John Haidar

John is an Irish-Lebanese director and writer for stage and screen, based in London. He trained at RADA and as an associate at the National Theatre, the Royal Court and in the West End with directors including Howard Davies, Michael Grandage and James Macdonald. He was previously Associate Director of Headlong.

His directing credits for theatre include Disco Pigs (Trafalgar Theatre/Irish Repertory Theatre), Richard III (Headlong), Othello (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Afterplay (Coronet Theatre) and Hamlet (Bristol Old Vic/Altitude Films). Disco Pigs was a Critics' Pick in The New York Times. In 2022, Hamlet was #4 in The Observer's 10 Best Shows and, in 2023, it was shown in cinemas across the UK and Ireland and on the BBC.

In 2026, he will direct a major revival of Glengarry Glen Ross in Tokyo, produced by Bunkamura. He is also working on stage adaptations of Dickens, Hardy and a contemporary science fiction novel, alongside screenwriting projects currently in development.

He has an MA in English from Trinity College, Cambridge and an MSt in English (1900-Present) from Merton College, Oxford.