ABOUT US
Illumine Theatre is a collaboration between Cardiff playwright Lisa Parry and award-winning director Zoë Waterman. We make theatre and audio drama with new writing at its core, work which reveals stories hidden in plain sight – stories all around us that we are too busy to notice. We aim to encourage debate, make work for everyone and reach out to overlooked audiences.
We formed Illumine in early 2016 after more than a decade of working together intermittently on various projects, notably at Theatre503, the Arcola and Arch468.
Lisa Parry
Lisa's play NOT was recently selected by the RSC for its 37 Plays project. Previous stage work includes The Merthyr Stigmatist (Theatre Uncut/Sherman, published by Nick Hern Books), The Order of the Object (Theatr Clwyd), 2023 (Illumine, Chapter with extracts later performed at The Barbican), Lump (Dirty Protest, Paines Plough). Screen work includes Inside The Piano Shop (Hyperobject Studio for The Impact feature film) and audio work includes Tremolo (Illumine, Theatr Genedlaethol - shortlisted for best original single drama in the BBC Audio Awards 2023).
A TEDx speaker on the relationship between theatre and science, Lisa is a previous writer-in-residence at Theatr Clwyd and her work has been staged by leading new writing companies in the UK and USA, including The Miniaturists and PopUp Theatrics. Her work has also been produced at:The Other Room, Wales Millennium Centre, Theatre 503, The Arcola, TACT Studio (Broadway, NYC), The Arches, Bridewell Theatre London and Martin E Segal Theatre (NYC).
Zoë is co-director of Illumine Theatre. She was the associate director of the New Vic Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent 2018-19 and won the New Wimbledon Theatre's Emerging Directors Award in 2007.
Theatre includes: 2023 and Tremolo (Illumine Theatre); Jane Eyre (The Stephen Joseph Theatre and The New Vic); The Borrowers, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Remarkable Invisible, The Vertical Hour, Enlightenment and Shining City (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick); The Bogus Woman (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick and UK tour); Intemperance, Table, Playhouse Creatures and The Kitchen Sink (The New Vic); Dick Whittington, Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping Beauty (Theatr Clwyd); The Rubenstein Kiss, Amy's View and After Miss Julie (Nottingham Playhouse); Swan Song: An Evening of Music and Song (The Swan, RSC); Rhymes Live! (UK tour); Aladdin (The Capitol, Horsham); Cinderella, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty (Loughborough Town Hall); The Demand (Shooting Fish Theatre Company); Dick Whittington, Cinderella and Aladdin (The Maltings, Berwick-Upon-Tweed); The Promise (New Wimbledon Theatre Studio).
Zoë Waterman