Polly trained at LAMDA and at the National Theatre Studio. She was the winner of the 2007 JMK Award for Young Directors, and was the recipient of the 2006/7 Bulldog Princeps Bursary at the National Theatre.

Directing credits include Eigengrau (Bush Theatre), Thyestes (Arcola Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (BAC), Blasting (Small Feet Festival at the Cottesloe, NT), Michael Morpurgo WW1 Poetry Platform (Olivier, NT), Good (Sound Theatre) and As You Like It (Oxford Playhouse). Assisting credits include Warhorse (Olivier, NT), The Man of Mode (Olivier, NT), The Seafarer (Cottesloe, NT), Period of Adjustment (Almeida) and Promises, Promises (Sheffield Crucible).