Rachel Dax Biography

Rachel Dax – Writer, Director, Producer & Lecturer

Rachel Dax was born in 1972 and grew up in Birmingham (UK). In 1990, she moved to London where she obtained a BA (Hons) Philosophy & Theology from University of London. After two years working in retail, Rachel trained as a Religious Education Teacher and during her first few years of teaching, also gained an MA in Philosophy & Religion.

After a while, Rachel became restless and in 1999 moved to Cardiff, where she began pursuing a career in Drama by attending an array of performance based courses, and doing TV and Film walk on/acting roles. During this time, she started running after-school Drama classes in addition to teaching A Levels in Religious Studies and Philosophy (and eventually Theatre Studies) in Further Education colleges. In 2008, Rachel obtained a 1st Class BA (Hons) in Drama (Theatre & Media) from University of Glamorgan. As part of this degree, as well as acting in and directing countless theatre productions, Rachel learned scriptwriting and made her first four films: Dog Shit (2005), Ghost Hunt & Sceptics (2006), CRUSH (2007) and HEART (2008). 

Rachel found she had a real passion for filmmaking, and in 2008, she went on to do a part time MA in Film at The International Film School Of Wales, University of Wales, Newport. During this MA, she honed her filmmaking skills and directed HelterSkelter (2009), co-wrote and co-directed The Gatekeeper (2010) and wrote, produced and directed her final film Caravan Sight (2011).

Rachel set up DaxiTales Ltd in 2011. Films made under the DaxiTales umbrella include: Planet Love (2012), The Body (2014), Sweet Sixteen (2015),  A Delicate Love (2016) and Angelystor (2016).

In 2019, Rachel released her half hour film Time & Again starring Dame Siân Phillips and Brigit Forsyth which screened at over 65 festivals and won 15 awards. It was also broadcast twice on BBC Wales and twice BBC Four and on BBC iPlayer for a year.

In September 2024, Rachel released her first feature length documentary Greer Ralston – Giving It All To Art. An intimate portrait of figurative artist Greer Ralston as she astonishes us with her exceptional talent and tells of her plans to devote herself solely to art. It has screened at several festivals across the globe and will be broadcast on BBC Scotland in late 2025, after which it will be on BBC iPlayer for 2 years.

During 2024/25, Rachel collaborated as the Director and Co-Producer on her second feature length film 3000 Lesbians Go To York – a fascinating documentary about the York Lesbian Arts Festival which ran between 1998-2008. This recently released film has already been accepted into an array of festivals across the globe.

As well as being a filmmaker, Rachel is a successful author. Her first novel After The Night (2010) is a sweeping lesbian love story set in a British prison in 1960, which examines homophobic prejudices and societal pressures alongside the romantic narrative. Rachel’s trilogy The Legend Of Pope Joan – is a fast-paced, gender-bending, medieval drama, which explores philosophy, theology, sexuality and the role of women in the church.

Rachel has also written and narrated two audio stories How I Met My True Love (2013) and Gabriel (2014). 

In 2020, during the pandemic with its many restrictions, Rachel wrote In Isolation – A Short Book Of Long Monologues. Although initially published in book form, these monologues were then turned into performed audio stories with soundscape and music, and released as podcasts. The first podcast Dressed For Men performed by Sara Harris Davies, was released in March 2022. Dreams O’ New York performed by Fiona Knowles was released in October 2022 and People Like Us performed by Suzie Rees was released in February 2023. The fourth and final podcast Footballer’s Wife performed by the late, great Ruth Madoc, of Hi-De-Hi fame, was released in December 2023.

Over the years, Rachel has directed numerous theatre productions including: Eh Joe by Beckett, Rhinoceros by Ionesco, Silence by Buffini, Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht, Hedda Gabler by Ibsen, Kindertransport by Samuels, An Inspector Calls by Priestly, The Mousetrap (Hamlet) by Shakespeare, The Trojan Women by Euripides, Lysistrata by Aristophanes, The Crucible by Miller and In Camera by Sartre.

Rachel also works as a University Lecturer teaching Filmmaking and Creative Writing at two different institutions.

In addition to her passion for film, theatre, and literature, Rachel enjoys high end TV drama, classical music… and dogs!