Mick Gordon (born 1970) is a Northern Irish writer, film and theatre director. Currently he is Guest Lecturer, MA Creative Writing, Queens University Belfast where he is also a PhD candidate - Translating Artificial Intelligence into Theatre.

Personal

Mick Gordon was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He graduated from

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

in 1992, with a First Class Honours Degree in Modern History. He lives in Northern Ireland, with his wife Sophie Hayles and their two children.

Career

From 2012 to 2015 Gordon 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 ...

Aarhus Teater The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Sw ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Previously he was

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is an English theatre director and lyricist. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has dir ...

's Associate Director at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

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 ...

and was Director of the National's Transformation Season. And Artistic Director of the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...

in London. He founded the charitable theatre company On Theatre to work in collaboration with experts from fields such as

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. He has produced and directed over 100 theatre productions. He is the author of eight plays, and a collection of essays. His mentors were

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

and

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...

Awards

* 1996 John S Cohen Bursary Royal National Theatre Studio London UK * 1998 Critics’ Circle Most Promising Newcomer London UK * 1999 ''Art'' ACE Award Best Production Buenos Aires Argentina * 2000 Peter Brook Award for Most Outstanding Theatre UK * 2000 ''Closer'' ACE Award Best Production Buenos Aires Argentina * 2001 ''My Fair Lady'' ACE Award Best Production Buenos Aires Argentina * 2003 ''Betrayal'' Public Award Best Production Stockholm Sweden * 2005

NESTA Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation. Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lotter ...

Dreamtime Award UK * 2007 ''Grimms' Tales'' Best Production Belgrade Serbia * 2008 ''Deepcut'' Five awards Edinburgh Festival UK * 2013 Danish Reumart Award, Aarhus Theatre

Directing

* 1993 ''Alice in Wonderland'' Playhouse Oxford * 1993 ''The Telephone'' European Chamber Opera Hong Kong * 1994 ''Cosi fan Tutte'' European Chamber Opera

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

* 1994 ''Tosca'' Playhouse Epsom * 1995 ''Rigoletto'' Holland Park Opera London * 1995 ''La Cenerentola'' Holland Park Opera London * 1996 ''La Traviata'' Holland Park Opera, London * 1996 ''The Soldiers Tale''

Institut Français The Institut Français (; French capitalization, Institut français; "French institute") is a French public industrial and commercial organization (EPIC). Started in 1907 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for promoting French, francophone as ...

, London * 1996 ''Arabian Nights'' BAC London * 1996 ''Renard'' National Youth Ballet London * 1996 ''The Promise''

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in Theater, theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a ...

, London * 1997 ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' National Theatre Studio London * 1997 ''Hamlet'' National Theatre Studio London * 1997 ''Measure for Measure''

English Touring Theatre English Touring Theatre (ETT) is a major touring theatre company based in London, England. History English Touring Theatre was founded in 1993 by Stephen Unwin. In 2008, the directorship of the company was taken over by Rachel Tackley, making E ...

* 1998 ''Une Tempete'' Gate Theatre London * 1998 ''Volunteers'' Gate Theatre London * 1999 ''On Death (Intimate Death)'' Gate Theatre London * 1999 ''Art'' National Theatre Buenos Aires * 1999 ''Mad Dog'' Old Courthouse Belfast * 1999 ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having opened in May 1976, th ...

, London * 1999 ''Marathon'' Gate Theatre London * 2000 ''Trust''

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 theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, London * 2000 ''Closer'' Teatro Nacional Cervantes, Buenos Aires * 2000 ''On Love'' Gate Theatre London * 2001 ''My Fair Lady''

Teatro Nacional Cervantes The Teatro Nacional Cervantes in Buenos Aires is the national stage and comedy theatre of Argentina. Overview Located on Córdoba Avenue and two blocks north of Buenos Aires' renowned opera house, the Colón Theatre, the Cervantes houses three pe ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

* 2001 ''Godspell'' Festival Theatre,

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

* 2001 ''The Walls'' National Theatre London * 2002 ''Monkey!''

Young Vic Theatre The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

, London * 2002 ''Le Pub!'' National Theatre London * 2002 ''A Prayer for Owen Meany'' National Theatre London * 2003 ''Betrayal'' Strindbergs Intima Teater, Stockholm * 2004 ''The Real Thing'' Strindbergs Intima Teater Stockholm * 2005 ''A Play in Swedish English and Italian'' Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm * 2005 ''On Ego'' Soho Theatre London * 2006 ''War'' Strindbergs Intima Teater, Stockholm * 2006 ''Winners, Losers'' Strindbergs Intima Teater, Stockholm * 2006 ''Optic Trilogy''

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The theatre has been at its present lo ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

* 2006 ''On Religion (Grace)'' Soho Theatre London * 2007 ''Grimms' Tales'' Dusko Radovic Belgrade * 2008 ''On Emotion'' Soho Theatre London * 2008 ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' Lyric Theatre Belfast * 2009 ''The Home Place'' Grand Opera House, Belfast An Granian Theatre Letterkenny * 2009 ''The Ride of Your Life''

Polka Theatre Polka Theatre is a children’s theatre in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, for children aged 0– 13. The theatre contains two performance spaces - a 300-seat main auditorium and a 70-seat studio dedicated to early years performances. Polka ...

, London * 2009 ''Deep Cut''

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as n ...

, London,

Sherman Theatre The Sherman Theatre () is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from University College Cardiff (now Cardiff University). Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Thea ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded as The Traverse Theatre Club in 1962 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes, Richard Demarco, Terry Lane, Andrew Muir, John Martin and Sheila Colvin. The Traverse Th ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

* 2010 ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' OSC/

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

400th Anniversary * 2010 ''

Translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

'' Curve Theatre Leicester * 2010 ''Bea''

Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...

, London * 2011 ''Sweeney Todd''

Aarhus Theatre The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Sw ...

, Denmark * 2011 ''Both Sides'' Belfast International Theatre Festival * 2012 ''Uncle Vanya''

Lyric Theatre (Belfast) The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the principal, full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In January 2023 it won The Stage's Theatre of the Year award in recognition of "its programme...as well as for its online festiva ...

* 2012 ''Ghosts'' Aarhus Theatre * 2013 ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' Aarhus Theatre * 2014 ''The Visit'' Aarhus Theatre * 2015 ''On/Off'' Aarhus Theatre * 2016 ''Door into the Dark'' Seamus Heaney Home Place * 2017 ''Sinners''

* 2017 ''Making History'' FrielFest * 2018 ''The Music Room'' BBC NI * 2018 ''Living Quarters'' FrielFest * 2019 ''A Deal's a Deal'' RTE Storylands

Writing

* 2005 ''On Ego'' Oberon Books * 2005 ''On Love'' Oberon Books * 2005 ''On Death (Intimate Death)'' Oberon Books * 2006 ''On Religion (Grace)'' Oberon Books * 2007 ''Conversations on Religion'' Continuum Books * 2008 ''On Emotion'' Oberon Books * 2009 ''The Ride of Your Life'' Oberon Books * 2009 ''Identity and Identification'' Black Dog Publishing * 2009 ''Conversations on Truth'' Continuum Books * 2010 ''Pressure Drop'' Oberon Books * 2010 ''Theatre and the Mind'' Oberon Books * 2011 ''Bea'' Oberon Books * 2015 ''ON/OFF'' Aarhus Teater * 2019 ''Hvad med teaterhistorien? (What about Theatre History?)'' Contributor

References

External links

Unitedagents.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Mick Male dramatists and playwrights from Northern Ireland Writers from Belfast Artistic directors from Northern Ireland Theatre directors from Northern Ireland Essayists from Northern Ireland 1970 births Living people Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford