JAKE.SMITH
THEATRE DIRECTOR, DRAMATURG& CULTURAL LEADER
About
Jake Smith is Artistic Director and CEO of Eastern Angles, Arts Council England’s National Portfolio touring theatre company for the East of England. He leads the organisation with equal creative vision and commercial acumen, strengthening financial resilience while expanding artistic reach through an ambitious programme of produced work.
A highly skilled director, Jake works across bold new writing, musicals, and timeless classics, creating theatre that is emotionally truthful, structurally precise, and theatrically vivid. His work spans intimate rural touring to the West End and major regional stages.
Directing credits include Beauty and the Beast (New Wolsey Theatre), Teechers (New Wolsey Theatre & Eastern Angles), Stones in His Pockets (Eastern Angles), Into the Woods (Southwark Playhouse), We Aren’t Kids Anymore (Savoy Theatre), and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
His UK premiere of Halley Feiffer’s I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard received an Off West End Award nomination for Best Director.
Jake has a sharp dramaturgical eye and is deeply committed to developing playwrights and new work. He works closely with writers to shape story, structure, and theatrical language, and is an accomplished writer and adaptor. His adaptations include A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, and the forthcoming Oliver Twist – The Boy Who Wanted More.
Text licensing: Bronia@bba.management
His work is rooted in place, powered by story, and built to last.
Jake is a Governor of Handford Hall Primary School, a Trustee of the Oxford School of Drama, and an Industry Advisor Board Member at the University of East Anglia.
Forthcoming:
It Comes in Waves (James McDermott)
The Go-Between (Ben Musgrave adaptation)
Oliver Twist – The Boy Who Wanted More (Jake Smith adaptation)
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