Owen’s belief in the power of artists to shape the way in which we see the world has driven his career in the arts. He is Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds. Prior to this Owen was Head of Theatre and Artist Development at Ovalhouse in London (2016-2020) and Artistic Director of The Point and The Berry Theatres in Hampshire (2013-2016). In 2009 Owen established Arcola Theatre’s award-winning Creative Learning Department, which he ran for four years. Owen has also worked for York Theatre Royal, The Courtyard Centre for the Arts and Theatre Royal Plymouth. As Vice Chair of the National Association of Youth Theatres, Owen helped to shape the future of youth theatre in England for six years from 2007-2013. Owen was a board member of The Wrong Crowd theatre company for four years.
Director credits include: The Children, The Legend of Robin Hood, The Secret Garden, Home, I’m Darling, Cinderella, Holes, Around The World in Eighty Days, A Christmas Carol (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); Murder in Play (Aldeburgh Classic Theatre); Random Selfies (Ovalhouse); Beauty and The Beast (Derby Arena); Little Red Riding Hood (Chelsea Theatre); Across The Dark Water, Jack and Pinocchio (The Berry Theatre); Around the World in Eighty Days, Boy with a Suitcase and Walking the Tightrope (Arcola Theatre); and I am a Camera (Rosemary Branch – nominated for Best Director Off West End Awards).
As a Producer, Owen has commissioned plays by Javaad Alipoor, Angela Clerkin, Nick Makoha, Guleraana Mir, Ambreen Razia and Annie Siddons. He is committed to supporting, nurturing and developing artists at all stages of their career. In 2019 Owen produced The Demolition Party: a radical collaboration between artists and engineers, which invited artists to destroy a theatre through performance.
Owen is excited by work that takes place outside of traditional theatre spaces, challenging audience’s perceptions of what theatre is and what it does. He has created radical site-specific productions in spaces including a ruined abbey, an urban wheatfield and a multi-story car park. During the national lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic, Owen transformed a car-park into an outdoor theatre every night in order to stage Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Owen’s international work, including his project The Uncommercial Traveller (developed in collaboration with immersive theatre company Punchdrunk Enrichment), has been presented at the Karachi Literature Festival (Pakistan), The National Playwriting Festival (Melbourne, Australia) and the Infecting the City festival (Cape Town, South Africa).
Read The Stage’s article on Owen’s transformation of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
Read Owen’s Guardian article on supporting artists
Watch Owen’s speech at the APAC conference 2015
Agent:
Kelly Knatchbull
Sayle Screen