JAKE.SMITH
THEATRE DIRECTOR, DRAMATURG& CULTURAL LEADER
About
I am Jake Smith, Artistic Director and CEO of Eastern Angles, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and the touring theatre company for the East of England. I lead the company with a balance of artistic flair and strategic focus, having grown income streams, and expanded creative provision through Youth Theatre, Young Company, and new community engagement programmes.
As a director, my work spans intimate rural tours, the West End, and major regional theatres. Productions include Stones in His Pockets, Into the Woods (Southwark Playhouse), We Aren’t Kids Anymore (Savoy Theatre), and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. My UK premiere of Halley Feiffer’s I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard earned an Off West End Award nomination for Best Director. Stylistically, I bring a blend of emotional depth, structural precision, and bold theatricality—valuing collaboration with actors to unlock truth, rhythm, and connection.
I am deeply committed to playwright development, from working closely with new writers to adapting classics with wit and economy, including A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, and the forthcoming Oliver Twist - The Boy Who Wanted More. Whether in musicals, new writing, or classics, my goal is to create theatre that is rooted in place, alive with story, and made to endure.
Forthcoming:
It Comes in Waves (A new play by James Mcdermott), Beauty and the Beast (New Wolsey Theatre), The Go Between (In a new adaptation by Ben Musgrave).
Portfolio
THE TIMES ****
"Just when it looked as though theatre-makers had exhausted every possible angle on the Brothers Grimm's best-known tale, along comes this vibrant, big-hearted and fresh slice of festive fun at Northern Stage. The production, directed by Jake Smith and Katy Weir, has an anarchic spirit that's all its own."
CINDERELLA: A FAIRYTALE
THE STAGE ****
"It's hard to do a fresh take on such a familiar and (oft satirised) story but under the sure hand of Jake Smith, the production strikes a nice balance of having enough self-aware humour to make the whole thing fun, without undermining the essential spookiness of the tale."
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
WHATS ON STAGE ****
"Jake Smiths perfectly pitched UK premier [...] is beautifully wrought in Smith's finely acted production [...] a blazingly impressive piece of writing immaculately staged and acted to the hilt."
I'M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD