Martin Duncan
Co-Deviser Original Scenario
Born in London, Martin trained as a Stage Manager at The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art. He was an actor for 20 years, working in repertory theatres at Lincoln, Exeter, Birmingham, Manchester, Watford, Durham, Sheffield, Stratford E15 as well as in the West End, on television and film.
As a composer, he has also written the scores for over 50 productions.
As director: The Rocky Horror Show (Munich and Milan); The Comedy Of Errors (Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin); The Blacks (Market Theatre Johannesburg/Stockholm’s Stadsteater); School For Clowns (Lilian Baylis Theatre, London); co-Director Gypsy (Crucible Sheffield); Associate Director on the Pet Shop Boys’ Performance tour. He created sequences for Steven Pimlott’s production of Sunday In the Park With George (Royal National Theatre) and Nicholas Hytner’s production of The Tempest (Royal Shakespeare Company).
As Director & Co-writer of The National Theatre of Brent: The Greatest Story Ever Told (Kilburn Tricycle, Edinburgh Festival and BBC Radio), The French Revolution (BBC TV), All the World’s a Globe (BBC Radio 4), Love Upon the Throne (Edinburgh Festival, Berlin Festival and Comedy Theatre), Massive Landmarks of the 20th Century (Channel 4 TV) and The Wonder Of Sex (Royal National Theatre).
Opera productions include: Xerxes, La Clemenza di Tito, The Rake’s Progress (Bavarian State Opera, Munich); The Last Supper (Berlin State Opera/Glyndebourne Festival); The Love for Three Oranges (Cologne Opera); L’heure Espagnole, Gianni Schicchi, The Thieving Magpie, Iolanta, The Nightingale’s to Blame (Opera North); Ariadne auf Naxos (Scottish Opera/Edinburgh International Festival); The Magic Flute (Scottish Opera Royal/Royal Opera House); H.M.S. Pinafore, Die Fledermaus (D’Oyly Carte); Orpheus in the Underworld (Opera North/D’Oyly Carte); Albert Herring (Canadian Opera Company, Toronto); The Barber of Seville (English Touring Opera).
From 1994 – 1999, Martin was Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse where his productions included: Gogol’s The Nose, The Adventures of Pinocchio (with Teatro Kismet, Italy), Brecht/Weill’s Happy End, Time and the Room by Botho Strauss, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Endgame and Krapp’s Last Tape . These productions toured to festivals in Bucharest, Rome, Marseilles, Weimar, Tokyo,
Edinburgh and Galway and in 1996 Nottingham Playhouse was awarded the prestigious Prudential Award for the Arts.
He was Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre from 2002-2005.