Dominic Dromgoole (born 25 October 1963)DROMGOOLE, Dominic Charles Fleming
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 is an English theatre director and writer about the theatre who has recently begun to work in film. He lives in Hackney with his three daughters and partner Sasha Hails.

Early life

He is the son of an actress turned schoolteacher, Jenny Davis, and of Patrick Dromgoole, a theatre director and television executive, whose directing credits included the first production of Joe Orton's '' Entertaining Mr. Sloane''. Born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, Dromgoole grew up on a farm in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and attended

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

in Street,

. His sister is theatre and radio director

Jessica Dromgoole Jessica Dromgoole is a British director of contemporary theatre and radio-plays, as well as a former Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre from 1988 to 1991. In 1991 she became New Writing Co-ordinator for BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going ...

and his brother is Sean Dromgoole, the Labour candidate for Somerton and Frome in the 2017 general election. When he was 16, he formed his own theatre company which took shows to the

Edinburgh festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

and toured them round the south-west. He studied English and Classics at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he directed student productions and graduated in 1985.

Career

Six months after graduating from Cambridge, Dromgoole started working part-time as an assistant director at the Bush Theatre, London. In 1990 he became artistic director of the Bush, and stayed there until 1996. During this time, he premiered 65 new plays including early works by Billy Roche,

Philip Ridley Philip Ridley (born 1957 in East London) is an English storyteller working in a wide range of artistic media. As a visual artist he has been cited as a contemporary of the 'Young British Artists', and had his artwork exhibited internationally. ...

, Catherine Johnson, Sebastian Barry, Jonathan Harvey, Simon Bent, Naomi Wallace, Irvine Welsh, David Harrower, Samuel Adamson and

Conor McPherson Conor McPherson (born 6 August 1971) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director of stage and film. In recognition of his contribution to world theatre, McPherson was awarded a doctorate of Literature, Honoris Causa, in June 2013 by the Un ...

, and the original production of Helen Edmundson's ''The Clearing'' in 1993. After a period in charge of new plays for Sir Peter Hall's company at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

, he ran the Oxford Stage Company from 1999 until 2005. His directing credits during this time included ''

Troilus and Cressida ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...

'', ''50 Revolutions'', Anton Chekhov's '' Three Sisters'', ''Rookery Nook'' by

Ben Travers Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running series of farces first staged in the ...

and

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

's ''

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

''. In 2005, he took over from

Mark Rylance Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurence ...

as artistic director of

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

. In 2008, he signed a new three-year contract to continue in the role until 2011. At the Globe, he directed ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same yea ...

'' and '' Antony and Cleopatra'' for the 2006 season, '' Love's Labour's Lost'' for the 2007 season, ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...

'' in 2008, '' Romeo and Juliet'' and the new play ''A New World'' by

Trevor Griffiths Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langu ...

in 2009, ''

Henry IV Part I ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...

'' and '' Henry IV Part II'' in 2010, a touring production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in 2011, ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

'' in 2012 and ''Gabriel'' by Samuel Adamson with Alison Balson in 2013. In January 2014 he directed ''

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...

'', the opening production at the

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of Shakespeare's Globe, along with the Globe Theatre on Bankside, London. Built making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor theatre, the playhouse recalls the layout and style of th ...

(the Globe's indoor counterpart). Between these two spaces Dromgoole then went on to direct: ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

'' in 2014, '' The Changeling'' and '' Romeo and Juliet'' again and '' Measure for Measure'' in 2015, ''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelo ...

'' and his final production '' The Tempest'' in 2016. In 2012, he also organised the olympic theatre festival Globe to Globe, where 38 companies from around the world each brought one of Shakespeare's plays staged in their own language to The Globe stage. This inspired the Globe to Globe tour of Hamlet, directed by Dromgoole in 2016, which toured to 197 countries around the world, and is the subject for Dromgoole's second book. July 2013, Shakespeare's Globe announced that Dromgoole would leave the post in April 2016. He was replaced by Emma RiceGareth Vipers
New Shakespeare's Globe artistic director named as Emma Rice
London Evening Standard, 1 May 2015. Following his departure from the Globe two of his productions, Farinelli and Nell Gwynn transferred to the West End. His other directing credits include revivals of ''Someone Who'll Watch Over Me'' at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London, Noël Coward's ''

Present Laughter ''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...

'', with

Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's ''John Bull's Other Island'' at London's Tricycle Theatre, and

Eric Schlosser Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, such as in his books ''Fast Food Nation'' (2001), '' Reefer Madness'' (2003), and '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, ...

's ''Americans'' at the Arcola Theatre. He has also directed plays in the US and Romania. Since leaving Shakespeare's Globe, Dromgoole has set up Open Palm films, for which he directed ''Making Noise Quietly'' by Robert Holman and produced four further films '' Benjamin'' written and directed by

Simon Amstell Simon Marc Amstell (born 29 November 1979) is a British comedian, writer and director. He wrote and directed the films '' Carnage'' (2017) and ''Benjamin'' (2018). His work on television has included presenting '' Popworld'' and '' Never Mind th ...

, '' Pond Life'', ''Undercliffe'' and ''The Man In The Hat''. Dromgoole also founded the Classic Spring theatre company, which presented a season of Oscar Wilde plays at

The Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

, where he directed ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

'' in 2017. In 2019 Classic Spring announced that Dromgoole would be adapting and directing a double bill production of Frankenstein and Dracula at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in L ...

in 2020.

Writing

In 2000, his book ''The Full Room: An A-Z of Contemporary Playwriting'' provided a personal survey of contemporary British playwriting. In 2006, ''Will and Me: How Shakespeare Took Over My Life'' charted his fascination with

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, and won the inaugural Sheridan Morley award. Dromgoole has also contributed to ''The New Statesman'', ''The Sunday Times'' and other publications. In 2017 his book ''Hamlet Globe to Globe'', recounted experiences from the global tour of ''

''.

References

External links

''Times'': Dominic Dromgoole (2008)Interview Part I (2004)Interview Part II (2004)Shakespeare's Globe onlineOld Vic Theatre, London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dromgoole, Dominic Charles Fleming 1963 births Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British theatre critics English theatre directors Living people People educated at Millfield