Her graduating project from drama school in 1988 was the British premiere of Heiner Müller’s poetic trilogy, Despoiled Shore, Medeamaterial and Landscape with Argonauts.
Elsewhere Lisa ran playwriting workshops in schools and directed young people's plays including for Travelling Light and Inner City Theatre Company.
In 1989 Lisa joined Workers' Theatre Movement (WTM) (president Ewan MacColl), and ran the company with its founder, actor Tam Dean Burn from 1989-91.
In 1994 Lisa found a derelict room above what is now The Lion and Unicorn pub in Gaisford Street, Kentish Town and persuaded the new owner to let her create a theatre there.
[10] The Bogus Woman had been commissioned through Seeing Red, a Festival of Dissent at BAC involving sixteen new short plays by writers including David Eldridge, Judy Upton, Rebecca Prichard, Parv Bancil, Dona Daly, Peter Barnes, Roney Fraser Munro[11] and Conspiracy, a situationist club and precursor of scratch nights run by Tam Dean Burn.
The last play Lisa directed for the Red Room was Hoxton Story in 2005 which she also wrote, based on the oral history archive she created through 40 hours of interviews with people living on the housing estates in the area.
[18] Her new strategy for the company involved retaining a writer-centred programme whilst strongly encouraging international collaboration, cross disciplinary work, free expression and the development of diverse artists and audiences.
[19][20] Notable new writing during her Soho programme (Jan 2007-May 2010) included the multi-award winning Baghdad Wedding by Hassan Abdulrazzak,[21] the first British play about the war on Iraq to be written by an Iraqi;[22] Everything Must Go, the first UK plays written in response to the economic crash of 2008;[23] Orphans by Dennis Kelly, Pure Gold by Michael Bhim, Static by Dan Reballato, The Long Road by Shelagh Stevenson (co-pro Synergy), Midsummer by David Greig (co-production Traverse Theatre) ; Aalst and Venus as a Boy (co productions National Theatre of Scotland), White Boy by Tanika Gupta (co-production National Theatre of Scotland), An Oak Tree by Tim Crouch, Kim Noble will Die, Marisa Carnesky’s Magic War, Roaring Trade by Steve Thompson, This isn’t Romance by In-sook Chappell (winner of the Verity Bargate Award 2007); A Couple of Poor Polish Speaking Romanians by Dorota Maslowska, English version by Lisa Goldman and Paul Sirett; Piranha Heights (Runner-up What's On Stage Best Production and Writers Guild Best Play) and Leaves of Glass by Philip Ridley, Moonwalking in Chinatown by Justin Young; Iya Ile by Oladipo Agboluaje (co-production Tiata Fahodzi, runner up Olivier Award[24]); This Wide Night by Chloe Moss (winner of Susan Smith Blackburn Award[25]); Joe Guy by Roy Williams (co-production Tiata Fahodzi); God in Ruins by Anthony Neilson (RSC) and Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness (Headlong); The Kitchen (Gob Squad); The Diver (co-production Setagaya Theatre, Japan with Kathryn Hunter and Hideki Noda); Fathers Inside (National Youth Theatre); Bette Bourne & Mark Ravenhill: A Life in Three Acts; Promises, Promises by Douglas Maxwell; Shraddha by Natasha Langridge Meyer-Whitworth Award; Behud by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti runner up Index on Censorship Award; Blasted by Sarah Kane (Graeae Theatre Company); Spill Festival including Forced Entertainment's Void Story.
Lisa Goldman made the first London invitation to Belarus Free Theatre with their productions Being Harold Pinter and Generation Blue Jeans.
2009 Everything Must Go – short pieces including by Kay Adshead, Megan Barker, Marisa Carnesky, Will Eno, Maxwell Golden, Paula Stanic, Steve Thompson, Oladipo Agboluaje.
Runner-up Whats On Stage Best Production and Writers Guild Best Play 2008 A Couple of Poor Polish Speaking Romanians by Dorota Maslowska, English version by Lisa Goldman and Paul Sirett, Soho Theatre Company.
Writers included Kay Adshead, Peter Barnes, Parv Bancil, Tony Craze, Dona Daly, David Eldridge, Tanika Gupta, Roney Fraser Munro, Roddy McDevitt, Rebecca Prichard, Judy Upton.
Lisa also co-translated with Paul Sirett A Couple of Poor Polish Speaking Romanians by Dorota Maslowska which she also directed for Soho Theatre Company (2008)[37] Notable actors Lisa has worked with include: Jimmy Akingbola, Ishia Bennison, Lucy Briers, Silas Carson, Anna Carteret, Claire Louise Cordwell, Frances Cuka, Noma Dumezweni, Miranda Foster, Tristan Gravelle, Val Lilley, Jennifer Lim, John Macmillan, Kika Markham, Maxine Peake, Lara Pulver, Matt Rawle, Andrea Riseborough, John Rogan, Sirine Saba, Ruth Sheen, Andrew Tiernan, Luke Treadaway, Ben Whishaw, Jade Williams.
Lisa has worked internationally as a facilitator, producer and researcher including in Brazil, Iran, Turkey, Japan, Norway, South Korea, US, Sweden, Finland, France,[38] Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Ireland.