale Became by Ted Hughes, composer Julian Philips, libretto Ed Kemp, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, 2013.^[37]

External links

• United Agents profile
• Natalie Abrahami website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Genesis Fellow Young Vic website . www.youngvic.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190808134324/https://www.youngvic.org/index.php/about-us/jobs/genesis-fellow . 2019-08-08.
2. News: New faces 2008: Theatre . London . The Guardian . 29 December 2007.
3. News: It's time we got angrier . London . The Guardian . Lyn . Gardner . 20 April 2007.
4. Web site: Natalie Abrahami: In the right direction | Ink Pellet.
5. http://www.jmktrust.org/alumni/winner-2005/ Winner 2005 | The JMK Trust
6. http://www.phf.org.uk/page.asp?id=1932 Paul Hamlyn Breakthrough Fund for Creative Entrepreneurs
7. News: Sewn for the throne: The RSC's Queen Anne costumes – in pictures . The Guardian . 17 December 2015 .
8. Web site: Photoshoot Behind the Scenes | Queen Anne . .
9. Web site: ANNA. 15 January 2019.
10. Web site: The Meeting. 6 February 2022.
11. Web site: Machinal.
12. Web site: Wings.
13. Web site: Queen Anne | Royal Shakespeare Company.
14. Web site: Ah, Wilderness!.
15. Web site: Happy Days.
16. http://youngviclondon.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/classics-for-a-new-climate/ Young Vic Classics For A New Climate
17. News: Lyn Gardner . After Miss Julie – review | Stage . The Guardian . 22 March 2012. 18 August 2013 . London.
18. http://www.youngvic.org/archive/after-miss-julie Young Vic After Miss Julie
19. News: The Kreutzer Sonata, Gate Theatre, London . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-kreutzer-sonata-gate-theatre-london-1818832.html . 18 June 2022 . subscription . live . London . The Independent . Paul . Taylor . 12 November 2009.
20. News: The Kreutzer Sonata, Gate Theatre, review . London . The Daily Telegraph . Dominic . Cavendish . 12 January 2012.
21. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-kreutzer-sonata.aspx The Kreutzer Sonata
22. http://www.kreutzersonataplay.com/ The Kreutzer Sonata
23. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/review-24009491-yerma-gate---review.do Yerma, Gate – review | Theatre
24. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/show-archive/yerma.aspx Yerma
25. http://openairtheatre.org/production/pericles-reimagined View Production :: Open Air Theatre
26. News: Pericles – review . London . The Guardian . Michael . Billington . 11 July 2011.
27. http://www.headlongtheatre.co.uk/productions/production_details.php?Title=A_Midsummer_Nights_Dream_&production_id=26 Headlong – Exhilarating, provocative and original touring theatre :
28. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/show-archive/how-to-be-an-other-woman.aspx How To Be An Other Woman
29. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/show-archive/vanya.aspx Vanya
30. http://www.hightide.org.uk/index.php?id=77 HighTide Festival Theatre: Guardians
31. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/show-archive/unbroken.aspx Unbroken
32. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/show-archive/shoot/-get-treasure/-repeat.aspx Shoot/ Get Treasure/ Repeat
33. http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/show-archive/the-internationalist.aspx The Internationalist
34. http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-eleventh-capital The Eleventh Capital at The Royal Court Theatre
35. Web site: The Roof.
36. Web site: Mayday.
37. Web site: Technical error.