Dannie-Lu Carr

Dannie-Lu Carr is a British theatre director, actress, singer-songwriter and author who was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She directed the Compagnie du Vingt-Trois production of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, staged in Paris and at the Festival Off d'Avignon and, credited as Dannie Carr, voiced the character Morli in the Big Finish Productions audio drama series Dalek Empire. She wrote the self-help book Brilliant Assertiveness and released her debut album, Chunky Bitty Mermaid, in 2023. She also works as an executive coach, public speaking coach and a training consultant specialising in communication and leadership.

Career Theatre Carr directed the Paris-based Compagnie du Vingt-Trois in Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, performed in English with French surtitles at the Théâtre Pixel in Avignon during the Festival Off d'Avignon. The cast comprised Olivier Raynal, Julie Zeno, Lee Michelsen and Dimitri Michelsen. Reviewing the production for BroadwayWorld in 2018, Wesley Doucette described Carr's direction as "strong and clear". The production returned to the Festival Off d'Avignon in 2019, where it was reviewed by the French theatre website L'Œil d'Olivier. Carr won a 2019 Petits Molières award for the production.

In 2021, Carr directed Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba at the Cockpit Theatre in London, performed by graduating actors of the Bridge Theatre Training Company.

Carr trained for two years in the Meisner technique with Scott Williams at the Impulse Company in London, and is a specialist in the technique; she taught as a Meisner technique specialist at City Lit in London between 2006-2015 and the Giles Foreman Centre for Acting in London and Paris between 2016 and 2022.

She has contributed to Influence, the magazine of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), writing on subjects including emotional intelligence.

In 2016, she was a contributing author to Real Ambition: Quit Dreaming and Create Success Your Way, a personal development book produced by Psychologies magazine and published by Capstone.

Music Carr's debut album, Chunky Bitty Mermaid, was released by the independent label Pastiche Records in October 2023. Produced by Sarah Gillespie, it is a concept album following a mermaid in a dystopian future London and addresses themes including identity and climate change. Reviewing the album for Creatrix, the composer Vik Sharma compared Carr's singing to that of Marianne Faithfull and her arrangements to the work of Pascal Comelade and Imelda May. A four-track EP, Epic Little Monsters, produced by John Nicholls, followed in January 2025.

Coaching and speaking Carr works as a training consultant and executive coach, and holds an ILM Level 7 qualification in executive coaching. She set up Dannie-Lu Carr Creative in 2012 to work internationally with leaders, teams and organisations, blending strategic thinking, behavioural insight and creative approaches. She works with a range of sectors and has developed and co-developed programmes on subjects including leadership development, negotiation, strategic communication, presentation and speaking skills and women in leadership.

Discography Chunky Bitty Mermaid (Pastiche Records, 2023) Epic Little Monsters (EP, 2025)