PERFORMER :  WRITER  :  DIRECTOR  :  COLLABORATOR

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ”one unfeasibly talented woman” - Views from the Gods

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ”pulls down the spirit of Shakespeare” - StageTalk Magazine

★ ★ ★ ★ “Newbold is charismatic” - Reviews Hub

★ ★ ★ ★ “one of the UK’s top storytellers” - Broadway Baby

"Debs brilliantly captures our imaginations" - Patrick Spottiswoode, Director of Globe Education, Shakespeare's Globe

A fearlessly imaginative story artist Debs has worked for the last 20 years, both in collaboration and as a soloist, to create a vivid body of critically admired work that explores the human condition through storytelling and theatre. Her creations are funny, deeply felt and often cathartic and the work connects with a wide range of audiences and participants.

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 other theatres, festivals and community spaces both in the UK and internationally.  

Debs is a world class performance storyteller and one of the UK’s leading performers in this field. Her genre-defying collaborations with renowned director John Wright (Peter Brook Award winner & founder of Told by an Idiot) have helped re-define contemporary storytelling, resulting in two internationally acclaimed shows: Under Her Skin & Lost In Blue. A third, Outrageous Fortune, due to go on National Tour in 2020 before COVID-19 hit, was made into a film in 2022. Debs works with myths, folk tales, legends and new stories and her highly celebrated trilogy of solo adaptations of Shakespeare’s tragedies have toured to international acclaim since 2014.

She is a trained deviser and clown as well as an experienced performer in classical roles, including Shakespeare. She was shortlisted for both an Off West End (OFFIE) and Standing Ovation Award in 2023 for her performance of Lost In Blue at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre London. 

Debs works across genres as a writer. As well as her solo shows, Debs wrote and performed the text for Will Pound’s much-lauded gig theatre tour Through The Seasons . She wrote and performed the monologue I Cannot Sleep, part of Rusty Quill’s chart topping podcast series for Historic Royal Palaces. Her play Rising Up, inspired by the legacy of the 1819 Peterloo massacre, opened at HOME in Manchester in October 2019 before going on national tour. In 2020 Debs was commissioned by Peace Child International and the Global Food Security Programme to write four short stories in response to research into the effects of Climate Change on global food production. These stories were presented as part of a United Nations event on early 2021. In 2022 she wrote the spoken word piece The Story of US, commissioned by the NHS Trust, Plymouth and The Drive Project.

Debs’ work as a director includes plays and shows for: Shakespeare’s Globe Education; Creation Theatre; Komola Collective; Mr. Wilson’s Second Liners; Durham Brass; ArtsDepot; Half Moon Young People’s Theatre; Rose Theatre Kingston, Leeds Carriageworks, Chapel FM & OfTheJackel. She is particularly skilled at incorporating live music into her work and often uses devising techniques as part of her creative process. Her production for Creation Theatre, a site-specific musical adaptation of Bleak House (2020), garnered multiple 5 Star reviews. In 2023 she directed Chris Hannan’s adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment for Leeds Conservatoire. In 2024 Debs directed Moira Buffini’s Welcome to Thebes at Leeds Carriageworks Theatre.

As dramaturg and writing mentor, Debs has most recently worked with Brave Words Theatre on their play MUTTON, Corrine Harrigan and Nick Hart on Tam Lin Retold, and the award-winning folk artist Emily Portman on her forthcoming album.

Debs is also a highly skilled and experienced trainer and facilitator, working internationally alongside companies such as Shakespeare’s Globe, the Southbank Centre, Bright Torches, the Drive Project, Bravo 22, Middlesex University, BestTellers Denmark, Museum of Legends Ljungby Sweden, and many others. Debs also teaches and directs at Leeds Conservatoire.

Debs’ chief specialism and passion is Shakespeare. During her 20 year association with Shakespeare’s Globe Education Debs wrote, taught, directed and performed both for the Globe stage and for the classroom. In 2015 was made an Education Consultant, leading the training and development in narrative approaches to teaching and learning within Globe Education and delivering storytelling training for professional actors at the Globe.

A Fellow of the Young Foundation, FUSE playwright at Leeds Playhouse, Storyteller-In-Residence at the English Folk Dance & Song Society, and former winner of a Scotsman Fringe First Award, Summerhall Acting Award, and the Towersey Festival Audience Award, Debs is a powerhouse story maker and uniquely skilled trainer & collaborator.

To download Debs' Full Biog click here.