Graham Eatough (born 1971) is an English

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, based in Scotland. He was a founding member of theatre company Suspect Culture.

Early life

Eatough was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

in 1971. He attended

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) is a co-educational state-funded comprehensive free school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1509 as a boys' school, it is now a co-educational all-through free school with over 1200 stude ...

before studying English and Drama at

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, where he was a contemporary of

Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological ...

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

, and David Greig,Dan Rebellato, Graham Eatough and David Greig
''The Suspect Culture Book''
, London: Oberon Books, 2013, p.9. graduating in 1992.

Career

After graduating university, Eatough relocated to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and co-founded theatre company Suspect Culture with playwright David Greig and composer

Nick Powell Nicholas Edward Powell (born 23 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a striker for Stockport County. He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, initially as a forward, making his debut at ...

. Initially working as a deviser and actor on early productions such as ''One Way Street'' (1995)Philip Howard, Catherine Lucy Czerkawska
''Scotland Plays''
London: Nick Hern Books, 1998. and ''Airport'' (1995), Eatough soon took on the role of director. He remained in that capacity for the remainder of Suspect Culture's shows, including productions such as ''Timeless'' (1997), ''Mainstream'' (1999), ''Candide 2000'' (2000), ''Casanova'' (2001), ''Lament'' (2002), and ''8000m'' (2004). He also served as the theatre company's artistic director. Suspect Culture disbanded as a theatre company in 2009,Liz Tomlin
''British Theatre Companies''
London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2015, p.179. . after which Eatough continued to work as a freelance theatre maker. His work is often collaborative, especially across different artistic disciplines, such as visual arts and film. In 2012, Eatough and visual artist

Graham Fagen Graham Fagen (born 1966) is a Scottish artist living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. He has exhibited internationally at thBusan Biennale, South Korea (2004), the Art and Industry Biennial, New Zealand (2004), the Venice Biennale (2003) and r ...

created ''The Making of Us'', a work presented as a live filmic installation at Glasgow's Tramway performance centre, and later released as a film. Fagen had previously worked with Suspect Culture on the visual arts exhibition ''Killing Time'' in 2006. Eatough collaborated with conceptual artist

Simon Starling Simon Starling (born 1967) is an English Neo-conceptual art, conceptual artist and won the Turner Prize in 2005. Early life Simon Starling was born in 1967 in Epsom, Surrey. He studied photography and art at Maidstone College of Art from 1986 to ...

on ''‘At Twilight: A play for two actors, three musicians, one dancer, eight masks (and a donkey costume)’'', a production commissioned by

The Common Guild The Common Guild is a visual arts organisation in Glasgow, Scotland. It was established in 2006 and has commissioned two Turner Prize-nominated works: Duncan Campbell in 2014 and Janice Kerbel in 2015. The Common Guild is located in a former s ...

in 2016. In 2015, Eatough and Glasgow-based artist Stephen Sutcliffe were awarded the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award to develop two short films based on

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

' book series about fictional poet Enderby. The project, entitled ''No End to Enderby'' was premiered at the

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...

, and took the form of two short films based on the first and last chapter of the four ''Enderby'' novels. The films were originally screened at the

Whitworth Art Gallery The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing over 60,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester. In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transfor ...

in Manchester in September 2017, and were also shown as part of the Glasgow International Festival in 2018. Eatough directed an adaptation of Naoki Higashida's autobiographical novel The Reason I Jump, which was produced by the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

and will be performed at the Children's Wood and North Kelvin Meadow in Glasgow in June 2018. In 2015, Eatough reunited with Suspect Culture collaborators David Greig and Nick Powell for a stage adaptation of

Alasdair Gray Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...

's 1981 novel ''

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

''. The play premiered as part of the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

at the

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

in August 2015, before moving to Glasgow's

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat ...

. Eatough's practice-led academic research led to the play ''How to Act'', which was produced by the

. The play premiered at

Summerhall Summerhall is an arts complex and events venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly home to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies of the University of Edinburgh, it is now a major Edinburgh Festival Fringe visual and performing arts venue. ...

during the 2017

, and toured across Scotland in March 2018. He has worked as a lecturer in theatre studies at

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

since 2012, and was awarded a Ph.D. from

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

in 2016.

Selected works

With Suspect Culture

* ''One Way Street'' (1995) * ''Airport'' (1995) * ''Mainstream'' (1999) * ''Casanova'' (2001) * ''Lament'' (2002) * ''8000m'' (2004) * ''Futurology'' (2007) * ''Stage Fright'' (2009)

Post-Suspect Culture

* ''The Making of Us'' (2012) * ''Lanark'' (2015) * ''‘At Twilight: A play for two actors, three musicians, one dancer, eight masks (and a donkey costume)’'' (2016) * ''No End to Enderby'' (2017) * ''How to Act'' (2017) * ''The Reason I Jump'' (2018)

References

External links

Graham Eatough official website
*
University of Glasgow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eatough, Graham 1971 births Alumni of the University of Bristol English male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights Living people