David Cumming | |
|---|---|
 Cumming in 2025 | |
| Born | 16 January 1987 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, writer |
David Cumming (born 16 January 1987) [1] is a British writer and actor best known for the musical Operation Mincemeat, which is currently running on both the West End and Broadway.
Cumming was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. [2] His mother was born in Scotland and his father was a Pakistani immigrant. [3] He attended the University of Warwick, where he studied Theatre and Performance Studies. [2] [4]
Cumming co-founded the comedy group Kill the Beast in 2012 alongside Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts, Ollie Jones, and Clem Garritty. [5] Kill the Beast produced four stage productions, including The Boy Who Kicked Pigs [6] (2013), He Had Hairy Hands [7] (2014), Don't Wake The Damp [8] (2016), and Director's Cut [9] (2019).
Hodgson, Cumming, and Roberts, with newcomer Felix Hagan, split off the group in 2017 to form SpitLip with the intention of creating "big dumb musicals." [10] SpitLip's first musical, Operation Mincemeat, eventually transferred to the West End [11] and later Broadway, [12] winning the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. [13] He also received three Tony Award nominations for his creative work on the show for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical & Best Original Score. [14] In addition to co-writing and co-composing the musical, Cumming also originated the role of "Charles Cholmondeley & Others," which he has played in every production of the show and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance. [15]
In 2018, Cumming and Conrad Murray, in collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre's Beatbox Academy, co-directed the critically acclaimed production of Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster. [16] The production was later adapted for television by BBC Four. [5] [17]
Cumming joined drag performance group Sink the Pink for two holiday-themed shows including How to Catch a Krampus in 2018 [18] and Escape From Trash Planet in 2019. [19] In 2021, Cumming and Sink the Pink collaborator Ginger Johnson wrote and directed Dog Show, a canine-themed queer cabaret which ran at the Pleasance for a month. [20]
In 2023, Cumming took up the role of Guest Artistic Director at the King's Head Theatre, where he presented "QUEER FUTURES: A FESTIVAL OF THE NOW WHICH IS YET TO COME." [21] He returned in 2024 to join the cast of Outings, an anthology of coming out stories performed as a fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ Switchboard charity. [22]
One week before Operation Mincemeat premiered at Riverside Studios, Cumming broke his collarbone in a biking accident. His replacement in the role of Charles Cholmondeley, Sean Carey, had to learn the entire musical in a week. [23] [24]
Cumming is queer. [25]