Merle Wheldon
Merle is a London-based Theatre Director, often drawn to plays about women, broken relationships, and human intimacy. Her artistic practice is rooted in a passion for bold, politically charged, zeitgeist work. Merle is Co-Artistic Director of Bomb Factory Theatre, a women-led new writing company dedicated to platforming women and non-binary writers.
Merle is Winner of The John Fernald Award for Emerging Director 2025
Current/Upcoming projects:
Photography by Pip Bourdillon
SELECTED REVIEWS:
Director Merle Wheldon paces the piece beautifully, winding it forward with precision. Dialogue flows like a stream of consciousness, punctuated by moments of startling clarity. An exceptional example of what fringe theatre can achieve - Theatre Weekly
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Merle Wheldon masterfully brings together set, lighting, and sound design to create an intimate yet cohesive world. - A Young(ish) Perspective
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The Watch is masterful storytelling that only happens when a creative team understands each other and works together to bring the vision to life. - The New Current
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The Watch is not a play of grand gestures or sweeping drama. Instead, it is an exceptional example of what theatre can achieve: a gentle, intelligent meditation on what it means to let someone in, to trust the timing of love, and to find stillness in a world that never stops moving. Funny and contemplative in equal measure, The Watch proves that great theatre isn’t a matter of time served, but timing mastered. - Theatre Weekly
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Bomb Factory Theatre is a women-led New Writing Community Interest Company in partnership with the Bomb Factory Art Foundation. They have been featured in The Telegraph, The Stage, and The Economist for their contributions to the world of women’s writing. Through this partnership, BFT utilises the Art Foundation’s gallery spaces across London to host workshops, Q&As, and networking events, as well as transform these spaces into theatres to platform work by the writers they collaborate with. Bomb Factory Theatre also works with other venues across London and is thrilled to bring their Showcase of Women's New Writing to the Bush Theatre in Spring 2025.
For Bomb Factory enquiries, please email: merle@bombfactorytheatre.com
2025 WINNER
John Fernald Award for Emerging Director
2025
TWICE RUNNER UP
