Esther Warren, Actor
Theatre Credits
Tiresias – Apple of Discord (2026, Chronic Insanity, Dir. Joe Strickland)
Morgan le Fay – Spectacle of Light: The Court of King Arthur (2025, The Walking Theatre Co., Dir. Sadie Dixon-Spain)
Prince/Capulet/Apothecary – Romeo & Juliet (2025 – 2026 TIE tour, Nottingham Shakespeare Company, Dir. Ken Ogborn)
Witch/Sargent/Malcolm/Murderer- Macbeth (2025-2026 TIE tour, Nottingham Shakespeare Company, Dir. Michelle-Louise Wright)
Exeter/Alice – Henry V (2024, Nottingham Shakespeare Company, Dir. Michelle-Louise Wright)
Chorus – Apricity Turns 10 (2024, Apricity, Dir. C J Turner-McMullan)
Ariel – Shakespeare Within (2022, Misplaced, Dirs. Ben Jenkins, Amy Tanner, Ciaran Corsar)
Roderigo – Othello Online (2021, Momentum Acts, Dir. Naledi Withers)
Liquorice – Sugar, Honey, Ice, Tea (2021, Andraste & Co., Dir. Teddy Andraste)
Bagot/Prince Edward/Rutland – Queen Margaret (2021, Downpour Theatre, Dir, Andrew Cullyer)
Mark – The Constant Drone (2018, Darkplace Productions, Dir. Nick Fogarty)
Bigboy – Howl (2016, Black Dog Productions, Dir. Russell Eccleston)
Biography
Esther Warren is a trans-femme actor and theatremaker, living and working out of Nottingham. Her first major role came at the age of eleven, playing Oliver in CLOGS Musical Theatre (formerly Chippenham Light Operatic Group’s) production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!. As a teenager at Hardenhuish School she played Michael in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Marcel in Sandy Wilson’s The Boyfriend, and Preacher Haggler in Howard Richardson and William Berney’s Dark of the Moon.
Outside of school, she was a member of ActNow, a Corsham based youth theatre operated by director Adam Parsons. The programme worked with its actors on devising new material for performance through improvisation, movement exploration and character study. Among other roles, she played Lord Byron in a work inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s unfinished work The Light-House, Charon in a new retelling of the Orpheus myth, and Klaatu in a stage adaptation of the 1951 sci-fi B movie The Day The Earth Stood Still.
From 2013-2016 she studied on the Acting BA (hons) course at Bath Spa University. This remains the backbone of her formal acting education, having received tutoring in movement, speech, singing and comedy alongside opportunities to act, direct and write. Performances in this period included Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nikolai in Helen Edmonson’s Anna Karenina and Bigboy in Russell Eccleston’s Howl – a production revived under the banner of Black Dog Productions.
Following graduation, Esther took time off acting during which she medically transitioned, spent time as a critic (see this website’s archive), and developed a practise in lighting design. In 2021 she returned to the stage and has been acting ever since.
Press for The Prince (2025)
The standout performance of the night was undoubtedly Esther Warren as Hotspur. Commanding the stage with a presence that was equal parts defiant and tender, Warren delivered a performance that grounded the whole production. Watching her character grapple with identity, expectation and self-realisation was as powerful as it was moving.
Esther Warren’ s Hotspur brings both simmering intensity and flashes of vulnerability, reminding us why this is theatre, not history. Warren captivates me with her ability to switch between the multiple layers, genders and time-periods with ease, hardly off stage, handling swords and Shakespeare with complete mastery.
A Grand Quiet 