Omar Elerian

Omar is a freelance director, dramaturg and theatre-maker.

Italian of Palestinian descent, Omar trained in Italy and then graduated from Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris.

He was the resident Associate Director at the Bush Theatre for a number of years, where his credits include smash-hit Misty by Arinzé Kene (Bush, West End and Off Broadway), NASSIM by Nassim Soleimanpour (Bush, Traverse Theatre and world tour), Going Through by Estelle Savasta and Islands by Caroline Horton. Outside the Bush, he directed Olivier nominated show You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy  by Caroline Horton and co-created acclaimed site-specific show The Mill: City of Dreams with Madani Younis for Freedom Studios. His most recent directing credits include The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner by Syrian playwright Mudar Alhaggi at Factory International, The Chairs and Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco at the Almeida Theatre, the Olivier nominated two Palestinians go dogging by Sami Ibrahim and ECHO by Nassim Soleimanpour at the Royal Court, Nowhere by Abdalla at BAC and As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

He won Best Director for Rhinoceros at the Almeida Theatre at the London Standard Theatre Awards. His production of Kohlhaas (based on Heinrich von Kleist’s novella) starred Arinzé Kene and opened at the Brighton Festival to amazing reviews.