Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director. He is the artistic director of

Headlong Theatre Headlong is a British touring theatre company noted for making bold, innovative productions with some of the UK’s finest artists. Jeremy Herrin took over the artistic directorship of the company in 2013, and is the current artistic director. Ar ...

Career

Having trained at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

in Glasgow, Herrin was an assistant director under

Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End and three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. He has received thr ...

at the Royal Court Theatre from 1993 to 1995. He then was a staff director at the National Theatre from 1995 to 1999. In 2000 he became associate director at Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, where his credits included plays by

Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Kingston upon Hull, Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2: ...

and Joe Harbot. His breakthrough show was the critically successful ''

That Face ''That Face'' is a two- act play written by Polly Stenham. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 26 April 2007, directed by Jeremy Herrin. The play was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2008, opening on 1 Ma ...

'' by

Polly Stenham Polly Stenham (born 16 July 1986) is an English playwright known for her play ''That Face'', which she wrote when she was 19 years old. Background Stenham was born and raised in London. She attributes her love of theatre to her father as he to ...

at the Royal Court Upstairs in 2007, which subsequently transferred to the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

. He was nominated for the

Evening Standard Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standar ...

for Best Director for Stenham's ''Tusk Tusk'' in 2009. He became the deputy artistic director at the Royal Court to

Dominic Cooke Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer. Early life Born in Wimbledon, south London, Cooke was brought up seeing a lot of theatre as a teenager from free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Education Authority. ...

in 2009. He has directed a number of new plays at the Royal Court including ''

Spur of the Moment A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

'' by

Anya Reiss Anya Reiss (born in 1991) is a British playwright and screenwriter. Career The youngest writer to have a play staged in London, a graduate of the Royal Court's Young Writers Programme, she had her first play ''Spur of the Moment'' staged there ...

's '' The Heretic'' and ''No Quarter'', also by Stenham, in 2013. Herrin made his Shakespearean debut at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...

in 2011, directing

Eve Best Emily "Eve" Best (born 31 July 1971) is an English actress and director. She is known for her television roles as Dr. Eleanor O'Hara in the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–13), First Lady Dolley Madison in the ''American Experience'' ...

in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

''. In 2011 Herrin directed several West End productions, including a well received revival of

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director o ...

's '' Absent Friends''. He also directed the UK premiere of David Hare's ''

The Vertical Hour ''The Vertical Hour'' is a play by David Hare. The play addresses the relationship of characters with opposing views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and also explores psychological tension between public lives and private lives. Productions The p ...

'' as well as the world premiere and West End transfer of Hare's ''

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the ea ...

''. He has directed

Roger Allam Roger William Allam (born 26 October 1953) is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical ''Les Misérables'', First Officer ...

in ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dire ...

'' and in '' The Tempest'' at

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 ...

. He was nominated as Best Director in the 2013 Olivier Awards for his work on '' This House'' by James Graham at the National Theatre. In December 2013 he directed the world premiere of two plays adapted from

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, '' Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was relea ...

's novels ''

Wolf Hall ''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a s ...

'' and ''

Bring Up the Bodies ''Bring Up the Bodies'' is an historical novel by Hilary Mantel; sequel to the award-winning ''Wolf Hall;'' and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII. It won the 2 ...

'' for the

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock ...

. The plays subsequently transferred to The Aldwych Theatre. In 2021 he directed the stage adaptation of Mantel's third novel in the trilogy ''

The Mirror and the Light ''The Mirror & The Light'' is an historical novel by the English writer Hilary Mantel. Following '' Wolf Hall'' (2009) and '' Bring Up the Bodies'' (2012), it is the final instalment in her trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, ...

'', which played at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague an ...

. In 2013, he succeeded

Rupert Goold Rupert Goold (born 18 February 1972) is an English director who works primarily in theatre. He is the artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, and was the artistic director of Headlong Theatre Company (2005–2013). Early years Goold was ...

as the artistic director of Headlong, where he has directed a number of hit productions including

Jennifer Haley Jennifer Haley is an American playwright. She grew up in San Antonio, Texas and studied acting at the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate degree. Haley also received a MFA in playwriting at Brown University in 2005, where she ...

's ''

The Nether ''The Nether'' is a sci-fi crime drama written by American playwright Jennifer Haley. The play received its world premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in California in March 2013, after being first developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center ...

'' (at The Royal Court Theatre), ''

People, Places and Things ''People, Places and Things'' is a play by the British playwright Duncan Macmillan. The inaugural production was directed by Jeremy Herrin and staged at the National Theatre in London in 2015. The play was widely praised by critics for its dep ...

'' by Duncan Macmillan and ''

Labour of Love ''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song "Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...

'' by James Graham, featuring

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...

and

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in B ...

in the West End. In 2022 he will direct

Amy Adams Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received various accolades, incl ...

, making her West End debut, in a production of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

' ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, ...

''.

Philosophy

Herrin describes himself as the archetypal

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

director, putting the writer before the director:

You never want anything onstage that the writer doesn’t like. You need them to be entirely proud. What you want is to give them the deluxe version of their play... I try to disappear into the work. I’d hate for someone to say, in the way they do about other directors, ‘That’s a very Jeremy Herrin production.’ Ego’s a really dangerous thing in theatre. It’s a collegiate enterprise.

Herrin has been instrumental in the founding of Stage Directors UK, an organisation that aims to create better working conditions and terms for directors.

Theatre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrin, Jeremy Living people British theatre directors English theatre directors 1970 births