"Directed with a mix of high energy and subtle sensitivity" The Stage
"Amy Gilmartin’s direction makes clever use of a difficult space and ensures movement and fluidity" All Edinburgh Theatre
"Braw Fox Theatre’s production feels unapologetic in its opinions – though it gave a platform to those who may disagree – and was executed with humour" The Wee Review
As a director, I use diverse spaces to site my work, utilising different environments to tell different stories and reach audiences in new ways. I have 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, my 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. I also directed Warrior, written by Jennifer Adam, which has toured schools and community centres, as well as the Citizens Theatre. I am the co-artistic director of Braw Fox Theatre, alongside Jo Rush. In this role, I have directed and produced three productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including Heartlands by Dave Fargnoli, which went on to be performed at the Traverse Theatre and the Kings Head Theatre in London.
If you are interested in working with me as a director I’d love to hear from you, you can contacted me via amymckenzieprojects@outlook.com.
EXAMPLES OF WORK AS A DIRECTOR:
Scribble by Andy Edwards
Andy Edwards and Amy Gilmartin
Directed by Amy Gilmartin
Produced by Rachel D'Arcy
Music by Blair Coron
Design by Jenny Booth
CAST: Alan MacKenzie
GUEST PERFORMERS (in order of appearance): Catherine Elliott, Neil John Gibson, Joseph Brown, Lana Pheutan, Daniel Cameron, Vivien Reid, Pauline Lockhart, Kirsty Eila McIntyre, Robin Heiler, Nicola Jo Cully, Roanna Davidson, Nicola Roy, Sean Langtree, Cristian Ortega, Sophia McLean, Kane Power, Rosalind McAndrew, Clare Marcie, Nicole Cooper, Maria Oller, Kim Allan, David Kirkwood, and Samuel Jameson
Performed at Assembly Roxy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017 (August 2017). In development performance presented at the Traverse Theatre, as part of Traverse Hothouse 2016.
Winner of Assembly Roxy Theatre Award
Bran flakes, anxiety, and gravity. The smallest moments in history. The largest events in the universe. Blink and you’ll miss it. A scribble in the chest. Based on experiences both real and imagined, Scribble is an exploration of the complexity of obsession and compulsion and supermarkets.
★★★ The List
★★★★ FringeBiscuit
★★★★ EdFrinngeReview
Heartlands by Dave Fargnoli
Urban Fox Theatre Company
Directed and produced by Amy Gilmartin
Featuring original music by Rebecca Herd
Associate Director: Jo Rush
Music Director: Joseph Brown
CAST: Clare Ross and Joe Johnson
Performed at the Kings Head Theatre (November 2015), Hometown Tour (performances in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Sanquhar - November 2015), Traverse Theatre, as part of Traverse Hothouse (October 2015) and Sweet Grassmarket, Edinburgh Festival Fringe (August 2015).
When things fall apart...you go back home. Swept up in a public scandal, jaded humanitarian Charlie rehashes the past and hashtags his way to the moral high ground. Dark, daft, and subversive, Heartlands asks if optimism always has to break your heart.
★★★★ Scotsman
★★★★ Stage
★★★★ Broadway Baby
★★★★ TV Bomb
★★★★ All Edinburgh Theatre
★★★★ Fringe Guru
Safeword by Dave Fargnoli
Urban Fox Theatre Company
Directed and produced by Amy Gilmartin
CAST: Clare Ross, Samuel Jameson, Ro Diamond and Joseph Brown
(original cast included Joe Johnson)
Performed at the Traverse Theatre, as part of Traverse Hothouse (October 2014), and Sweet Grassmarket, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 (August 2014).
Everybody lives a double life. For some, it's a game. For anxious artist Isobel, it's self-preservation. A dark, daft fairytale of trust, truth, lust, and love, Safeword is a true story, only every word is a lie.
★★★★ Three Weeks
★★★★ All Edinburgh Theatre
★★★★ The Reviews Hub
Warrior by Jennifer Adam
Black Dingo Productions
Directed by Amy Gilmartin
CAST: Euan Brockie, John Love, and Deborah Whyte
(original cast included Adam Tomkins and Marilyn Wilson)
Performed at the Citizens Theatre (March 2016), Discover 21 (March 2015), the Just Festival (August 2014), as well as school tours in 2015 and 2016.
16-year-old Evan lives in a different world. A world where he can ignore unwanted attention and shut off from the harsh reality of high school. But when his world is threatened, he reacts hastily, with drastic consequences.
Detailing the time between his arrest for leaving anti-Catholic comments online and the day of his trial, Warrior explores the aftermath of blind - not bigoted - ignorance of sectarianism in Scotland.
★★★★★ Broadway Baby
★★★★ All Edinburgh Theatre
★★★★ Inside One Mind
Miss Julie by August Strindberg
Black Dingo Productions
Adapted by Jen McGregor
Directed by Amy Gilmartin
CAST: Kirsty Eila McIntyre, Debbie Cannon, and Gerry Kielty
(original cast included Dave McFarlane)
Performed at the History Festival (November 2014), the Storytelling Centre (August 2014), and Discover 21 (June 2014).
Caught up in the heady magic of Midsummer Eve, Miss Julie invades the world of her servants. She drags her father’s valet, Jean, into a sexually charged encounter that is part seduction, part power struggle, and part self-destruction.
★★★★ All Edinburgh Theatre
Globophobia by Dave Fargnoli and Lindsay Miller
Urban Fox Theatre Company
Directed and produced by Amy Gilmartin
CAST: Joseph Brown, Ro Diamond, Hazel DuBourdieu, Samuel Jameson, Alan MacKenzie, Clare Ross and Kimberly Sinclair
(original cast included Brian Houston, Shona Mathison, Ashley McLean and Des O’Gorman)
Performed at the Old Hairdressers, Discover 21 (November 2013), and Sweet Grassmarket, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013 (August 2013).
Shortlisted for the Scottish Artichoke Award
Seven characters share stories of anxiety, coincidence, and missed connections. Dark, daft, and sometimes devastating, Globophobia explores common and uncommon fears and wonders what the hell we’re meant to do about them anyway.
★★★★★ Three Weeks
★★★★ Broadway Baby
EXAMPLES OF WORK AS AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:
Dr Stirlingshire’s Discovery by Morna Person
Directed by Joe Douglas and Maria Oller
Grid Iron and Lung Ha Theatre Company in partnership with RZSS Edinburgh Zoo and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh (part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival)
(Bursary supported by the Federation of Scottish Theatre)
1st – 9th April 2017
CAST: Lung Ha Company, Pauline Lockhart, Neil John Gibson, and Anthony Strachan
★★★★ Edinburgh Guide
★★★★ List
Milk by Ross Dunsmore
Directed by Orla O’Loughlin
Traverse Theatre
(Bursary supported by JMK Trust)
5th – 28th August 2016
CAST: Tam Dean Burn, Ryan Fletcher, Melody Grove, Helen Mallon, Cristian Ortega, and Ann Louise Ross
★★★★★ Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
★★★★★ Edinburgh Guide
★★★★★ British Theatre
★★★★ The Scotsman
★★★★ The Telegraph
Tech Will Tear Us Apart (?) (Breakfast Plays) by Tim Price, Morna Pearson, Rob Drummond, and Stef Smith
Directed by Orla O’Loughlin, Rosie Kellagher, Emma Callander, and Zinnie Harris
Traverse Theatre
16th – 28th August 2016
CAST: Cristian Ortega, Molly Innes, Keith Macpherson, Keith Fleming, Victoria Liddelle, Martin Mccormick, and Kirsty Stuart
★★★★★ British Theatre Guide
★★★★ Fest Magazine
★★★★ The Scotsman
★★★★ Three Weeks