Introducing Katy Weir, associate director of our community production of A Tale of Two Cities, which takes place in November at Central Hall, Darlington, where Charles Dickens himself read in 1858. 

Katy is Joint Artistic Director of Darlington-based Odd Man Out. She has been an associate director with the National Youth Theatre for eight years. She also works closely with the Shakespeare Schools Festival, Barnstorm Theatre and Odd Arts (Criminal Justice System).

Recent directing credits include The Duke in the Cupboard (The Customs House) Mike Kenny's The Messenger (research & development, Barnstorm Theatre) and From There To You, From Here To Me (Northern Stage, Odd Man Out).

Katy has recently been in South Africa directing at The Market Lab, part of The Market Theatre's drama programme. She has also been commissioned by Barnstorm Theatre to make a new piece of work to tour nationally in 2017.

In July 2016 she was part of the Assitej On The Edge:Next Generation programme, supporting future theatremakers for young people's work on a world stage.

Born in Carlisle, Katy grew up in Durham and studied with the Northumberland Theatre Company in Alnwick. Now based in Durham, she is 'so excited to work on a project based in the North-East', adding:

Cultural engagement is so important and to work with such a great creative company is an exciting project for the next two months. I think this is such a brilliant novel and the play really captures the essence of Dickens' writing. We are living in a time in which people do seem to want to speak up, young people want to decide their future, and all of this parallels with the story.


See A Tale of Two Cities on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November.