Philippa Lawford is a writer and director from London. Her debut play, Ikaria, won one of 5 runner-up awards for the Ambassador Theatre Group Playwrights’ Prize 2022, in association with Platform Presents and Time Out, and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Philippa directed Ikaria’s ACE-funded UK tour in 2023, culminating in a run at the Park Theatre and the production received an OFFIE Short Run Commendation. She directed her second play, Cold Water, in an OFFIE-nominated run at the Park Theatre in 2024, and it was staged by Little Engine Theater in New York City for a sold-out production in March 2025, directed by Michael Herwitz. Both plays have been published by Methuen.

Philippa is Artistic Director of Tightrope Theatre, a company she established while a student at Oxford University. She now lives in Brixton with her identical twin sister and also works as a freelance director, facilitator and reader.

As an associate/assistant, Philippa has worked at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Henry V, 2024), Theatre Royal Bath (By Royal Appointment, UK tour, 2025), the Arcola (After Sex, 2024) and Jermyn Street Theatre (Saviour, 2022). Philippa is on the literary team at the Park Theatre and she runs a playwrights’ residency in Cheshire at Clonter Opera Theatre and a regular new writing night in London.

Philippa trained on an MSt in writing for performance at Cambridge University and the John Burgess Playwriting Course.

Philippa is a dual UK/US citizen. She is represented by Julia Tyrrell Management in the UK and by Sam Barickman and Emily Dunetz at CAA in the US.