Damian Cruden
Encyclopedia
Career
Damian Cruden trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, 1982–1986. He then worked for the Tron TheatreTron Theatre
The Tron Theatre is located at the corner of Trongate and Chisholm Street, in the Merchant City area of Glasgow, Scotland.From its early years as a theatre club, the Tron has grown into a thriving multi-faceted venue...
and the TAG Theatre Company
TAG Theatre Company
TAG Theatre Company is a theatre company established in 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland as the outreach arm of the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow, and was known as the Citizens' Theatre for Youth.-Background:...
, and was tutor for the Scottish Youth Theatre
Scottish Youth Theatre
Scottish Youth Theatre is Scotland's national youth theatre company for ages 3–25. It is core funded by the Scottish Arts Council.Scottish Youth Theatre has headquarters in Glasgow but work throughout Scotland...
. Moving to England, he became Co-artistic Director for the Liverpool Everyman Youth Theatre
Everyman and Playhouse Youth Theatre
The Everyman and Playhouse Youth Theatre is a Liverpool-based stage and drama company for young people in Merseyside.-Outline:Located at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, the Youth Theatre is open to teenagers from all over Merseyside. It provides weekly sessions in a wide variety of skills, covering...
, then Associate Director for Hull Truck
Hull Truck Theatre
The Hull Truck Theatre is a theatre in Kingston upon Hull, England which presents high quality drama productions.It also tours its productions on a regular basis....
in the early 1990s. Since 1997 he has been Artistic Director at York Theatre Royal
York Theatre Royal
The York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St. Leonard's Place, York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 847 people. This reduced capacity takes into account removal of the mixing position seats and the stage side boxes which are normally not sold...
.
Notable productions
Amongst the dozens of his productions in York are the following:- PygmalionPygmalion (play)Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, with Sarah QuintrellSarah QuintrellSarah Quintrell is a British actress. She plays Sinéad in the BBC TV sitcom Carrie and Barry. She trained at Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre from 2000 to 2003.-Credits:...
, June 2006 - The Railway ChildrenThe Railway ChildrenThe Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
, stage adaptation written by Mike KennyMike Kenny (writer)Mike Kenny is a British playwright, most noted for his works in young people's theatre. His works include the 2008 adaptation of E Nesbit's The Railway Children at the National Railway Museum in York...
featuring a real steam locomotive and staged in 2008 and 2009 at the National Railway MuseumNational Railway MuseumThe National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
in York. Subsequently restaged at the Waterloo International railway stationWaterloo International railway stationWaterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007. It stands on the western side of Waterloo railway station, London...
. and at John Street RoundhouseJohn Street RoundhouseJohn Street Roundhouse is a preserved locomotive roundhouse in Toronto, Ontario. Built for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1929-31 by Anglin-Norcross to replace the earlier John Street roundhouse built in 1897...
in TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. The production at Waterloo won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award2011 Laurence Olivier AwardsThe 2011 Olivier Awards was held on 13 March 2011 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. The 2011 awards were intended to re-launch the Oliviers as a major awards event, and so they were sponsored by Mastercard, with live coverage by the BBC....
for Best Entertainment. - The White Crow, by Donald FreedDonald FreedDonald Freed is an American playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and actor. He is associated with writing programs at the University of Southern California, and was Artist in Residence at the Workshop Theatre, University of Leeds, UK , and Playwright in Residence at York Theatre Royal ,...
, May 2009 - To Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
, adapted by Christopher Sergel, February 2011, starring Duncan PrestonDuncan PrestonDuncan Preston is an English actor probably best known for his appearances in television productions written by Victoria Wood. His best remembered roles are Clifford in the Victoria Wood As Seen On TV soap opera parody Acorn Antiques , and Stan in dinnerladies.In July 2010, Preston revealed he was... - My Family and Other AnimalsMy Family and Other AnimalsMy Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of the part of his childhood he spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell Family on the island in a humorous manner, and also richly discusses the fauna...
, adapted by Janys Chambers, June 2011 - Forty Years OnForty Years On (play)Forty Years On is a 1968 play by Alan Bennett. It was his first West End play.-Subject:The play is set in a British public school called Albion House , which is putting on an end of term play in front of the parents, i.e. the audience...
, September 2011