Amy McKenzie (née Gilmartin) is a Glasgow-based theatre director, assistant director and dramaturg making work across Scotland. Primarily interested in directing and developing new writing, she is drawn to work that reflects the here and now, and believes theatre should be cathartic, entertaining and thought-provoking. Amy strives to make work that is intimate, evocative and innovative, preferring to work closely with playwrights to best develop their work from page to stage.
Amy uses diverse spaces to site her work, utilising different environments in order to reach new audiences. She has been both led and assisted projects performed in pubs, community centres, schools, foodbanks, empty shop units, hotels, churches and Edinburgh Zoo, as well as across more traditional spaces including studios and main theatre spaces.
As a freelance director Amy’s work includes Scribble by Andy Edwards (the inaugural winner of the Assembly Roxy Theatre Award), which was presented in development at Traverse Theatre and for a full run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017. She also directed Warrior, written by Jennifer Adam, which has toured to schools and community centres, as well as the Citizens Theatre. Amy is the founder and Co-Artistic Director of Urban Fox Theatre. In this role she has directed and produced three productions at the Edinburgh Fringe, including Heartlands by Dave Fargnoli, which went on to be performed at the Traverse Theatre and the Kings Head Theatre.
Amy is also a script reader for the Traverse Theatre and independently. As a new writing director, she often develops and presents work in a scratch or development format, including work with female lead new writing collective Tandem. Further freelance dramaturgy work includes working with Birds of Paradise Theatre Company’s BOP Artists.
Amy is a former Leverhulme Arts Scholar and recipient of the JMK Regional Assistant Director bursary, where she assisted Orla O’Loughlin on Ross Dunsmore’s Milk, performed as part of the Traverse Theatre Festival Programme for August 2016. Amy also worked as assistant director to Joe Douglas and Maria Oller on Morna Pearson’s Dr Stirlingshire’s Discovery, a co-production between Grid Iron and Lung Ha Theatre Company in partnership with RZSS Edinburgh Zoo and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, on a bursary supported by the Federation of Scottish Theatre.
Email:
Website: www.amymckenziedirector.com
