Stephen Unwin
Stephen is a British playwright, translator, director, writer and campaigner. He has written eight books on theatre and drama as well as six translations of Ibsen, Brecht and Schnitzler. He has also written five original plays, including All Our Children (London, 2017, New York, 2019).
Stephen spent much of the 1980s at the Traverse in Edinburgh where he directed Scottish and European plays with some remarkable young actors, including Tilda Swinton, Simon Russell Beale, Alan Cumming and Ken Stott. Many of his productions transferred to London theatres, including the Royal Court, the Donmar and the Almeida.
In 1993, he founded English Touring Theatre, for whom he directed more than 30 productions of classical and new plays, and, in 2008, he became Artistic Director of the new Rose Theatre in Kingston, which he ran until January 2014.
He’s directed more than 20 operas at the Almeida, Garsington, Buxton, ENO, the RCM and the Royal Opera House.
Stephen’s books include the very popular Pocket Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays (1998), So You Want to be a Theatre Director? (2004) and A Guide to the Plays of Bertolt Brecht (2005). He has taught in universities and drama schools and given public lectures, conference keynotes and open workshops.
Stephen is Chairman of KIDS, a national charity which provides a wide range of services for disabled children, young people and their families.
Twitter @RoseUnwin