Marie McCarthy
Marie McCarthy is a director and theatre-maker based in London and is currently the Artistic Director of the multi-award-winning Omnibus Theatre. ​​
Following several years as an actor Marie retrained gaining an MA in Theatre Directing (Birkbeck, University of London) where she won the Sir Peter Cheeseman award for achievement and innovation.​​
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Lighting Ensemble Theatre Company
​Marie was a founder member of Lightning Ensemble Theatre Company and registered charity, created in 1995 to provide a platform for writers, directors and actors to develop new writing and explore collaborative cross art form practice. It was relaunched as a producing company from 2006 - 2013 under co-artistic directorship with Sarah Weatherall creating site responsive theatre in a variety of locations, responding to the challenges of the individual space. ​​
Omnibus Theatre
In 2013, she became Artistic Director of Omnibus Theatre, a multi-award-winning independent theatre in Clapham, South London. Finalist in the Stage Awards, Fringe Theatre of the Year 2020 and 2023, Off-West End Award winner 2018 and 2020, and recipient of the Peter Brook/Royal Court Theatre Support Award in 2016. She was nominated Best Director in the 2023 OFFIE awards for Compositor E.​​
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The heart of the organisation’s ambitious programme lies in classics re-imagined, modern revivals and new writing. Omnibus Theatre also provides a platform for LGBTQ+ work and aims to challenge perceptions and give voice to the underrepresented.
Since opening in 2013 notable inhouse productions include Woyzeck (2013), Macbeth (2014), Colour (2015), Mule (2016), Spring Offensive (2017), Zeraffa Giraffa (2017), Queens of Sheba (2019), The Little Prince (2019), RICE! (2021), The Human Connection (2021), The Girl who was very good at Lying (2021), FIJI (2022), SAD (2022), DRUM (2022), Compositor E (2023) and Ice at the End of the World (2024).