Sarah Frankcom

Sarah Frankcom is an English theatre director. She has been an artistic director of the Manchester Royal Exchange (theatre) since 2008.^[1]

Early Life

Sarah Frankcom was born in Sheffield in 1968. She studied at Westfield College which was a constituent college of the University of London and then at Goldsmith's College, London where she obtained her PGCE. ^[2]

Career

After working as a drama teacher in the East End, she started working with new writers and drama schools. She spent time at the National Theatre Studio, Oval House and The Red Room and taught at the Poor School.She originally joined the Royal Exchange as literary manager in 2000 before becoming an associate artistic director and then artistic director in 2008. With the departure of Greg Hersov in 2014 she became the sole artistic director. ^[3]

Productions

Royal Exchange

Her credits include:^[4]

• Snapshots by Fiona Padfield. World premiere directed by Braham Murray and Sarah Frankcom with Terence Wilton (Mar 2000)
• The Ghost Train Tattoo by Simon Robson. World premiere directed by Braham Murray and Sarah Frankcom with Terence Wilton, Joanna David and Gabrielle Drake (Mar 2000)
• Habitat by Judith Thompson (May 2002)
• Moonshed by Aisha Khan (Jun 2003)
• Across Oka by Robert Holman (Oct 2003)
• The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright with Denise Black (MEN Award), Emma Lowndes and Roy Barraclough (Feb 2004)
• Basil and Beattie by Linda Brogan with Eileen O’Brien and Whyllie Longmore (May 2004)
• Kes by Barry Hines with Andrew Garfield (MEN Award), William Beck and Jane Hazlegrove (Oct 2004)
• Rutherford & Son by Githa Sowerby with Maurice Roëves, Maxine Peake, Daniel Brocklebank and Jonas Armstrong (Feb 2005)
• On the Shore of the Wide World by Simon Stephens (Olivier Award). World Premiere with Nicholas Gleaves, Siobhan Finneran (MEN Award) and Eileen O’Brien (April 2005)
• Christmas is Miles Away by Chloe Moss. World premiere (2007)
• Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan with Nigel Cooke, Claire Holman, Alexandra Matthie and Ian Barritt (June 2006)
• Mary Barton adapted by Rona Munroe with Kellie Bright, Roger Morlidge and William Ash (Oct 2006)
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee with Barbara Marten and Philip Bretherton (Apr 2007)
• Pretend you have Big Buildings by Ben Musgrave directed with Jo Combes(Jul 2007)
• Strawgirl by Jackie Kay (Nov 2007)
• The Adoption Papers by Jackie Kay (Nov 2007)
• The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman with Maxine Peake (MEN Award), Charlotte Emmerson and Kate O'Flynn (TMA Award) (Mar 2008)
• Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov with Emma Cunniffe, Lucy Black and Beth Cooke (Sep 2008)
• See How They Run by Philip King with Nick Caldecott, Laura Rogers and Kate O'Flynn (Dec 2008)
• Punk Rock by Simon Stephens (MEN Award) with Jessica Raine (MEN Award) and Tom Sturridge (MEN Award and Critics' Circle Award) (Oct 2009)
• Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward with Annette Badland, Suranne Jones and Milo Twomey (Dec 2009)
• The Lady from the Sea by Henrik Ibsen with Neve McIntosh and Reece Dinsdale (Oct 2010)^[5]
• A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller with Con O'Neill and Ian Redford (June 2011)
• Miss Julie by August Strindberg with Maxine Peake (Manchester Theatre Awards) as Miss Julie, Joe Armstrong as Jean, Liam Gerrard as the fiddler and Carla Henry as Kristin (April 2012)
• Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams with Imogen Stubbs as Lady Torrance, Val Xavier as Luke Norris and Jodie McNee as Carol Cutrere (November 2012)
• The Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley with Maxine Peake for the Manchester International Festival(July 2013)
• That Day We Sang by Victoria Wood with Anna Francolini as Enid and Dean Andrews as Tubby (December 2013)
• Blindsided by Simon Stephens with Julie Hesmondhalgh as Susan Heyer, Andrew Sheridan as John Connolly, Katie West as Cathy Heyer, Jack Deam as Isaac Berg and Rebecca Callard as Siobhan Hennessy (January 2014)
• Hamlet with Maxine Peake as Hamlet, John Shrapnel as Claudius/Ghost, Barbara Marten as Gertrude, Gillian Bevan as Polonia, Katie West as Ophelia and Claire Benedict as Marcella/Player King (September 2014)
• The Skriker by Caryl Churchill. Commissioned and produced with the Manchester International Festival with Maxine Peake as The Skriker (July 2015)
• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams with Maxine Peake as Blanche DuBois, Ben Batt as Stanley Kowalski, Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Stella Kowalski and Youssef Kerkour as Harold Mitchell (October 2016)

Other Theatres

• The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder by Matt Charman at the National Theatre with Sorcha Cusack and Adam Gillen (2007)

References