A proud Lancastrian, Caroline moved to London at seventeen to train in acting and dance, beginning a lifelong commitment to performance and storytelling. Before turning her focus to directing, she enjoyed a rich and varied performing career spanning musicals, regional theatre, television and film — an experience that continues to inform her collaborative and performer-centred approach in the rehearsal room.
Today, Caroline is a stage director, choreographer and producer whose work encompasses opera, theatre and music theatre. For more than 35 years she has built a dynamic and eclectic career shaped by curiosity, rigour and a sense of adventure. Her productions seek not only to delight audiences of all ages with the vitality of live art, but to engage them — emotionally, intellectually and viscerally always prepared to explore our perceptions of current societal issues in order to influence change.
In 1994 she founded Feelgood Theatre Productions, where she remains Artistic Director and CEO. Under her leadership, the company has become known for international, cross-cultural and multidisciplinary collaborations that reimagine the classical canon while commissioning bold new work. Caroline has long championed site-specific performance, pioneering the form over three decades through award-winning productions in the UK and abroad, rooted in grassroots engagement and community partnership.
Caroline began her opera career with Welsh National Opera in 1998 and has since worked extensively across the UK, including with Opera North, Scottish Opera, Buxton International Festival, Longborough Festival Opera and at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House.
International engagements have taken her to Cincinnati Opera (USA), Teatro Massimo (Sicily), Teatru Manoel (Malta), Bregenz Festival (Austria), Teatro Communale Bolzano (Italy), the Janáček Festival (Brno) and Savonlinna Festival (Finland).
With a foundation in physical theatre and dance, Caroline brings a distinctive dramaturgical sensibility to opera. She is known for detailed physical storytelling, finely drawn ensemble work and stage pictures that range from intimate to epic. Her interdisciplinary approach has fused opera with a cappella singing, drumming, movement and film, offering a visceral experience and creating productions that inhabit a rich sonic and visual landscape.
At the heart of her practice is an acute awareness of the audience’s gaze and a deep understanding of how contemporary audiences encounter live performance.
Photo Credit: Katie O'Neill & Lilly Shields
Caroline is driven by the belief that art is a right, not a luxury. Alongside her professional work, she creates projects that unite professional artists with community participants, expanding access to music and theatre and championing their wellbeing benefits. She lectures internationally and has directed at leading conservatoires including the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music.
She is a trustee of the Friends of the Zimbabwe Academy of Music in Bulawayo and continues to support development work in North Sudan through her collaboration with Mende Nazer (Slave – A Question of Freedom) and the MN Foundation.
Caroline holds a PhD from the Royal Northern College of Music and a Master’s degree from the University of Manchester, where she was awarded the John Thaw Fellowship. She also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and is a member of Equity. Based in the north of England, she maintains her sense of adventure both on and off stage — often found riding her Triumph Bonneville.
Awards
Caroline was awarded The Horniman Award for ‘lifetime achievement’ and ‘outstanding services to live theatre’
Four Manchester Evening News Awards for Best Opera, Best Director, Best New Play, Best Production.
She holds the Angel Award for Artistic Excellence, a Queens High Sheriff Award for ‘outstanding service to the community’ and has twice been nominated for an International Opera Award, a Sky Arts Award and a UK Theatre Award.
She was awarded a prestigious AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership for her PhD performance portfolio and research in site-specific music and drama at the Royal Northern College of Music.
In 2025 she was awarded the SheInspires Lifetime Achievement Award.
Productions
2025
Fairy Story - Play Opera Live - Welsh National Opera, national tour.
Song for Tyso (Peter Kerry), for JB Shorts at 53Two.
2024
The Liverpool Oratorio – Paul McCartney and Carl Davies - Cincinnati Opera, 18 – 27 July
Slave – A Question of Freedom - Clegg / Fegan Feelgood Theatre Productions
The Lowry and UK tour, 9 October – 10 November
Double Bill - Gianni Schicchi (Giacomo Puccini), La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco (Ottorino Respighi),
Carlo Rizzi, c., Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
2023
Blaze of Glory, David Hackbridge-Johnson, Stephen Higgins c.
World Premiere, (Welsh National Opera), nominated for the International Opera
Award and UK Theatre Award Best New Opera
2022
Marilyn Forever, Gavin Bryars and The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat
Michael Nyman, William Cole c., (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).
2021
Song of Our Heartland, Will Todd, Holly Mathieson c.
World Premiere, (Opera North) This was a site-specific filmed production due to Covid restrictions.
2020
Die Dreigroschenoper, Kurt Weill, Philip White c., Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
2019
Orfeo and Euridice, Gluck, Jonathon Swinard c., (Scottish Opera, Young Company).
Dead Man Walking (Jake Heggie), Jake Holmes c.,
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - UK premiere.
Dracula - The Blood Count of Heaton, Peter Clifford, md. Thomas Hopkinson
World premiere, (Feelgood Theatre Productions) an immersive site-specific production.
Das Rheingold, Wagner, movement director, (Opera North).
2018
Rhonnda Rips it Up, Lena Langer, Nicola Rose c.
World Premiere, (Welsh National Opera), nominated for the Sky Arts South Bank Award
and the International Opera Award 2019, Best New Opera.
Hansel and Gretel, (Dramaturge), Armitage/Kaner, Dominic Wheeler c., world premiere, (Goldfield Productions).
These Days – The Manchester Peace Song Cycle.
Nicola LeFanu, Ailis Ni Riain, Anna Appleby, Dr Emily Howard, Evangeline Mason, Carmel Smickersgill, Freya Ireland, Lucy Hale, Thomas Hopkinson c.
World Premiere, (Feelgood Theatre Productions) an immersive site-specific production.
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, md., Thomas Hopkinson (Feelgood Theatre Productions).
Sāvitri, Holst and The Emperor of Atlantis, Viktor Ullmann, Lionel Friend c.
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
2017
House of the Dead, Janáček (revival director), Tomáš Hanus c.
Welsh National Opera, Janáček Festival, Brno.
2016
Whispers of Heaton: comprised of The Unknown Bugler, Peter Kerry and The Fight
Lindsay Williams and Cathy Crabb, music by Ailis Ni Riain, Spilled Ink, Tangled Dance Company
Music by Craig Frangleton, World Premiere (Feelgood Theatre Productions)
A site-specific immersive production
House of the Dead, Janáček (revival director), Tomáš Hanus c.
Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland
2015
Rigoletto, Verdi, Gad Kadosh c., (Longborough Festival Opera).
Tokaido Road, Nicola LeFanu, Dominic Wheeler c.
World Premiere, Goldfield Productions.
2014
Seven Deadly Sins Kurt Weil, Sir Mark Elder c.
(Hallé Orchestra), Bridgewater Hall
Nominated for Best Opera, MEN awards
Lulu, Berg, (revival director), Anthony Negus c., (Teatro Communale, Bolzano).
2013
Lulu, Berg, (movement director/associate director), d. David Pountney, Lothar Koenigs c.
Welsh National Opera
Slave – A Question of Freedom, Fegan/Clegg, music by Carol Donaldson
World Premiere, (Feelgood Theatre Productions), winner of MEN Award Best New Play and Best Director
2012
Anya17 Gorb/Kaye, Clarke Rundell c., (Ten Ten Festival) Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
2011 – 2000
Aida, Verdi, (Companions Opera, Holland) stadium production, Zurich.
Carmen, Bizet, (Companions Opera, Holland) stadium production, Hamburg.
Il Campenello di Notte, Donizetti, Buxton International Festival, winner of Best Opera, MEN Award Best Opera
Dame Janet Baker, Kiri te Kanawa, Willard White and Montserrat Caballe staged galas
(Hallé Orchestra), Bridgewater Hall.
Burning Waters, Russell Keable, World Premiere, Buxton International Festival.
Mis Bach Du, John Hardy, Welsh National Opera (community opera).
Something Wonderful, (Opera North/ENO).
Look No Hands, Errollyn Wallen, (Mecklenburgh Opera), World Premiere, Battersea Arts Centre, BAC Festival.
Barber of Seville, Rossini, (Civit Hills), Opera.
Conference of the Birds, (Opera Circus), Portugal.
The Silly Little Mouse, Shostakovich, UK premiere, (Hallé Orchestra), Bridgewater Hall.
Founded Bramhall Arts Festival (1999)
La Boheme, Puccini, outdoor immersive production.
La Boheme, La Tour Festival, France.
Brundibar, Hans Krása, Ed Gardner c., the opening of the Imperial War Museum North.
Down By the Greenwood Side, Birtwistle, Royal Northern College of Music, and Los Angeles.
Winner of MEN award Best Opera.
From the Hart, David Kern, World Premier, New End Theatre London.
Aesop's Fables, Rodney Dunk c. World Premiere, Manchester Camerata.
The Bridgewater Hall opening.
Dawnpath, Nicola Lefanu, Clark Rundell c., Royal Northern College of Music.
2008 – 2018
As Director of Youth Perform, at the Royal Northern college of Music:
Singing in the Rain, Threepenny Opera, Guys and Dolls, Singing in the Rain, Kiss Me Kate, Cabaret,
Little Shop of Horrors and The Wiz.