Colin Blumenau (born 7 August 1956) is a British writer and theatre director. He is the son of Tom Blumenau OBE and Eva Blumenau, both founder members of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

. He is the Artistic Director o
The Production Exchange
Blumenau was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. During his early career as an actor he came to public notice playing PC Francis "Taffy" Edwards in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' between 1983 and 1990. After leaving the programme, having appeared in more than 110 episodes, he turned his hand to theatre management. He was variously Artistic Director of The Angles Theatre in

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

(1991–1993) and The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

(1993–1996). He was

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of the

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds The Theatre Royal, formerly the New Theatre, is a restored Regency theatre in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The building is one of eight Grade I listed theatres in the United Kingdom, and is the only working theatre operated under the au ...

between 1996 and 2012 and spearheaded its restoration project. During this period, under the banner of Restoring the Repertoire, he also led the Theatre Royal's initiative to rediscover and restore the much-neglected English Drama repertoire of the 18th and early 19th centuries to the stage. Productions included '' Black-Eyed Susan'' by

Douglas Jerrold Douglas William Jerrold (3 January 18038 June 1857) was an English dramatist and writer. Early life Jerrold's father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook, Kent. In 1807 the family moved to Sh ...

, ''Wives as they Were and Maids as they Are'' by Elizabeth Inchbald, '' The London Merchant'' by

George Lillo George Lillo (3 February 1691 – 4 September 1739) was an English playwright and tragedian. He was also a jeweller in London. He produced his first stage work, ''Silvia, or The Country Burial'', in 1730, and a year later his most famous play, ...

and the world premiere of Inchbald's ''The Massacre,'' two centuries after it was written. In addition there were public readings of some seventy five plays by authors as diverse as Hannah Cowley and John le Planché, Since 2012 he has resumed a freelance career as well as being the Artistic Director o
The Production Exchange
a charity that encompasses an artists’ agency, production company, and mentoring service working across all creative media. It is committed to the personal and professional development of creative practitioners at every stage of their careers. The current chair is the BBC’s political correspondent
Ione Wells
Recent production credits include
On the Ropes
' at th
Park Theatre
in 2023, and
You Are Going to Die
' at

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London with two venues, both located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They ident ...

in 2024. Under the pseudonym of Daniel O'Brien he is a prolific writer of work for the stage and his pantomime scripts have been performed annually in a number of theatres notably at The Riverfront Arts Centre in

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall and the

Theatre Royal, Wakefield The Theatre Royal Wakefield is a theatre in Wakefield, England, which dates back to 1894. The theatre was originally known as the ''Theatre Royal and Opera House'' and dates back to the 1770s. The theatre lies on the corner Westgate (Wakefield) ...

. In 2020, Blumenau shared his memories of working on the first three series of ''

'' for the boo
''Witness Statements''
He has also recorded two video commentaries fo
''The Bill Podcast Patreon Channel''
where he was also reunited with eight of his Sun Hill co-stars for a three-part Zoom reunion. Blumenau has more recently returned to screen acting, featuring in the Blumhouse horror ''

You Should Have Left ''You Should Have Left'' is a 2020 American psychological horror film written and directed by David Koepp, based on the 2017 book by Daniel Kehlmann. It stars Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried. Jason Blum served as a producer through his Blumhou ...

'', and guest-starring in an episode of ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. In March 2023, he portrayed Dr Jerry Sutherland in an episode of the BBC soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

''. He also featured in the pilot episode of the BBC's ''

Daddy Issues Father complex in psychology is a complex—a group of unconscious associations, or strong unconscious impulses—which specifically pertains to the image or archetype of the father. These impulses may be either positive (admiring and seeking out ...

''.

References

External links

Personal Website

The Production Exchange Website

Guardian review - Wives as they Were, Maids as they Are

Guardian review - Black Eyed Susan
1956 births Living people British male television actors Male actors from London British theatre directors {{england-actor-stub