About
"Theatre right now needs to buzz with post-pandemic liveness.
It should smell of bodies.
I want audiences to feel seen, and implicated, and held.
A man came to 'The Light House' alone and sat at the back. I chose him to play 'Dad'. Afterwards, he said that he usually hates participation but had found himself hoping to be chosen because he wanted "to help, somehow."
He said it had been "an honour."
That's what streaming from your sofa just doesn't offer.
That's the dream."
Hello
I'm Alys Williams, a Lecoq-trained theatre artist from the north of England, now based in Glasgow & Leeds. I love making work which is female-led, aesthetically and lyrically rich, and full of participation and connection. I'm currently interested in how care and access can be built into creative processes, as well as exploring new modes of audience participation. I'm curious about how audience participation exaggerates the 'liveness' of theatre (something we're half desperate for and half terrified of in the wake of the pandemic) and how it can help to rebuild the contract and complicity between performers and audiences.
My debut play THE LIGHT HOUSE ("a triumph of creativity and audience participation", Yorkshire Times) returns to stages across the UK in 2026, following its highly-acclaimed national tour and London run at Park Theatre in 2023-4. My latest project CHU CHI FACE is now in development, in collaboration with Duncan MacLeod.
I trained at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq (Paris) and in Meisner technique with Stephanie Morgan (Both Feet), as well as artist development training with Thick Skin, Frantic Assembly, Red Ladder, Paper Jungle (puppetry), Tessa Bide (puppetry) and Vamos (mask). I also have a BA in English from Cambridge and an MA specialising in feminist and performance theory from Kings College London.