Fiona Laird


Fiona Laird is a British theatre, television, and radio director, writer, composer, and lyricist. In 2013, responding to UK cuts in performing arts education, Laird founded the National Youth Theatre Arts Trust.

Biography

Laird grew up in Ely, Cambridgeshire, where her father was an educator and her mother a musician. She attended King's Ely and holds a BA in Philosophy from University College London. She has directed plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, The Old Vic, the Royal Court Theatre, the Welsh National Opera. Notable productions include Stephen Fry's Cinderella at the Old Vic, Oh, What a Lovely War! for the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2018 production of The Merry Wives of Windsor., for which she also composed much of the music.
In 2009, Laird directed the live television performance of The Turning Point by Michael Dobbs, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as spy Guy Burgess. The production was part of the Sky Arts Theatre Live! Series, which won the Broadcasting Press Guild Best Multichannel Programme Award.

Directing for theatre (selected)