Stephen Unwin (born 29 December 1959) is an English theatre director. Stephen read English at

Downing College Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he directed many student productions, including an award-winning production of Measure for Measure that transferred to the Almeida, where he was awarded an Arts Council Trainee Director’s Bursary. He has since directed over 50 professional productions and 12

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s. For much of the 1980s, he was Associate Director at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...

, Edinburgh, and several of his productions transferred to London theatres. He worked with a wide range of leading actors, including Simon Russell Beale, Tilda Swinton, Ken Stott, and dozens of others. In the early 1990s, he became Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio. He launched the

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 ET ...

in June 1993, where he directed twenty productions, many of which were seen at the Old Vic, the Donmar, the Lyric Hammersmith and others. He stepped down from ETT in 2008 after fifteen years at the helm. He became the second Artistic Director (after Sir Peter Hall) of the

Rose Theatre, Kingston The Rose Theatre Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The theatre seats 822 around a wide, thrust stage. It officially opened on 16 January 2008 with ''Uncle Vanya'' by Anton Chekhov, with ...

. He has also directed in Europe and in British

repertory theatre A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

. He was joint winner of the 2003

Sam Wanamaker Award The Sam Wanamaker Award or Sam Wanamaker Prize is an award established in 1994 for pioneering work in Shakespearean theatre, usually given to individuals who have worked closely with Shakespeare's Globe or the Royal Shakespeare Company; the award ...

with

Barrie Rutter Barrie Thomas Rutter OBE (born 12 December 1946) is an English actor and the founder and former artistic director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Dean Clough complex, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Biography Rutter was ...

, and in autumn 2003 was Judith E Wilson Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. Stephen Unwin was Artistic Director of The Rose Theatre in Kingston, Greater London between 2008 and 2014. In September 2010 Stephen directed Noël Coward's Hay Fever, a Rose Theatre production starring

Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...

, which received great critical acclaim. He was visiting professor at the University of California and the Judith E Wilson Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University.

Books

"So You Want to Be a Theatre Director?" By Stephen Unwin
*Faber Pocket Guide – Shakespeare *Faber Pocket Guide – Twentieth Century Drama *Faber Pocket Guide – Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg *''A Guide to the Plays of Bertolt Brecht'' Methuen, London. 2005.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unwin, Stephen Living people 1960 births English theatre directors British opera directors Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge