{"id":27,"date":"2021-05-23T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=27"},"modified":"2026-10-15T23:58:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T22:58:02","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=27","title":{"rendered":"About Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Owen\u2019s belief in the power of artists to shape the way in which we see the world has driven his career in the arts.\u00a0 He is Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds<\/a>.\u00a0 Prior to this Owen was Head of Theatre and Artist Development at Ovalhouse<\/a> in London (2016-2020) and Artistic Director of The Point<\/a> and The Berry<\/a> Theatres in Hampshire (2013-2016). In 2009 Owen established Arcola Theatre<\/a>\u2019s award-winning Creative Learning Department, which he ran for four years. Owen has also worked for York Theatre Royal<\/a>, The Courtyard Centre for the Arts<\/a> and Theatre Royal Plymouth<\/a>. As Vice Chair of the National Association of Youth Theatres<\/a>, Owen helped to shape the future of youth theatre in England for six years from 2007-2013.\u00a0 Owen was a board member of The Wrong Crowd<\/a> theatre company for four years.<\/p>\n

Director credits include: Switzerland<\/a>, And Then Come The Nightjars<\/a>, Steve & Steff For Ever<\/a>, A Tryal of Witches<\/a>, Aladdin<\/a>, Dorothy Back in Oz<\/a>, Snow White<\/a>, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/a>, The Children<\/a>, The Legend of Robin Hood<\/a>, The Secret Garden<\/a>, Home, I’m Darling<\/a>, Cinderella<\/a>, Holes<\/a>, Around The World in Eighty Days<\/a>, A Christmas Carol<\/a> (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); Murder in Play (Aldeburgh Classic Theatre); Random Selfies<\/a> (Ovalhouse);\u00a0Beauty and The Beast<\/a> (Derby Arena);\u00a0Little Red Riding Hood<\/a>\u00a0(Chelsea Theatre);\u00a0Across The Dark Water<\/a>,<\/span> Jack<\/a> and <\/span>Pinocchio<\/a> (The Berry Theatre); <\/span>Around the World in Eighty Days<\/a>, <\/span>Boy with a Suitcase<\/a> and <\/span>Walking the Tightrope<\/a> (Arcola Theatre); and <\/span>I am a Camera<\/a> (Rosemary Branch – nominated for Best Director Off West End Awards).<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Producer, Owen has commissioned plays by Javaad Alipoor<\/a>, Angela Clerkin<\/a>, Nick Makoha<\/a>, Guleraana Mir<\/a>, Ambreen Razia<\/a> and Annie Siddons<\/a>.\u00a0 He is committed to supporting, nurturing and developing artists at all stages of their career. In 2019 Owen produced The Demolition Party<\/a>: a radical collaboration between artists and engineers, which invited artists to destroy a theatre through performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Owen is excited by work that takes place outside of traditional theatre spaces, challenging audience\u2019s 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<\/a> every night in order to stage Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.<\/p>\n

Owen\u2019s international work, including his project The Uncommercial Traveller<\/a> (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).<\/p>\n

Read The Stage’s article on Owen’s transformation of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read Owen’s The Stage article on supporting New Writing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read Owen’s The Guardian article on supporting artists<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch Owen’s speech at the APAC conference 2015<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n

Agent:<\/strong>
\nKelly Knatchbull
\nSayle Screen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Owen\u2019s belief in the power of artists to shape the way in which we see the world has driven his career in the arts.\u00a0 He is Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.\u00a0 Prior to this Owen was Head of Theatre and Artist Development at Ovalhouse in London (2016-2020) and Artistic Director of The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7eK2W-r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":556,"url":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=556","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":0},"title":"The Children","author":"rosannamiles@hotmail.com","date":"March 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"We are looking at a Director at the top of his game in Owen Calvert-Lyons, whose vision as Artistic Director is rejuvenating this grand institution of performing arts in the town, enriching the programme at the Theatre with bold, challenging shows such as this one...it\u2019s quite simply a phenomenal piece\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/078.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/078.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/078.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/078.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/078.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":649,"url":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=649","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":1},"title":"And Then Come The Nightjars","author":"rosannamiles@hotmail.com","date":"March 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds 6 -21 March 2026 \"a rather special piece of theatre, wonderfully put together by the production team and director, Owen Calvert- Lyons, and given real heart by the two performers. If you love dramatic theatre, you\u2019ll love this.\" - Suffolk On Stage Creative Team Writer\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THEATRE-ROYAL-NIGHTJARS-75_060326_%C2%A9tomsoperphotography-website-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THEATRE-ROYAL-NIGHTJARS-75_060326_%C2%A9tomsoperphotography-website-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THEATRE-ROYAL-NIGHTJARS-75_060326_%C2%A9tomsoperphotography-website-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THEATRE-ROYAL-NIGHTJARS-75_060326_%C2%A9tomsoperphotography-website-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THEATRE-ROYAL-NIGHTJARS-75_060326_%C2%A9tomsoperphotography-website-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=667","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":2},"title":"Switzerland","author":"rosannamiles@hotmail.com","date":"October 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds 9 -24 October 2026 \"Under Owen Calvert-Lyons\u2019 assured direction, these elements converge in a meticulously crafted production that understands the seductive power of storytelling.\" UK Theatre Network Creative Team Writer \u2013 Joanna Murray-Smith Designer \u2013 Richard Kent Lighting Designer \u2013 Sally Ferguson Sound Designer \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-Fourth-Wall-Photography-129-copy.jpeg?fit=1200%2C644&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-Fourth-Wall-Photography-129-copy.jpeg?fit=1200%2C644&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-Fourth-Wall-Photography-129-copy.jpeg?fit=1200%2C644&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-Fourth-Wall-Photography-129-copy.jpeg?fit=1200%2C644&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-Fourth-Wall-Photography-129-copy.jpeg?fit=1200%2C644&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":324,"url":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=324","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":3},"title":"A Christmas Carol","author":"rosannamiles@hotmail.com","date":"December 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds December 2020 Written by Charles DickensAdapted by Owen Calvert-Lyons & Ian JarvisDesigner Heidi McEvoy-SwiftComposer David LewingtonPuppet Maker John BarberLighting Designer Dave Thwaites Cast:Matthew CavendishMelissa LoweRebecca PeytonHoward SaddlerPaul Sandys An outdoor production staged outside the iconic Angel Hotel, where Charles Dickens composed The Pickwick Papers. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Christmas Carol\"","block_context":{"text":"A Christmas Carol","link":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?tag=a-christmas-carol"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/088-Miss-Evesham-Mrs-Goodhugh-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/088-Miss-Evesham-Mrs-Goodhugh-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/088-Miss-Evesham-Mrs-Goodhugh-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/088-Miss-Evesham-Mrs-Goodhugh-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/088-Miss-Evesham-Mrs-Goodhugh-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30,"url":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=30","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":4},"title":"Boy with a Suitcase","author":"rosannamiles@hotmail.com","date":"June 16, 2010","format":"gallery","excerpt":"\"praise should go to an excellent cast and production team, especially director Owen Calvert-Lyons who on this evidence is doing excellent work at the Arcola - I wish there had been theatre like this when I was a kid.\" Remote Goat Arcola Theatre June 2010 Playwright: Mike Kenny Designer: Neil\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC_8565copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC_8565copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC_8565copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC_8565copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/DSC_8565copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":176,"url":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/?p=176","url_meta":{"origin":27,"position":5},"title":"The Uncommercial Traveller","author":"rosannamiles@hotmail.com","date":"June 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This collaboration between Arcola Theatre and immersive theatre company Punchdrunk, worked with community performers to transform an empty Hackney shop into a Dickensian soup kitchen.\u00a0 The resulting project toured to Cape Town, Karachi, Melbourne and Singapore. \"With a large team of Hackney-based\u00a0performers from all walks of life, directors Owen Calvert-Lyons,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_1635.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_1635.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_1635.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/IMG_1635.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Aladdin-rehearsal-Owen-Directing-%C2%A9tomsoperphotography_25-website-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.owencalvertlyons.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}