Photo by Charlotte Cullen
André (he/him) is an Edinburgh-Based, Maltese Theatre Director and Theatre-Maker. He directs and creates Theatre which is playful, experimental, full of risk-taking and feels inherently European.
André works across different styles and genres, from new-writing to contemporary re-tellings and modern classics. Still, he is especially interested in contemporary restagings, adaptations and re-inventions of classical texts.
André works on stripping the original text to its bare essence, exposing and bringing to the surface the moral dilemmas, themes and relationships; making them relevant to a contemporary audience.
He is praised for his razor-sharp pace, dialogue and deeply layered characters, strong visual and aural coherence, and his bold and inventive directorial style in which visual agility and magic realism go hand in hand in a very exciting way. André seeks to challenge, excite and entertain audiences.
Born and raised in Malta, André first started training as an actor; starting to work in the industry at the age of seven. André went on to act in shows in both Malta and also Internationally, in theatres such as the Arcola Theatre, English Theatre in Frankfurt and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. While on film, he has played main or featured roles in CBS, BBC and Paramount films.
At the age of 23, he decided to shift from acting to directing, with a unique style and approach, to direct the way “he used to enjoy being directed as an actor”, with the director as a collaborator within the rehearsal room.
André has been Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival‘s EXPO Funded Scotland Through Time Shows, Associate Director to Wils Wilson on David Greig's 'Two Sisters' at the Lyceum Theatre and Assistant Producer on the Royal Lyceum Theatre's 'Wonder Festival' . He has directed the show Utter Filth at the Traverse Theatre and has regularly directed for ‘A Play, A Pie & A Pint’ including the ‘Impromptu at Òran Mór’ by Morna Pearson, after Moliere and Tamam Shud by Thomas Jancis.
In Malta, he has directed mainstage shows that include the 5-star "Delicious and Brutal" God Of Carnage by Yazmina Reza for the National Theatre of Malta, A Translation of Harold Pinter’s The Hot House for the National Theatre Company (Teatru Malta), David Hare’s Skylight, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt with the original orchestrations for Malta’s National Philharmonic Orchestra and has also served as a dramaturg on a production for the National Dance Company, Żfin Malta. He has also been Assistant Festival Manager of the ŻiguŻajg International Festival for Arts Festival for Children & Young People and Assistant Artistic Director of The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Opening Ceremony and Artistic Events.
André has also directed shows that have premiered at the Sharjah Heritage Days in Dubai, The Robert Lewis Stevenson Festival and the Babel International Theatre Festival in Romania.
André holds an MFA in Directing from Edinburgh Napier, under the mentorship of Mark Thomson, A BA (Hons) in Theatre Studies from the University of Malta and a Diploma in Speech and Drama from Trinity College. He has also trained at Rose Bruford College, Odin Teatret in Denmark and at the István Örkény Theatre in Budapest.
Represented by:
Simon Ash
NR1 Creatives LTD
simon@nr1creatives.com
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2020 : Masters of Fine Arts in Directing – Edinburgh Napier University
2017 : Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Theatre Studies – University of Malta
2014 : Acting Summer School – Rose Bruford College (UK)
2013 : Diploma (ATCL) in Speech and Drama – Trinity College London (UK) -
2016 : Facing-The-Gap Youth Exchange (Budapest)
2015 : Odin Teatret – Odin Festival (Denmark)
1998 – 2013 : Masquerade Performing Arts School – Training in Drama, Singing and Dance
2005 : Marinando Festival (Italy) -
The National Arts Awards – Il-Premju għall-Arti, Malta
2020 : Winner of the Young Artist of the Year Award
2020 : ‘Watts in the Dark’ Winner of the Audience Choice Award
2020 : ‘Watts in the Dark’ Nominated for the Best work for Young Audiences
2019 : ‘Nominated for Young Artist of the Year Award’
2019 : ‘Is-Serra’ Nominated for ‘Audience Choice Award’
2019 : ‘Skylight’ Nominated for ‘Audience Choice Award’Ħolqa European Theatre Festival, Malta
2018 : ‘Watts in the Dark’ which won the ‘Creativity and Originality Award.’
Trinity College London, UK
2012 : gained the highest mark in Europe in his Grade 8 TRINITY (UK) Exam
2012 : gained the highest mark in Malta, in TRINITY (UK) Grade 8 Speech and Drama exam
2011 : gained the highest mark in Malta, in his TRINITY (UK) Grade 7 Speech and Drama examBank of Valletta Drama Award, Malta
2011 : won the Bank Of Valletta (BOV) drama award, an award given by Malta’s local bank
to the student who achieves the highest mark that year in a TRINITY Exam.