Director . Dramaturg.
In rehearsal with DSM Honor Klein (photography credit Helen Murray)
Zoë Templeman-Young trained as an actor at RADA before becoming a freelance director. She was the first and youngest Jerwood Assistant Director at the Young Vic to be made an Associate Director on the same production (Hamlet, 2021). Whilst there, she was also a visiting Director and Dramaturg on The Collaboration (wr. Anthony McCarten, dir. Kwame Kwei-Armah) and commissioned and directed a new play from Marina Carr, DEMETER (Five Shorts, Claire Studio).
She has been an Associate Director at the RSC and Barbican (Twelfth Night, dir. Prasanna Puwanarajah), Riverside Studios (Interview, dir. Teunkie Van Der Sluijs) and was Richard Twyman’s Assistant Director at the Kiln Theatre.
She has been shortlisted for JMK Director Award and was the Artistic Director and co-creator of the award-winning, female-led verbatim company Écoute Theatre.
As a dramaturg her main interest is new work, and developing stories alongside writers from the very start of their journey. She has developed theatre, TV and film work with writers for the last decade including Bryony Lavery, Jessica Swale, Marina Carr and Lily Bevan.
Zoë has also worked with devising processes, clowning and puppetry to create new stories.
She is a published playwright with the verbatim play Take Care (Nick Hern), which was adapted into an online series during Covid with a 20 + cast that included Lia Williams and Saffron Coomber. She is a verbatim specialist and has taught verbatim technique at schools, colleges and drama schools around the country.
Zoë is a mentor for actors, directors and writers looking to enter the industry at any age. She works with TWWR, providing a network for refugees to access the arts.