Simon Dormandy

^[1]

Simon Dormandy is an English director, teacher and actor who as an actor worked with Cheek by Jowl and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), as well as at The Donmar Warehouse, The Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre and The Royal Exchange, amongst many others. He is perhaps best known on screen for his performances in Little Dorrit (film) and Vanity Fair. Between 1997 and 2012 he taught drama at Eton College, Berkshire, and held the posts of Director of Drama and Head of Theatre Studies.^[2][3] . Having left Eton in December 2012, he is currently working as a freelance theatre director.^[4]

Background

Simon Dormandy was, as an actor, known largely for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1988 and 1995. Over the period he worked with many well known directors, including Adrian Noble, Sam Mendes, Deborah Warner, Katie Mitchell and Max Stafford-Clark. He also took part in several films and television series. He was perhaps best known for his performances in Little Dorrit (as Sparkler) and Vanity Fair (as Dobbin). He was also known for his work with the theatre company Cheek By Jowl.^[5]

He taught Drama and English at Eton College for fifteen years from 1997 to 2012, where he was Director of Drama and Head of Theatre Studies.^[2][3] His pupils included the actors Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, Harry Lloyd and Adetomiwa Edun, director James Dacre and comedians Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton of comedy duo Totally Tom and Humphrey Ker. School productions include Henry VI with Eddie Redmayne, Waiting for Godot with Harry Lloyd, King Lear (where he directed Edward Stourton's son in the title role ^[6]), Three Sisters, Pool, No Water, Henry IV, (a joint version of both Part 1 and Part 2),^[7] and, most recently, Joseph K and Spring Awakening. He has, since becoming a teacher, not appeared in any public or filmed performances excluding an appearance on the YouTube hit High Renaissance Man.

Since January 2013, he has been working as a freelance theatre director. In February 2013 he joined The English Stage Company at The Royal Court Theatre as an assistant director, where he worked on the world premiere of The Low Road by Bruce Norris. In 2014 he directed the UK Premiere of "Eldorado" by Marius von Mayenburg and "Waiting for Godot" with young comedians in the leading roles, both at The Arcola Theatre in London. In 2015 he will co-direct his own stage adaptation of the Coen bothers' film "The Hudsucker Proxy" with Toby Sedgwick at the Nuffield Theatre Southampton and the Liverpool Playhouse.

Filmography

Film credits

Television credits

Selected stage appearances

Non-Royal Shakespeare Company

• Death and the King's Horsemen, Royal Exchange, 1990 (dir. Phyllida Lloyd)^[8]
• Adam Was A Gardener, Minerva Studio, Chichester, 1991^[9]
• Losing Venice (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 1992)^[10]
• The Threepenny Opera (Donmar Warehouse, London, 1994)

With the Royal Shakespeare Company

All Royal Shakespeare Company performances taken from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust archive history^[11]

See also

• Eton College
• Royal Shakespeare Company

References

External links

• Simon Dormandy at the Internet Movie Database
• The Guardian - Eton at odds with the RSC
• Giving the Boys at Eton Something to Think About - NY Times article
• Random House - RSC Stagings (Simon Dormandy references)