DIRECTING WORK (SELECTED):

The Waves by Virginia Woolf, in a new adaptation by Flora Wilson Brown

set design Tomás Palmer / lighting design Lucía Sánchez Roldán / sound design & composition Matthew Tuckey / costume design Anett Black / movement direction Ken Nakajima / assistant direction Charlotte Rogers / casting director Jatinder Chera / intimacy director Haruka Kuroda / stage manager Phoebe Buckland / assistant stage manager Ciara Pidgeon / production manager Laurel Marks

cast: Ria Zmitrowicz, Tom Varey, Syakira Moeladi, Pedro Leandro, Breffni Holahan, Archie Backhouse

Jermyn Street Theatre, London

Production photography Alex Brenner

Film photos of the set Katherine Chisham

★★★★★ “The Waves is a delight from start to finish.” – The Reviews Hub

★★★★★ “This is raw, unadorned, all-consuming FIVE STAR theatre. If you can get a ticket, go.” - Southwark News

★★★★★ “Director Júlia Levai turns Flora Wilson Brown‘s beautiful adaptation of Virginia Woolf‘s The Waves into a complex, writhing celebration of human relationships” – Everything Theatre

★★★★ "[…The group of friends’] connection feels real from the off thanks to uncrackable chemistry between the cast of six who, under Júlia Levai’s meticulous direction, […] ride the play’s emotional swells and breaks just as effortlessly, taking raw soliloquies, romance and gags in capable stride. And while each character has a defining trait, performances swerve caricature." - The Guardian

★★★★ “refreshing irreverence” & “an elegantly effective response to a tricky modernist classic – buoyantly confident, with a powerful emotional undertow”–  The Stage

★★★★ “Brown’s text and Julia Levai’s deft, efficient production conventionalise it with love and brisk purpose” – TimeOut

★★★★ “a life-affirming, poetic portrait of all the ways grief can manifest, and of how we keep on living anyway” – Broadway World

★★★★  "It's an incredible feat to convincingly tell the epic story of such a length of time, however, with clever devices director Júlia Levai achieves just that"  - West End Best Friend

★★★★ "This creative team have truly leaned into the experimental nature of Woolf’s text, and all of these choices seamlessly interlock to create an irresistible piece of drama that eloquently questions and magnifies the human condition" - North West End

★★★★ “There is little doubt that this production captures the essence of Woolf’s work” - Theatre and Tonic

★★★★ “Outstanding” - View from the Gods

★★★★ London Theatre1

★★★★ Plays International

★★★★ Reviews Gate

Petty Men by John Chisham, Júlia Levai & Adam Goodbody (after William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar)

set & costume design Tomás Palmer / lighting design Lucía Sánchez Roldán / sound design Tingying Dong / caption designer Perri Schofield / dramaturg Sofia Gallucci / stage manager Emily Darley / access support Megan Ekinsmyth / creative consultant Pinny Grylls / producer Tom Dixon / marketing manager Patrick Swain / production company Buzz Studios

cast: John Chisham - Understudy Brutus, Adam Goodbody - Understudy Cassius

Arcola Theatre, London

production photography Olivia Spencer

European Shakespeare Festival Network - 2026 Winner (European tour - Poland / Germany / Romania / Czech Republic / UK)

“In Levai’s inventive production, the drab room (design by Tomás Palmer) cracks open to phantasms and hideous dreams” (The Guardian)

“Director Júlia Levai brilliantly uses the claustrophobic set, cracking it open to phantasms that mirror the men’s desperate hopes.” (Rupert’s Recs) 

“Petty Men is a clever, creative exploration of what drama can be both onstage and off and a fresh, original way to engage with Shakespeare and his themes.” (British Theatre Guide) 

“Levai’s direction makes ambitious use of the limited space and a gifted cohort of creatives and performers. This show could easily leap to a bigger theatre and budget, and soar. “ (East End Review) 

“Levai's direction is measured and thoughtful. She gives her actors freedom, allowing them to unpack each scene in a way that moves their audiences towards this multilayered riddle to the truth” (★★★★, The New Current) 

“A true piece of outstanding theatre (…) Its standout design element is director Julia Levai and captioning designer Perri Schofield’s use of creative captioning” (★★★★, The Recs)

Radiant Boy by Nancy Netherwood

set & costume design Tomás Palmer / lighting design Lucía Sánchez Roldán / sound design Patch Middleton / fight & intimacy coordinator Haruka Kuroda / music coordinator Elinor Peregrin / stage manager Heather Smith / producer Cloudburst Productions / assistant producer Ben Middleton

cast: Stu Thompson - Russell / Renée Lamb - Steph & Voice / Wendy Nottingham - Maud / Ben Allen - Father Miller

Southwark Playhouse, London

production photography Olivia Spencer

“Director Julia Levai keeps everything running at pace while building sustained anxiety. This could easily become overblown melodrama, but under her measured direction, it becomes a controlled experience that has audiences shifting to the edge of their seats. The energy never wanes; instead, it coils tighter with each revelation.” (★★★★★, WhatsOnStage)

"Its narratively rich melding of the tropes of horror with new wave music and primal queer rage receives atmospheric treatment in Júlia Levai's production" (★★★★, The Stage) 

"Hauntingly beautiful masterpiece" (★★★★★, The Reviews Hub)

“Director Júlia Levai handles the material with remarkable restraint. The exorcism scenes rather than being too over the top are rendered with eerie stillness and emotional precision. Levai’s staging is intimate and immersive, with the audience encircling the action, heightening the sense of claustrophobia and voyeurism.” (★★★★, Theatre Weekly)

“Nancy Netherwood’s script, paired with Júlia Levai’s direction, avoids tired horror tropes and jump scares, instead crafting a deeply atmospheric study of possession” (★★★★★, Unmissable Theatre)

“Radiant Boy is just that. Radiant.” (★★★★, Everything Theatre)

“Levai’s direction brings every scene to life in the most effective way. Not a moment is wasted” (★★★★, North West End UK)

"An amazing theatrical experience" (★★★★, London Theatre 1)

“Both beautiful and terrifying”  (★★★★, Musical Theatre Review) 

“Radiant Boy is tender, eerie, and defiant” (★★★★, These Theatre Thoughts)

"One of the best new plays of the year... definitely worth catching at this intimate setting before it returns somewhere bigger." (★★★★, Monstagigz)

"Radiant Boy is a masterfully crafted piece of theatre that combines compelling storytelling, evocative performances, and an exploration of complex themes." (★★★★, Harry Theatre Life)

We’ll Be Who We Are by Naomi Obeng

set & costume design TK Hay / lighting design Lucía Sánchez Roldán / sound design Munotida Chinyanga / movement director Nadia Sohawon / stage manager Emily Darley / production company & producer WoLab, Alistair Wilkinson

Cast: Tracy - Joanne Marie Mason /Kit - Joshua Merara / Emery - Adam Tutt

production photography Olivia Spencer

VAULT Festival, London

Smoke by Kim Davies (co-director)

co-direction Polina Kalinina & Júlia Levai / designer Sami Fendall / lighting design Rajiv Pattani / sound design Jamie Lu / intimacy director Asha Jennings-Grant / stage manager May Curtis / production manager Misha Mah / co-producers Katy Galloway & 3heartscanvas 

production photography Lucy Hayes

Southwark Playhouse, London

One of the many fascinating things about Kalinina and Levai's work here, in tandem with Davies's cracking writing and a truly remarkable cast, is how such an abstract presentation makes so vivid and specific these characters and the worlds they inhabit.(★★★★ WhatsOnStage)

This is directed with such imagination and clarity by Co-Directors Polina Kalinina and Julia Levai that the 70 minutes running time flies by. There isn’t a wasted moment or lull in action. (★★★★★ Theatre News)
 
★★★★ Theatre Weekly
★★★★ Everything Theatre
★★★★ London Theatre Reviews
★★★★ British Theatre Guide
★★★★ All That Dazzles
★★★★★ The ArtsDesk

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell

Performed by final year BA Acting company

Intimacy direction: Ro Winchester / Musical direction: Naomi Ost / Lighting: Matthew Keywood / Sound: Racheal Corrigan & myself / Costume: Emily Sion / Stage management: Cora Parkinson

St Mary’s University, London

The Prince of Homburg by Heinrich von Kleist

(in a new version by Neil Bartlett, freely adapted by Júlia Levai)

set and costume design: Zoe Brennan / lighting design: Neil Brinkworth / sound design: Alistair Lax / stage manager: Anna Short

Cast:

Cecily Schmidt, Anna Mawn, Oliver Maynard, Will Bishop (LAMDA)

Lucy Mackay, Will Bishop, Sam Stafford, Esme Scarborough (The Space)

September at Carne Studio, LAMDA & at The Space, London

★★★★ “Júlia Levai, freely adapting and directing this production of The Prince of Homburg, has come up with some innovative ideas for casting and staging” (Dominica Plummer, The Spy in the stalls)

There Has Possibly Been An Incident by Chris Thorpe

performance and costume design: Georgie Hook

Cast: Evie Jones, Sophie Shepherd, Christian Loveless

production photography Greg Tiani

Blue Elephant Theatre, London

Vanishing co-created by Tingying Dong, Júlia Levai & Blythe Brett (In development - R&D sharing)

writers: Tingying Dong, Naomi Obeng, Júlia Levai & Blythe Brett

cast: Joanne Marie Mason & Laila Alj

Vanishing received a seed commission from LAMDA’s MishMash Festival in 2024.

An earlier version of the piece co-created by Tingying Dong & Júlia Levai and performed by Yasmine Haller & John Chisham was part of LAMDA’s MishMash Festival in 2022.

production photography by Zoe Birkbeck

Anatomy of a Suicide by Alice Birch

A conceptual project developed in collaboration with designer, TK Hay.

A LAMDA & Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama project. 

Did I Wake You? by Margaret Perry (digital)

Cast: Silas Carson & Stuart Thompson

Young Vic as part of Five Plays (Jerwood Assistant Director Program)