Christopher Haydon
Director
Christopher Haydon is artistic director of the Rose Theatre, Kingston.
Prior to this he was artistic director of the Gate Theatre from 2012-2017 and from 2008-2011 he was associate director at the Bush Theatre. He was a 2017 fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme. Christopher studied and Cambridge University and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, the National Theatre Studio, the Lincoln Center in New York and with Cicely Berry at the RSC. He has twice been named in The Stage 100, a list of the hundred most influential people working in British theatre.
Directing credits at the Rose include: Leopards and Caucasian Chalk Circle starring Carrie Hope Fletcher (Nominated: Best Production, What’s On Stage Awards). Directing credits at the Gate include The Convert, Grounded (Also Traverse Theatre, Studio Theatre Washington DC, national and international tour, winner: Fringe First, Best Production – Off West End Awards), Diary of a Madman (Traverse Theatre), The Iphigenia Quartet, The Christians (also Traverse Theatre, winner: Fringe First), Image of An Unknown Young Woman (winner: Best Production – Off West End Awards), The Edge Of Our Bodies, Trojan Women, Purple Heart, The Prophet, Wittenburg.
Freelance directing credits include Macbeth (Manchester Royal Exchange); The Remains of the Day (Royal and Derngate, Northampton/Out of Joint); Trying It On (China Plate/RSC/Royal Court/Traverse Theatre), On The Exhale (China Plate/Traverse Theatre, released as an audiobook by Audible, winner: Fringe First), The Caretaker (Bristol Old Vic/Royal and Derngate, Northampton), Twelve Angry Men – starring Martin Shaw and Robert Vaughn (Birmingham Rep/West End), Sixty-Six Books, In The Beginning (Bush Theatre/Westminster Abbey); Grace (On Theatre/Théatre Du Poche, Brussels, Belgium) Pressure Drop – starring Billy Bragg and his band (On Theatre/Wellcome Collection).
His first independent short film In Wonderland was longlisted for a BAFTA. Funded through Film London’s London Calling scheme it screened internationally, winning several awards including Best Drama at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival. His second short film Martha was funded by the BFI/Film London and has screened around the world at a number of Oscar accredited festivals including Flickers’ Rhode Island, L.A. Shorts and Foyle. Other film credits include: Longing to Belong (BBC iPlayer); Passages: a Windrush Celebration (as producer, Royal Court/Black Apron), Devil in the Detail (Royal Court/Guardian), Two Gentleman of Verona, Taming of the Shrew (Globe Theatre/BBC iPlayer). He has two features in development: The Camp (Riverstone Pictures), and This Modern Love (Independent Entertainment/Paper Epic Productions) a collaboration with screenwriter Matt Jones and musician Kele Okereke – lead singer of the platinum selling band Bloc Party.
As a journalist he has written for The Scotsman, The Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Stage and Prospect Magazine. Publications include The Art of the Artistic Director (Methuen – nominated for the Theatre Book Prize) Conversations on Religion, Conversations on Truth (Continuum), Identity and Identification (Wellcome Collection/Black Dog). He was a contributor to Adapting Translation for the Stage (Routledge). His report Where are the Workers? – Class Diversity in British Theatre Audiences was funded by the AHRC and can be downloaded from the Clore Leadership Programme’s website.
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