Natalie Simone

Natalie (Nat) is a British-Italian theatre director, born and raised in Derby. She creates interdisciplinary, highly visual productions across new writing, devised work, and classical texts. Her work is defined by bold theatricality and a desire to challenge form, stirring the imagination and asking: this is what it really means to be alive. 

Nat trained as a theatre maker at East 15, and completed an MA in Directing at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where she won the E Roberts Award for Outstanding Achievement. She was nominated for Best Director at the 2023 Off West End Awards for her production of The Ugly One by Marius von Mayenburg, and was the 2024 Jerwood Assistant Director at the Young Vic. 

Nat works with leading theatres, producers, and artists across the UK, the West End, and internationally. Recent collaborations include Samuel D. Hunter’s Clarkston at Trafalgar Theatre; a new musical written by Florence Welch and directed by David Cromer; and A Streetcar Named Desire at Sheffield Theatres, nominated for a What’s On Stage Award for Best Play Revival. 

Nat has been a close collaborator of Patrick Marber. Amongst several projects, she was Associate Director and later Revival Director of the Olivier-nominated What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank. 

Most recently, she directed and adapted the critically acclaimed all-female and non-binary production of Henry V, which ran for six weeks in Bristol and was described as “Pure magic - Bristol’s cultural highlight of the year.” 

Nat works closely with young people, drama schools, and community groups, leading devised productions with The Wardrobe Ensemble at Bristol School of Acting, and directing at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, East 15 Acting School, and the Bristol Old Vic Adult Company, creating Autobiographical Work. She is also directing a large-scale devised community project across Bristol, to be performed at The Wardrobe Theatre, and has delivered Shakespeare workshops across the UK with cycling theatre company, The Handlebards. 

Nat's upcoming projects includes INTO THE PIT, a devised interdisciplinary solo show exploring the history of coal, class, and our own personal pits through performance, drag, and multimedia. 

Selected directing credits: Days of Significance (The Fire Station); Henry V (Site Specific); What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Marylebone Theatre – Revival); The Day I Got The Horn (Soho Theatre, Royal & Derngate, Tobacco Factory Theatres & Gilded Balloon); Scaffolding (Ustinov Studio & Nottingham Playhouse); Metamorphoses (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath); The Hunger (Assembly & Greenwich Theatre); The Ugly One (The Hope Theatre & The Wardrobe); The Crucible (The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath). 

Associate/assistant credits: Gatsby: An American Myth (Workshop, Dir David Cromer); Clarkston (Trafalgar Theatre, Dir Jack Serio); A Streetcar Named Desire (Sheffield Theatres, Dir Josh Seymour); Playfight (Soho Theatre, Bristol Old Vic & Belgrade Theatre, Dir Emma Callander); What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Marylebone Theatre, Dir Patrick Marber); Nachtland (Young Vic, Dir Patrick Marber); Emilia (Circomedia, Dir Sally Cookson).