"Ramin Gray is one of Britain's most ground-breaking, enquiring and theatrical directors. He is also a passionate advocate of new plays, especially those with a contemporary form and sensibility. I'm excited to see how he brings these strengths to his leadership of ATC." Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director Royal Court Theatre

Theatre

After directing, designing and acting in many plays at University, Ramin began directing professionally in 1988 with a production of John Marston’s THE MALCONTENT at the Latchmere Theatre in London. In 1990 he was awarded a Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme bursary which took him to the Liverpool Playhouse where initially he directed classic texts such Franz Wedekind’s SPRING AWAKENING and Arthur Miller’s A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE.

But he also re-opened the Playhouse Studio as a dedicated space for new plays from 1992-95, raising finance and arranging co-productions with the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre. As well as directing a great deal of new work by playwrights from the North West, he also directed new plays in Paris at the Odéon Théâtre National de l’Europe and Théâtre National de Gennevilliers. Meanwhile at London’s Gate Theatre, he directed the first British production of a Jon Fosse play, THE CHILD, as well as plays by Paul Godfrey and Gregory Motton.

From 2000-09 Ramin was at the Royal Court Theatre, first as International Associate, then as Associate Director where he directed over fifteen world or British premieres, including PUSH UP by Roland Schimmelpfennig, TERRORISM by the Presnyakov Brothers, LADYBIRD by Vassily Sigarev, WAY TO HEAVEN by Juan Mayorga, WOMAN AND SCARECROW by Marina Carr, JUST A BLOKE by David Watson and SCENES FROM THE BACK OF BEYOND by Meredith Oakes.

In the Theatre Downstairs he directed the world premiere of Simon Stephens’ MOTORTOWN (and Wiener Festwochen, Falter critics prize), Max Frisch’s THE ARSONISTS, Martin Crimp’s ADVICE TO IRAQI WOMEN, two plays by Marius von Mayenburg, THE UGLY ONE and THE STONE and OVER THERE by Mark Ravenhill which transferred to the Schaubűhne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin. Ramin also did play development work for the Royal Court on almost every continent.

Ramin’s freelance theatre work in the UK includes two plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, David Grieg’s THE AMERICAN PILOT and Leo Butler’s I’LL BE THE DEVIL as well as Alistair Beaton’s KING OF HEARTS which he co-directed with Max Stafford-Clark for Hampstead Theatre and Out of Joint.

Internationally Ramin has directed two plays by Simon Stephens, the German language premiere of Simon Stephens’ HARPER REAGAN at the Salzburg Festival in a co-production with the Schauspielhaus Hamburg as well as ON THE SHORE OF THE WIDE WORLD at the Volkstheater Wien where it won the Karl-Skraup Prize. In Moscow, Ramin’s production of Marius von Mayenburg’s THE UGLY ONE is now part of the repertoire of Praktika Theatre.

Future plans include Mark Ravenhill’s SHOOT/GET TREASURE/REPEAT in Budapest and the Austrian premiere of Dennis Kelly’s ORPHANS at Schauspielhaus Wien.

Opera

In 2009 Ramin directed Benjamin Britten’s DEATH IN VENICE at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, conducted by Simone Young. The production then opened at Theater an der Wien, conducted by Donald Runnicles and has now been invited to the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and Los Angeles.

Currently Ramin is directing the European premiere of Brett Dean’s BLISS, to open the 2010 season in Hamburg.

Nick Williams joined ATC in January 2011.  Nick is a freelance strategist, consultant and producer for the performing arts.  He was a Senior Theatre Officer at Arts Council England and recent clients include Paines Plough, Nutkhut, People's Palace Projects, Coney, and Redbridge Drama Centre.

Ania joined Actors Touring Company in August 2012 having most recently been Volunteer Coordinator for LIFT 2012. Prior to that, as a freelance arts producer and manager, she worked in various roles for Shunt, LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) and with Katie Mitchell.

Ania completed MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy at Goldsmiths. She previously studied performing arts in France and Poland.

Outside of her roles in the arts she has been a journalist writing about performing arts. She is passionate about contemporary theatre and managing international projects.

Ed Armitage joined ATC in September 2011. Ed was previously a civil servant with the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency, but has left and set up a small Accounting company. Having studied English at University in Hull he has a keen interest in Literature and Performing Arts. He is also about to become a father for the first time.

Tiru Thiruvilangam joined ATC in July 2012, having previously worked as a fundraiser for charities supporting artists and performers such as Youth Music and the Musicians Benevolent Fund. With his passion for supporting creativity and new talent, Tiru ran the arts collective Scenery Chewer following the completion of his degree in English Literature at the University of Nottingham. He has tread the boards on occasion, and is particularly proud of his performance as Max Miller in Ken Lee’s ‘Happy as a Sandbag’ at Network Theatre, Waterloo.

Jo Cottrell is an independent arts manager and consultant with almost 20 years experience of working within the cultural sector in a variety of capacities. She has held a range of senior marketing and business development posts within the cultural sector, working on a wide range of capital, revenue and project fundraising campaigns, and marketing campaigns for organisations including Soho Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Trinity Laban, and Theatre Royal Plymouth. In her spare time Jo is studying for a degree in art history at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Christine is working on a PhD in "Cultures of Spectatorship" in association with ATC and Queen Mary, University of London. She has previously worked at the Royal Opera House as their Education Events Co-ordinator, where she helped produce the adult education ‘Insight’ Programme. Events included pre-performance talks, masterclasses for The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, interview events and study days.  In 2010 she took part in Step Change, the National Theatre and Royal Opera House's career development programme.  As part of this scheme she worked for Tamasha theatre company as the curator for their 21st anniversary celebrations and events.  She has also worked as a freelance dresser and stage technician at the Nottingham and Derby Playhouses.  Christine read English Literature at the University of Cambridge, and has a Masters in Shakespearean Studies from King’s College London in association with Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Maria Delgado - Chair
Benjamin Assefa-Folivi, Caroline Bailey,  Caroline Firstbrook, Nelson Fernandez, David Massarella, Michael Quine, Hetty Shand