Chris Elwell
Director 1997 – 31 January 2025
Chris was the Director/CEO of Half Moon Theatre, London, for 27 years between 1997 and January 2025.
During his tenure, the company became a respected and influential powerhouse of award-winning theatre for young audiences, offering a unique synergy between professional theatre and participatory programmes.
In partnership with Administrative Director Jackie Eley, they enabled the company to purchase the freehold of the building and complete a major physical transformation, through a series of capital development projects, valued at almost £2m, into a fully accessible, young-person-friendly destination for audiences, participants and artists to enjoy.
Some of the creative projects Chris was involved with include the curation of Exchange for Change and Narratives of Empathy and Resilience – sector-significant artform development programmes that challenged perceptions of the work produced in the young people’s sector.
These extensive programmes particularly engaged artists from non-theatre backgrounds (design, digital/new media, dance, spoken word) and those who are under-represented in the sector, as well as emerging young people’s theatre companies. Much of this work subsequently toured nationally through Half Moon Presents, the company’s producing arm.
Chris has directed, written, adapted and devised over 60 pieces of work – many award-winning – across many age ranges, from babies to teenagers and young adults. A selection of his most recent credits include Ten in the Bed (2024), Hot Orange (2023), Daytime Deewane (2022), Party (2021), Dust (2020) and Crowded (2019), as well as a cannon of work presented bi-lingually in English and BSL including Baa Moo Yellow Dog (2009), which was also adapted for TV in 2010, Icicle Bicycle, (2007) Igloo Hullabaloo (2006) and My Friend Snow (2005).
He is also known for directing a series of spoken word theatre pieces, including The House That Jackson Built (2019) and Fairytales Gone Bad (2016).
One of Chris Elwell’s final projects at Half Moon was to secure the transfer of the companies complete physical and digital archive to the Archives and Special Collections of Queen Mary University of London Archives, in January 2025.
This was an extensive and previously inaccessible physical and digital archive, spanning the years 1972 to 2024, that had been stored by the company in Whitehorse Road since 1990. The transfer included the small physical archive held for many years at Royal Hollway University (ref: HMT1 & HMT2), much of which was digitalised in 2016 and uploaded to Stages of Half Moon.
Enquiries related to the collection should be directed to www.qmul.ac.uk/library/archives
Chris started his career as a special needs and drama teacher in secondary schools in Liverpool and London in the 80s, and was Head of Community and Schools Programmes at the RSC, the Head of Education at English National Ballet and a Lecturer in Applied Theatre and Education at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
He was the have Chair of the Trustees of Apples and Snakes (2014-2023), a Trustee of Paines Plough, including 3 years as Chair (1996-2012) and a Trustee of the National Student Drama Festival (1994-2000).
Chris was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to theatre and young people in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Full interview. Chris Elwell talks about his time as Director of Half Moon Theatre on White Horse Road since 1997. Interviewed by Kavana Joyett.
Chris Elwell talks about the importance of the White Horse Road building as a home for the company in the heart of the local community and re-claiming the name, Half Moon Theatre.
Chris Elwell talks about Icicle Bicycle and the aesthetic of creating bi-lingual work for young audiences in English and British Sign Language.
Chris Elwell talks about the ethos of the company’s Youth Theatre groups.
Chris Elwell talks about My Friend Snow, a bi-lingual English/British Sign Language production for 2-7 year olds.
Chris Elwell talks about the impetus for and aesthetic of creating bilingual work in British Sign Language and English.
Chris Elwell talks about Exchange For Change, an artform development programme which gives artists and companies an opportunity to explore their creativity.
Chris Elwell talks about When Spring Comes, a piece for under 5s with a contemporary Kathak dancer and a jazz trumpeter
Chris Elwell talks about a selection of the company’s schools’ projects, including Transitions, Lyrical Laps, Dramatic Maths and Careers in Theatre.
Chris Elwell talks about the company’s work with Higher Education Institutions, in particular creating shows for young audiences with students from Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.
Chris Elwell talks about creating work for very young audiences and the importance of engaging children in theatre at a very early age.
Chris Elwell talks about the company’s work for teenage audiences and the importance of involving them at the heart of the development process. He discusses Yeah Whatever!, Caravan, Cued Up, Cutter and Locked In
Chris Elwell talks about the development process of a cross arts production Rip, Fold, Scrunch. The artists involved were a jazz cellist, a theatre artists and a Kathak dancer and the work was created as part of the Exchange For Change 2009 festival.
Chris Elwell talks about Eclipse: A Tale For Winter a play about loss and re-birth for under 8s.
Chris Elwell talks about Cloudwatching a production which was ahead of its time in 1998 as it involved a video artist and projection.
Chris Elwell talks about Baa Moo Yellow Dog, a play for early years with a child protagonist who lived in a Tower Block. He describes why he chose this setting.
Chris Elwell talks about Yeah Whatever! A play which was radical at the time for being an authentic reflection of the lives of young people in inner East London.
Chris Elwell talks about We Are Shadows, a series of monologues and duologues that lead into each other. The play depicted with some very tough issues for teenage audiences.
Chris Elwell talks about Begin/End a play for teenagers about female sexuality, which was shocking for some of the audiences who came to see it. Interviewed by Kavana Joyett.
Alice Bigelow, who project managed the move to the White Horse Road building for Half Moon, talks about Chris Elwell’s immediate impact when he joined the company in 1997. Interviewed by Toni Tsaera.