About me
Emily Haldane is an interdisciplinary performance artist, content creator, theatre maker, director and workshop facilitator based in London. She has been working professionally in the theatre field internationally for over a decade in South Africa, Australia, Cambodia and England. Emily’s artistic vision is rooted in a deep-seated desire to effect meaningful social change through amplifying marginalized voices and challenging societal norms through her theatre work.
She studied her Master of Arts in Applied Theater with Distinction at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD) under the tutalage of Selina Busby, and completed her undergraduate degree in Sydney, Australia.
As a performance artist and content creator, Emily’s artistic toolkit is versatile. This includes non-verbal physical theatre and dance, puppetry (including object theatre, table top puppetry and large scale puppetry), drag performance, clown and mime work as well as digital performance. She has performed with esteemed theatre companies such as Little Angel Theatre Company (UK), Smoking Apples (UK) and Cracking Slate (UK) as well as performing as independent drag artist D’Filth Drag across the UK. Applied Clowning also serves as one of Emily’s specialities, as she works as an applied clowning performer in hospitals, SEN schools and Dementia homes across the UK, as well as with the Flying Seagulls in refugee camps internationally. Alongside her live performances, Emily creates queer and biracial educational comedy content for children on TikTok and Youtube having garnered over 1.4 million followers online for her thought provoking and cutting-edge content.
As a theatre maker and director, Emily has a diverse portfolio of work. She was the resident rehearsal director at Epic Arts in Cambodia (Semi-finalists of Cambodia’s Got Talent), where she devised and directed performances like Our Earth, Tell Me Can You See My Secret and Out of Shadows where she collaborated with a team of seven people with varying disabilities directing in a blend of Khmer, Sign Language, and English. Additionally, at the University of West London, Emily serves as a theatre director, touring with Musical Theatre and Actor-Musician students to devise Theatre for Young Audiences shows across primary schools in West London. These shows address important themes such as cultural identity, LGBTQIA+ themes, and consent. In addition to her outside work, Emily is also the Artistic Director of Kaleido Theatre Company in London. Currently, she is directing the Double Digit Ceremony, a show exploring gender identities for young audiences, and Identity Kaleidoscope, a digital choose-your-own-adventure drag clowning one-woman show.
As a workshop facilitator, Emily’s passionate about offering bespoke workshops that address crucial topics and support various communities. On the educational side, Emily has run all sorts of workshops in schools and educational spaces such as anti-bullying, internet safety and storytelling workshops, to more bespoke forum-theatre based workshops that call for critical thinking. She has worked closely with companies such as OpenView Education (UK), Little Angel Theatre (UK) and the Old Royal Naval College (UK). Emily’s work in the disability sector has spanned many years. She has run countless drama-based workshops with Cerebral Palsy Alliance (AUS), dance fitness classes run in Makaton for companies such as Down Syndrome Scotland (UK) and workshops that promote inclusivity and empowerment with organisations such as Tuk-Tuk for Children (Cambodia). Finally, Emily run’s Stretching Through Trauma classes at All is Joy Studio’s in Soho, providing healing and therapeutic experiences for people from all backgrounds.