Dominic Cooke

Dominic Cooke CBE (born 1966) is an English director and writer.

Dominic Cooke

CBE
Born1966 (age 5455)
NationalityBritish
Occupation
  • Director
  • writer
Partner(s)Alexi Kaye Campbell

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.

Career

Soon after graduating from Warwick University, Cooke's first job as a TV runner led him to start his own theatre company, Pan Optic, which he ran for two years before becoming an assistant director at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

He started his relationship with the Royal Court Theatre under Stephen Daldry in 1995. He then became an Associate Director at the Royal Court for Ian Rickson in 1999 during which time he directed Fireface by Marius von Mayenburg, Other People by Christopher Shinn and Redundant by Leo Butler. In 2003 he left the Royal Court and returned to the RSC for Michael Boyd where he directed his acclaimed version of The Crucible starring Iain Glen which won him the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director; the play also won the Olivier for Best Revival.

In 2013 he won the International Theatre Institute Award for Excellence in International Theatre and in the same year was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Letters by his alma mater, Warwick University. Cooke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to drama.[1]

Royal Court

Cooke was Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Royal Court Theatre 2006 to 2013 during which time he pioneered new writing by actively promoting the Royal Court's Young Writers’ Programme and new, young writers such as Mike Bartlett (My Child), Polly Stenham (That Face), Penelope Skinner (The Village Bike) and Bola Agbaje (the Olivier Award-winning Gone Too Far!).[2][3]

During his tenure at the Royal Court Cooke staged Jez Butterworth’s multi-award winning Jerusalem which was directed by Ian Rickson and which transferred to the West End, Broadway, and San Francisco; Lucy Prebble’s 2009 Enron which was directed by Rupert Goold; and Bruce NorrisClybourne Park which Cooke directed himself. All three were transferred to the West End amid critical acclaim and box office success.

Cooke's time at the Royal Court was deemed a huge success;[2] he staged numerous new plays and refocused the aims of the theatre. Of the 130+ plays, 94 were full productions of new plays, with public readings and productions of old plays making up the number. The theatre was nominated for 210 major awards and won 59. Cooke was also credited with bringing a new dynamism and excitement to the Royal Court Theatre with his eclectic programming: “What makes Cooke’s reign unique is that he has used the Royal Court’s young writers programme as a way of finding and cultivating new talent, often by precariously young writers...for Cooke, if a play was good enough, that was enough: he would put it on…Polly Stenham’s ‘That Face’, staged when she was only 19, bowled over its audiences. Anya Reiss was younger still – 18 – when her assured debut ‘Spur of the Moment’ opened. Bola Agbaje won an Olivier with her first play ‘Gone Too Far!’”[2]

Writing

In 2007 Cooke wrote the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses, which he directed and produced at the RSC. He wrote an adaptation of Arabian Nights for the Young Vic in 1998 and directed a revised version for the RSC in 2009. With scriptwriter Ben Power, Cooke co-wrote the scripts for Shakespeare's Henry VI Parts 1 and 2 for BBC TV's The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (May 2016).

National Theatre

Cooke is a National Theatre Associate Director; he made his directing debut there in November 2011 with Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors which he set in modern-day London. The cast included Lenny Henry and Claudie Blakley and was broadcast worldwide in March 2012 as part of the NT Live programme. Cooke directed Caryl Churchill's Here We Go at the National in 2015. He directed the critically acclaimed production of August Wilson's Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 2016 which won the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Revival.[4][5] His 2017 production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's Follies starring Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee and Tracie Bennett was nominated for ten Olivier Awards,[6] winning Best Musical Revival.[7] Cooke received the Critics' Circle Best Director Award.[8]

Television

Cooke's TV directorial debut was in May 2016 with the second BBC TV series of The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses. The series was televised in three parts: Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2, and Richard III. The series was produced by Sam Mendes' company, Neal Street Productions, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Sturridge, and Hugh Bonneville.

Film

Cooke's feature directorial debut, On Chesil Beach starring Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2017. It is based on the novel of the same name by Booker Prize winning novelist Ian McEwan. The film received wide release in 2018 and was chosen by Variety as one of the ten best films at Toronto International Film Festival 2017.[9][10] His latest film The Courier starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan and Jessie Buckley, premiered at Sundance in January 2020.[11] It will be released in the USA by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.[12] He is slated to direct a movie of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's musical Follies.[13]

Private life

Cooke's civil partner is the actor and playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell.[3] They have been together since 1997.

Work

Theatre

Year Play Production Notes
2017Follies by Stephen Sondheim and James GoldmanRoyal National Theatrestarring Imelda Staunton, Tracie Bennett, Philip Quast, Janie Dee, Dame Josephine Barstow, Nominated Evening Standard Award Best Director, Winner Critic's Circle Theatre Award Best Director, Nominated for 10 Laurence Olivier Awards including Best Director & Best Musical Revival[14]
2016Pigs And Dogs by Caryl ChurchillRoyal Court Theatre
2016Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August WilsonRoyal National TheatreWinner Best Revival Laurence Olivier Awards , Nominated Best Director Evening Standard Awards
2015Here We Go by Caryl ChurchillRoyal National Theatre
2015Teddy Ferrara by Christopher ShinnDonmar Warehouse
2013The Low Road by Bruce NorrisRoyal Court Theatre
2013In The Republic of Happiness by Martin CrimpRoyal Court Theatre
2012Ding Dong The Wicked by Caryl ChurchillRoyal Court Theatre
2012Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraneyRoyal Court Theatre
2012In Basildon by David EldridgeRoyal Court Theatre
2011Chicken Soup with Barley by Arnold WeskerRoyal Court Theatrenominated Best Director Evening Standard Award
2011The Comedy of Errors by William ShakespeareRoyal National Theatre
2010Clybourne Park by Bruce NorrisRoyal Court Theatre transferred to Wyndham's TheatreNominated Best Director Evening Standard Award and Laurence Olivier Award Won South Bank Show Award,
won best New Play Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award, Laurence Olivier Award
2009Aunt Dan and Lemon by Wallace ShawnRoyal Court Theatre
2009The Fever by Wallace ShawnRoyal Court Theatre
2009Seven Jewish Children by Caryl ChurchillRoyal Court Theatre
2008Wig Out! by Tarell Alvin McCraneyRoyal Court Theatre
2008Noughts and Crosses based on the book by Malorie BlackmanRSC
2008Now Or Later by Christopher ShinnRoyal Court TheatreSouth Bank Show Award Nomination
2007Rhinoceros by Eugène IonescoRoyal Court Theatre
2007The Pain and the Itch by Bruce NorrisRoyal Court Theatre
2006The Crucible by Arthur MillerRSCThis won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director and for Best Revival in 2007, it also was the first play to be given 6 stars by Time Out
2006Pericles by William ShakespeareRSC
2006The Winter's Tale by William ShakespeareRSC
2005As You Like It by William ShakespeareRSCWhatsOnStage Award for Best Shakespeare Production
2005Postcards from America by David AdjmiRSC
2005The Magic FluteWelsh National Opera
2004Macbeth by William ShakespeareRSC
2004By Bog of Cats by Marina CarrWyndham's Theatre
2003Cymbeline by William ShakespeareRSC
2003The Eccentricities of a Nightingale by Tennessee WilliamsDublin Gate
2003La BohemeGrange Park Opera
2002Plasticine by Vassily SigarevRoyal Court TheatreEvening Standard Theatre Awards Nomination for Best Director
2002The People Are Friendly by Michael WynneRoyal Court Theatre
2002Caryl Churchill Events;This is a Chair and Identical TwinsRoyal Court TheatreThis is a Chair was co-directed with Ian Rickson
2002The Malcontentby John Marston RSC
2001Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman Royal Court Theatre
2001Redundant by Leo Butler Royal Court Theatre
2001Fucking Games by Grae CleughRoyal Court Theatre
2001I Capuleti E I MonetecchiGrange Park Opera
2000Other People by Christopher ShinnRoyal Court Theatre
2000Fireface by Marius von MayenburgRoyal Court Theatre
1998Arabian NightsThe Young VicLater had a UK and world tour, was staged at the New Victory Theater in New York and won the TMA Award
1998The Bullet by Joe PenhallDonmar Warehouse
1997The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeAtlantic Theatre Festival
1997My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte KeatleyOxford Stage Companyit then transferred to the Young Vic
1996The Weavers by Gerhart HauptmannThe Gate
1995Hunting Scenes From Lower Bavaria by Martin SperrThe Gate
Afore Night Come, Entertaining Mr SloaneClwyd
CaravanNational Theatre of Norway
Kiss of the Spider WomanBolton Octagon
Of Mice and MenNottingham Playhouse
1991Autogeddon by Heathcote WilliamsAssembly RoomsFringe First Award

Awards and nominations

Theatre

Year Award Category Work Result
2017 Critics’ Circle Theatre Award[15] Best Director Follies Won

References

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