About

I am a freelance theatre director and festival director, workshop facilitator and project manager based in the north of England.

In 2013 I cofounded and became the Festival Director of Assemble Fest. Assemble Fest is a one day arts festival which commissioned local theatre makers to create work in independent venues.  

I gained a merit on the Birkbeck MFA in Theatre Directing, where I trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and was a resident assistant director at West Yorkshire Playhouse. 

"Madeleine’s work is a terrific example of what is possible when you marry technique and erudition to a fearsome imagination" -

Nick Lane playwright and director. 

"Our street our stage was excellent. A brilliant concept staged in procession, engaging and emotive. "

Martin Green - former CEO of Hull UK City of Culture 2017

"Coriolanus introduces to York the talents of Hull freelance director Madeleine O’Reilly, for whom the world’s a stage, even in a Hull taxi.

She has a boldness about her directing, not afraid to experiment, to break boundaries, to find new possibilities. Coriolanus might be considered one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”, one for hardcore fans, but that is no problem to O’Reilly"

Charles Hutchinson - York Evening Press