Damian Cruden was the former artistic director of York Theatre Royal and artistic director designate of the now failed Shakespeare's Rose Theatres. He is currently Artistic Director of Alnwick Playhouse.
Cruden trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, 1982–1986. He then worked for the Tron Theatre and the TAG Theatre Company, and was tutor for the Scottish Youth Theatre. Moving to England, he became co-artistic director for the Liverpool Everyman Youth Theatre, then associate director for Hull Truck in the early 1990s. He was artistic director at York Theatre Royal between 1997 and 2019. His departure from York Theatre Royal was announced on 22 February 2019 simultaneous to the announcement that he would take the role of artistic director of Shakespeare's Rose pop-up theatres in York and Blenheim Palace. [1]
Amongst the dozens of his productions in York are the following:
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known.
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain.
Sir Derek George Jacobi is an English actor. Jacobi is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas for the stage, like Macbeth, as well as opera and musicals, such as Cats (1981) and Les Misérables (1985).
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE was an English theatre, opera and film director. His obituary in The Times declared him "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and on his death, a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled". In 2018, the Laurence Olivier Awards, recognizing achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director.
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London.
Sarah Elizabeth Quintrell is an English writer, producer and actress, best known for her work on The Power (2023) and His Dark Materials. Her writing debut was the multi-award winning single drama Ellen, which she followed up with five part crime drama The Trial: A Murder In The Family. In 2017, she was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. As an actor, Sarah has had an extensive career on stage as well as appearing in television such as Rillington Place (2016), Call the Midwife (2016) and Doctor Who.
Terence David Hands was an English theatre director. He founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods; he spent 25 years in all with the RSC. He also saved Clwyd Theatr Cymru from closure and turned it into the most successful theatre in Wales in his seventeen years as Artistic Director. He received several Olivier, Tony and Molière awards and nominations for directing and lighting.
Sean Foley is a British director, writer, comedian and actor. Following early success as part of the comedy double act The Right Size and their long-running stage show The Play What I Wrote, Foley has more recently become a director, including of several West End comedy productions.
Daniel Gwyn Evans is a Welsh actor and director.
Dominic Cooke is an English director and writer.
Mike Kenny is one of England’s leading writers specialising in young people’s theatre. He was included in the Independent on Sunday’s list of Top Ten Living Playwrights and his plays are performed regularly throughout the UK and all over the world. In 2000, he was Arts Council England’s first recipient of The Children’s Award for Playwriting for Children and Young People.
Gregory Doran is an English director known for his Shakespearean work. The Sunday Times called him 'one of the great Shakespearians of his generation'.
Pandora Clifford is an English actress who has appeared in various roles on stage and screen including Agatha Christie's Poirot, Wallander, Taggart and New Tricks
Kevin Elyot was a British playwright, screenwriter and actor. His most notable works include the play My Night with Reg (1994) and the film Clapham Junction (2007). His stage work has been performed by leading theatre companies including the Royal Court, National Theatre, Bush Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Donmar Warehouse and in the West End. He finished his final play, Twilight Song, not long before he died in 2014, which received a posthumous premiere at London's Park Theatre in 2017.
Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and starring in the Sky One television series The Café. Terry took up the role of artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe in April 2018.
Elizabeth Keates, is a British actress. She was educated at Benton Park School and after A-Levels Elizabeth left Leeds to study at The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) drama school in London. Since then her theatre credits have included performances at the Old Vic and the Stephen Joseph. Elizabeth achieved critical acclaim for her role as Ophelia at the Dukes Theatre Lancaster.
Timothy Sheader is a British theatre director. Sheader read Law with French at the University of Birmingham before moving into a career in theatre. Since 2007, he has been Artistic Director at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.
Matthew Dunster is an English theatre director, playwright and actor. He was the Associate Director of the Young Vic from 2005 to 2009 and the Associate Director of Shakespeare’s Globe from 2015 to 2017. His production of Love and Money by Dennis Kelly was nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre in 2006 and his production of Mogadishu by Vivienne Franzmann was nominated for that same award in 2012. In January 2016 Dunster was appointed as a patron to the Arts Educational Schools, London.
Hiran Abeysekera is a Sri Lankan actor. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the stage adaptation of Life of Pi. On television, he is known for his roles in Russell T Davies' A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016) and the tween dance series Find Me in Paris (2018–2019).