Lynette Linton is a BAFTA nominated writer and director for theatre, TV and film, and is the Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre. She was Associate Director of the Gate Theatre from 2016 to 2017 and the Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar Warehouse until February 2018. She won Best Director at the Evening Standard Awards 2022. She was nominated for a BAFTA in 2023 in the Emerging Talent: Fiction category, for her work as director on MY NAME IS LEON. She is currently developing screen projects with Avalon Entertainment, Home Team Content, and Wychwood Media. She is also a co-founder of production company Black Apron Entertainment.
Theatre credits:
SHIFTERS 2024
Director
The Bush Theatre
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The Times
“Grounded in cultural specifics but universal in its appeal, Shifters is a mercurial, quick-witted yet poetic examination of love, memories and grief. The premise may suggest something of almost rom-com banality but the result, in the Bush artistic director Lynette Linton’s wonderfully deft, engaging and charismatically-acted production, is anything but.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The Guardian
“The play’s structure has clever loops, but alongside this overarching concept is real heart, soul and the everyday tragedy of long-lost first loves.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The Telegraph
“An exquisitely poetic, warm-hearted romance between two lonely souls.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – TimeOut
“The chemistry between the leads is cosmic. When they finally kiss, the fire that fills the room is dizzying. This is a romance overflowing with heart.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- London Theatre Reviews
“It’s heart-wrenching. It’s unapologetically romantic and is the black love story that’s been missing from the stage.”
CLYDE’S 2023
Director
Donmar Warehouse
The sequel to the West End hit SWEAT, by Lynn Nottage.
★★★★ The Guardian, The Stage, The Telegraph, WhatsOnStage
“This is a vivid, life-enhancing play, full of heart, hope and humour, that suggests that whatever life throws at people, they can and will, if they cling on tenaciously enough, travel through to the next, better stage of human existence. Linton’s production is a real beauty. You’ll come out beaming…and possibly craving a really excellent sandwich.” – WhatsOnStage
AUGUST IN ENGLAND 2023
Co-Director with Daniel Bailey
The Bush Theatre
The playwriting debut of legendary British actor and comedian, Lenny Henry.
★★★★★- The Guardian
★★★★ – The Times, Evening Standard, The Stage, iNews, TimeOut
“Co-directors Daniel Bailey and Lynette Linton give Henry’s script plenty of room to breathe with an unhurried, uncluttered staging, adding just a few stylised touches to energise the production.” – The Stage
Blues for an Alabama Sky 2022
Director
National Theatre
Winner – Best Director Evening Standard Awards 2022
★★★★★ – Broadway World, iNews
★★★★ – The Guardian, Financial Times, Evening Standard, The Telegraph, TimeOut, The Stage, WhatsOnStage
“There’s such fun, while it lasts, in Lynette Linton’s beautifully cast, restrainedly musical production, which holds you both transfixed by the social shenanigans within the house while yearning for more of the dangerous glamour outside the window.” – The Guardian
House of Ife 2022
Director
The Bush Theatre
★★★★ – The Evening Standard
CHIAROSCURO 2019
Director
The Bush Theatre
★★★★★ – The Evening Standard.
RICHARD II 2019
Director
The Globe
Co-directing with Adjoa Andoh
★★★★ – The Times, The Guardian, The Observer, The Stage, WhatsOnStage, Time Out, Evening Standard
“Exciting, fresh-thinking theatre, performed from the gut and piercing straight to the heart” – The Times
SWEAT 2018
Director
Donmar Warehouse
Written by Lynn Nottage
★★★★★ – Observer, The Guardian, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Time Out
“Lynette Linton’s superbly calibrated production excels from start to finish” – The Guardian
“directed by Linton with control and sensitivity” – The Stage
FUNCTION 2018
Director
National Youth Theatre
Written by Sophie Ellerby
THIS IS 2018
Director
Arts Ed
Written by Roy Williams
ASSATA TAUGHT ME 2017
Director
Gate Theatre
Written by Kalungi Ssbandeke
ASSATA: SHE WHO STRUGGLES 2015
Director
Young Vic
Written by Kalungi Ssbandeke
CHICKEN PALACE 2015
Director
Theatre Royal Stratford East
NAKED 2015
Director
The Vault Festival
Written by Jessica Burgess
THIS WIDE NIGHT 2014
Director
Albany Theatre/ Stonecrabs
Written by Chloe Moss
HASHTAG LIGHTIE 2017
Writer
Arcola Theatre Directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair
Writer and producer
Currently under option to Mainstreet Pictures for TV
CHICKEN PALACE 2015
Writer
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Directed by Lynette Linton and Marcus Ellard
Writer and producer
STEP 2013
Writer
Theatre Royal Stratford East/various schools
Directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair
Film and TV Credits:
MY NAME IS LEON 2022
Director
Douglas Road Productions/Ringside Studios/BBC
90’ Single Film for BBC 2 based on Kit de Waal’s debut novel
Nominated – Emerging Talent: Fiction, BAFTAs 2023
Winner – Best TV Movie, C21 Drama Awards 2022
Winner – Best Single Drama, ITalkTelly Awards 2022
★★★★★ – The Guardian.
“My Name is Leon is an astounding, transfixing film… If awards don’t follow then the world isn’t right,” Lemn Sissay, OBE.
LOOK AT ME 2020
Director
Greenacre Films
As part of ITV’s Unsaid Stories collection.
Assistant/Associate Director credits:
THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE 2018
Noel Coward Theatre
Directed by Michael Grandage
THE YORK REALIST 2018
Donmar Warehouse
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
Directed by Rob Hastie
BELLEVILLE 2017
Donmar Warehouse
Directed by Michael Longhurst
LADY FROM THE SEA 2017
Donmar Warehouse
Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
KNIVES IN HENS 2017
Donmar Warehouse
Directed by Yael Farber
TORN 2016
Royal Court
Directed by Richard Twyman
THE VIEW FROM THE MOON- LIVE LUNCH 2016
Royal Court/ Birmingham Rep
Directed by Hamish Prie
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP 2016
Donmar Warehouse
Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
THE CHRISTIANS 2015
The Gate, Traverse
Directed by Christopher Haydon
IMAGE OF AN UNKNOWN YOUNG WOMAN 2015
The Gate
Directed by Christopher Haydon
GUTTED 2013
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Directed by Rikki Beadle- Blair
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