Rachel O’Riordan

Rachel O’Riordan is Artistic Director and CEO of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre where she launched her critically acclaimed debut season in Autumn 2019 with a triumphant adaptation of A Doll’s House by Tanika Gupta.

She recently directed an acclaimed revival of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.  Her most recent collaboration with Gary Owen was on Romeo & Julie at the National Theatre which is currently in development for a film adaptation. She also directed the sold-out remount of Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric, which was featured as one of The Guardian’s 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century and was Number 1 in The Guardian’s Top 10 Theatre Productions of 2022, Other Lyric shows include: co-directing the Lyric’s 2020 post covid  reopening production Out West;  Timberlake Wertenbaker’s seminal play Our Country’s Good, which saw Timberlake revisit the play for the first  time; Love,  Love, Love by Mike Bartlett, in the 10 year anniversary revival; Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane with Chichester Festival Theatre. Previously, she was Artistic Director and CEO of Sherman Theatre, Wales and transformed the venue which won The Stage’s  Regional Theatre of the Year Award under her leadership. Directing credits include: the Olivier Award-winning Killology, Bird, The Cherry Orchard  and Iphigenia in Splott. She was Artistic Director of Perth Theatre, Scotland between 2011 and 2014 and won The Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best Director and Best Ensemble for The Seafarer by Conor McPherson. From 2002 to 2011, she co-founded and ran Ransom Productions in Northern Ireland. This year, she will direct End, by David Eldridge for the National Theatre.