Debs Newbold
Debs Newbold is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning storyteller, writer and theatre artist who creates fresh, playful work that gets deep under the skin.
Fearlessly imaginative and in demand all over the world, Debs is working class in origin, Brummie to her core and has worked for the last 20 years to create a vivid body of critically admired work that explores nature, compassion and the human condition through words and images. Her creations are funny, deeply felt, often cathartic and her work connects with a huge range of audiences and participants.
As a performer Debs has made work for venues such as Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Opera House, the Southbank Centre, the RSC, Hay Festival, Peace Child International and the BBC as well as many theatres, festivals and unusual spaces both in the UK and internationally. She was shortlisted for both an Off West End (OFFIE) and Standing Ovation Award and won the Summerhall Award for her solo show Lost In Blue.
Debs is a world class storyteller and one of the UK’s leading artists in this field. Her genre-defying collaborations with renowned director & clowning expert John Wright (Peter Brook Award) have helped re-define contemporary storytelling and her highly celebrated trilogy of solo adaptations of Shakespeare’s tragedies have toured to international acclaim since 2014. Debs works with myth, folktales, legends and new stories and regularly collaborates with musicians of all genres: from New Orleans jazz bands, to folk artists to the avant-garde soundmaker Sxip Shirey.
Debs is a Shakespeare specialist and enjoyed a 17-year artistic association with Shakespeare’s Globe. She now travels the world teaching and performing Shakespeare, often working in the outdoors. A one-time Education Ranger on Hampstead Heath, she believes that the outdoors can inspire us all as human artists like nothing else can.
