Omar Elerian is a freelance director, dramaturg and theatre-maker. 

Italian of Palestinian descent, Omar trained in Italy and then graduated from Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris in 2005.

He was the resident Associate Director at the Bush Theatre from 2012 to 2019, where he commissioned and directed some of the theatre’s most successful shows. 

As sole director for the Bush, his credits include smash-hit Misty by Arinzé Kene (Bush, West End and Off Broadway), NASSIM by Nassim Soleimanpour (Bush, Traverse Theatre and world tour), Going Through by Estelle Savasta and Islands by Caroline Horton. As Associate Director working alongside Madani Younis, his credits include The Royale by Marco Ramirez, Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock and Perseverance Drive by Robin Soans. Outside the Bush, he directed Olivier nominated show You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy by Caroline Horton and co-created acclaimed site-specific show The Mill: City of Dreams with Madani Younis for Freedom Studios. His most recent directing credits include The Return of Danton by Syrian playwright Mudar Alhaggi which premiered at the Munchner Kammerspiele, The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco at the Almeida Theatre, the Olivier nominated Two Palestinians Go Dogging by Sami Ibrahim at the Royal Court and As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.