Ellen is a theatre director and maker. Her most recent productions include As You Like It at Shakespeares’ Globe and Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse. She has adapted Valeria Luiselli’s novel Faces in the Crowd and Jose Saramago’s The Tale of the Unknown Island for the stage.

Ellen was Artistic Director of The Gate Theatre 2017-2022. Prior to that, she was part of the Secret Theatre Company at the Lyric Hammersmith, an Associate at Actors Touring Company and the Gate, and Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio. Ellen trained as an assistant director to Katie Mitchell, Bijan Sheibani and Marianne Elliott.

Ellen has taught at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Rose Bruford, and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Ellen is on the Advisory Panel for the Comparative Literature Department at Goldsmiths University London. She received an Arts Council International Development Award 2012, and the Runner Up Prize for the JMK Directors’ Award 2008. Her production of Ivan and the Dogs was nominated for an Olivier Award, 2011.