joyful, electric, genre-defining direction
Graduating from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2020 with a distinction in MA Advanced Theatre Practice, Lu was nominated for both the Saville Scholarship and the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund as Director/Theatre Maker.
Lu enjoys directing new work that is both playful and thought-provoking. Her work is often clown, often queer, always pointed and always collaborative. She likes to use joy to empower audiences, be it to open discussions, take action or simply experience agency.
Projects
THE AXIOM OF CHOICE
2024 - Director
Oxford Playhouse, India Tour
‘The quartet move around the simple set with balletic confidence and bring zest to a production which is occasionally reminiscent of Tom Stoppard.’
★★★★ Stage Talk Magazine
‘a delightfully odd piece of ensemble theatre’
Daily Info
Writer & co-director - Marcus du Sautoy
Movement director - Shane Shambu
Producer - Claire Gilbert
Lighting design - Rachel Sampley
Sound design & composition - Nick Gilbert
Set design - Bronwen Herdman
Movement consultant - Ekleido
Performers - Joseph Prowen, Shipra Jain, Clive Mendus, TJ Sulaiman
THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS
2025 - Director
2024 - Director
Etcerera Theatre
Writer - Tava Cornish
Producer - ANTS Theatre & Tava Cornish
Lighting - Venus Raven
Sound - Lu Descourtier
Performers - Eva H Lee, Natasha Warren
Hugh Cornish, Pip Franks
MOST NOTORIOUS THE MUSICAL
2024 - Director
The Bedford Theatre, Wandsworth Fringe
‘it’s incredible to see such a polished new musical in a Fringe setting. Undoubtedly, we will see this musical grow in the next few years.’
★★★★ The Reviews Hub
‘I doubt it won’t soon become a Broadway or West End classic.’
WAF Reviews
Music & lyrics - Ollie Clark
Book - Lou Waller
Choreographer - Millie Gmaj
Fight choreographer - Adam Filipe
Lighting design - Amy Mawer
Costume design - Molly Stapleton
Wardrobe - James Dance
Performers - Florence Russell, Lou Waller, Greg Arundell,
Vivek Sharma, Luke McCulloch, Eleanor Cobb, Pip Franks
BELINDA
2023 - Dramaturg
VAULTS Festival, Stanley Arts Centre, Camden People’s Theatre
‘expertly and deeply experimental’
★★★★ Everything Theatre
Writers - Amy-Rose Edlyn & Emilia Nurmukhamet
Producer - Bold Mellon Collective
Projection design - Ruby Ingleheart
Lighting design - Venus Raven
Sound design - Vika Vinnikova and Dear Annie
Creative support - Udoka Okonkwo, Yourssra Manlaykhaf and Maddie Mellon
Performers - Amy-Rose Edlyn, Emilia Nurmukhamet
SAME, SAME, BUT DIFFERENT
2023 - Dramaturg
The Bread & Roses Theatre, Clapham Fringe
‘a wholesome and genuinely compassionate portrayal of a modern, queer family, that leaves the audience with a smile on their face.’
★★★★ London Theatre Reviews
Writers - Megs Kumari & Em Thane
Producer - Unnamed Friend Productions
Director - Toni Roberts
Performers - Megs Kumari, Em Thane
THE AXIOM OF CHOICE
2021-2022 - Director
Oxford University
Writer & co-director - Marcus du Sautoy
Movement director - Shane Shambu
Producer - Claire Gilbert
Lighting design - Rachel Sampley
Sound design & composition - Florian Bell
Performers - Tom Chapman, Shane Shambu, Clive Mendus, Diana Vallverdu i Cabrera
QRUMPET
2022 - Theatre Maker
Camden People's Theatre, Rotunda Theatre, Brighton Fringe, Cornerstone Arts, Cheltenham Science Festival, Omnibus Theatre (2021)
★★★★★
"an absurd farce that is unlike anything one is likely to see on stage anywhere else"
Scott Mathewman for The Reviews Hub
Makers - ANTS Theatre, Andy Owen Cook, Mischa Jones, Ines Collado
Producer - Belisa Branças & ANTS Theatre
Performers - Eva H Lee, Diana Vallverdu i Cabrera, Ines Collado,
Paul Hernes Barnes, Lu Descourtier, Andy Owen Cook
WE STILL FAX
2021-2022 - Theatre Maker
Watford Palace Theatre, UK Tour
"the most original piece of theatre you'll experience in 2021, locked-down or not"
★★★★★ The Upcoming
Makers & Producer - ANTS Theatre
Performes - Diana Vallverdu i Cabrera, Zhaolin Zhou,
Qiu Xu, Eva H Lee, Lu Descourtier, Paul Hernes Barnes
Jacqueline Wilson is Gay
2022 - Director
Above The Stag, Vauxhall
Writer - Lee Lauren
Producer - Bold Mellon Collective
Lighting design - Rachel Sampley
Performers - Megs Kumari
TRIPLE
2021 - Director
The Space Theatre, Golden Goose Theatre
★★★★★ The Crumb
★★★★ London Pub Theatre Reviews
‘fearless’ Lou Reviews
Writer - Lee Lauren
Producer - ANTS Theatre
Set design - Amy-Rose Edlyn
Lighting & projection design - Rachel Sampley
Performers - Ayesha Griffiths, Katja Quist
FLATNESS AND DEPTH R&D
2021 - Co-Director
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Writer & Co-Director - Nick Wood
FROGS AND TOADS
2021 - Director
TRAMSHED
Creator - ANTS Theatre
Performers - Qiu Xu, Zhaolin Zhao, Eva H Lee, Paul Hernes Barnes
THESE THINGS ARE SENT TO TRY US V2
2021 - Director
Radio Play
Writer - Emma Bentley
Producer - Emma Bentley
Sound Design - Karis Minor
Performers - Shaofan Wilson, Wendy Craig,
Dan Wye, Polly Jordan, Aneurin Rees
GOOD VIBES ONLY
2021 - Director
Radio Play - Spotify
Writer - Marisa Torres
Producer - CAKE Theatre
Performer - Talia Kracauer
THESE THINGS ARE SENT TO TRY US
2020 - Director
Radio Play, Distracted Rat - Apple / Spotify
Writer - Emma Bentley
Producer - Distracted Rat
Sound Mixing - Tilney Brune
Performers - Dominic Varney, Lexie McDougell, Emma Bentley
BLIND TRUST
2020 - Director
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Writer - Luke Gerson
Producer - CSSD New Writing Night
Performers - Timothy Green, Talia Kracauer, Felix Kai
TANGLED TALES
2020 - Assistant Director
Barking and Dagenham Libraries and Schools Tour
Director - Elgiva Field
Design - Matt Hutchinson
Sound Design - Joseph Payne
Producer - Theatre-Rites
Performers - Teele Ustani, Jack Benjamin
A LONG ASS TIME
2019 - Co-director
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Writer - Cal Lane
Co-director - Octavia Fox
Producer - CSSD New Writing Night
Performers - Tess Musky-Goldwyn, Natasha Wright
THEATRE-RITES
2018-19 - Assistant Producer
Shows included: Beasty Baby (Tobacco Factory),
Siyanda (Kew Gardens), Incredible Tale of Robot Boy (Schauspielhaus Bochum), Big Up (Oldham Library; Albany Theatre, Deptford; The Grand, Blackpool; Stratford Circus Arts Centre; z-arts, Manchester)
Artistic Director - Sue Buckmaster
Executive Producer - Claire Templeton
Project Manager - John Johnston
THE LISTENING ROOM
2019 - Producer
Theatr Clwyd, The Lowry, CAST, Lighthouse Poole, Northern Stage and UK Tour
★★★★★ The Reviews Hub
Creator - Harriet Madeley
Director - Max Barton
Sound design - Jethro Cooke
Set design - Georgia De Grey
Company - Crowded Room
Performers - Archie Backhouse, Cathy Tyson,
Mark Knightley, Harriet Madeley, Bruce Kitchener
REFUGE IN HARMONY
2018 - Producer
Opera Holland Park
Director - Ruth Mariner
Composer - Laura Bowler
Set design - Amy Rose-Edlyn
Company - British Red Cross, Opera Holland Park
Performers - BRC Young Refugees, Nicola Said,
Nick Garrett, Rosie Middleton, Joanna Harries
OPERA HOLLAND PARK
2017-18 - Inspire Producer
International Opera Awards 2018 - Best Outreach & Education, Inspire
BroadwayWorld UK Award 2018 - Theatrical Event of the Year - Grenfell Memorial Gala, Opera Holland Park
Director of Opera - James Clutton
Associate Producer - Imogen van Sanvoort
Associate Producer - Monique Foulger
Associate Producer - Miriam Verghese
COOKIES
2016-17 - Assistant Producer
Theatre Royal Haymarket
★★★★★ Everything Theatre
Writer - Emily Jenkins
Director - Anna Ledwich
R&D director - Guy Unsworth
Movement director - Natasha Khamjani
Set design - Frankie Bradshaw
Lighting design - Elliot Grigg
Sound design - Max Pappenheim
Projection design - Nina Dunn
Producer - Rhiannon Newman-Brown
Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust
Performers - Rujenne Green, Shala Nyx, Cristal Cole
Leaphia Darko, Makir Ahmed, Bradley Cumberbatch, Joe Pierson
Portfolio
2025
The Devil’s in the Details
Eat Me R&D
2024
Most Notorious
The Devil’s in the Details
Axiom of Choice
2023
Belinda
Same, Same, But Different
2022
Qrumpet
Axiom of Choice
Jacqueline Wilson is Gay
We Still Fax
2021
Triple
Qrumpet
Flatness and Depth R&D
Frogs & Toads
Good Vibes Only
These Things Are Meant to Try Us
2020
These Things Are Meant to Try Us
Blind Trust
Tangled Tales
2019
A Long Ass Time
The Listening Room
2018
Refuge in Harmony
2017
Cookies
2016
Will Tuckett’s Nutcracker
CONTACT
lucy.descourtier@outlook.com | +44 7772 085 433
antstheatre@gmail.com | antstheatre.com