Writer
Julian Mitchell

Family Business is Julian Mitchell’s tenth produced stage play. Among the other nine are Half-Life, which starred John Gielgud, and Another Country, with Rupert Everett and Kenneth  Branagh, which won the SWET award for best play of 1981. Daniel Day-Lewis and Colin Firth later took over main roles, and Everett and Firth starred in the film. In 1986 he wrote After Aida for the Welsh National Opera, which starred Richard Griffiths, Zoe Wanamaker and Ian Charleson. August, his version of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, directed by and starring Anthony Hopkins, was performed in 1994.   His adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier had its world premiere at Bath Theatre Royal in 2010. His films include his own adaptations of Another Country and August, Arabesque, Vincent and Theo and Wilde.

He has published six novels, the last of which, The Undiscovered Country, was reissued last year.

Among his many original television plays are Shadow in the Sun (Emmy 1971) in the series Elizabeth R (with Glenda Jackson), A Question of Degree, Rust, the series Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill (with Lee Remick), Abide With Me, (with Catherine Nesbitt ; International Critics Prize, Monte Carlo and US Humanities Award, 1977), and Survival of the Fittest.   He has also adapted many books, including The Weather in the Streets, Staying On (with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson), and The Good Soldier.  He wrote ten episodes of Inspector Morse and the widely acclaimed Consenting Adults starring Charles Dance and Samantha Bond, for which he won the Best Writing Award at the Scottish BAFTA Awards 2007. 

He has lived in Monmouthshire for 30 years, where he is a local historian.  He curated and wrote the catalogue of the exhibition The Wye Tour and Its Artists, at Chepstow in 2010.  

 

Director
Matthew Lloyd

After graduating from Oxford University, Matthew went on to pursue graduate Studies at Harvard and Columbia Universities. Since 2002 Matthew has been the Artistic Director of the Actors Centre. He was formerly Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester (1997 – 2001), during which period the Exchange won the Barclays TMA Award for Theatre of the Year, and an Associate Director of the Hampstead Theatre (1991 – 1997). Productions include HAPPY NOW? (Hull Truck Theatre); THE GOOD SOLDIER (Theatre Royal Bath); THE LINE (Arcola Theatre); DUET FOR ONE (Almeida Theatre / Vaudeville Theatre); THE FLINT ST NATIVITY (Liverpool Playhouse); HEDDA GABLER (West Yorkshire Playhouse / Liverpool Playhouse); COPENHAGEN (Watford Palace Theatre); THE ODD COUPLE (Liverpool Playhouse); A DOLL’S HOUSE (West Yorkshire Playhouse); THE LUCKY ONES (Hampstead Theatre – Olivier and Critics Circle Award) and THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT (Hampstead Theatre).

Designer
Ruari Murchison

Ruari has designed productions in Helsinki (Finland), Washington DC, the Stratford Festival (Canada), Stuttgart (Germany), Luzern (Switzerland), Haarlem (Holland), Elisnore (Denmark) and many regional theatres in the United Kingdom.

Recent design credits include Bette and Joan (Arts Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, Love on the Dole (Octagon Theatre), Mappa Mundi, Frozen, The Waiting Room, The Red Balloon (National Theatre); Titus Andronicus (Royal Shakespeare Company); Othello (Trafalgar Studios); The Solid Gold Cadillac (Garrick); A Busy Day (Lyric Theatre); Peggy Sue Got Married (Shaftesbury Theatre); The Snowman (Peacock Theatre); Toyer (Arts); The Three Sisters on Hope Street, The Glass Room, Gone to LA (Hampstead Theatre); Henry IV parts I and II (Washington Shakespeare Company, USA); West Side Story, The Sound of Music (Stratford Festival, Canada); Hamlet (Elisnore, Denmark); Pravda, The Critic, The Real Inspector Hound (Chichester); The Good Soldier, Master Class (Theatre Royal Bath Productions tour); Deep Blue Sea, Macbeth, Medea, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Secret Garden, As You Like It (West Yorkshire Playhouse); An Enemy of the People (Theatr Clwyd); Arthur and George, Cling to Me Like Ivy, Uncle Vanya, A Doll’s House, the David Hare trilogy - Racing Demon, Absence of War, Murmuring Judges (TMA Best Design nomination 2003); The Tempest, Macbeth, Hamlet, His Dark Materials, Arthur and George (Birmingham Repertory Theatre); Intemperance, Tartuffe (Everyman and Playhouse Theatres, Liverpool); Time Of My Life, Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian, Copenhagen, Alfie (Palace Theatre, Watford).

Opera credits include: Der Freischütz (Finnish National Opera); Peter Grimes, Così fan tutte (Luzerner Opera); La Cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Garsington); L’Italiana in Algeri (Buxton); Les Pèlerins de la Mecque, Zazà (Wexford).

Ballet credits include: Bruise Blood (Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company); Landschaft und Erinnerung (Stuttgart Ballet, Germany); The Protecting Veil (Birmingham Royal Ballet); The Snowman (Seoul, London, Birmingham Rep, touring).

 

Lighting Designer
Jason Taylor

Jason’s theatre credits includes: Journey’s End (West End/Tour/Broadway); Top Girls (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Invisible Man (Menier Chocolate Factory); The Empire (Royal Court); Six Degrees of Separation, National Anthems (Old Vic); The Merry Wives of Windsor (Globe USA/UK tour); The Big Fellah (Out of Joint); Rum and Coca Cola (WYP/ETT tour); Flashdance (Tour); The God of Hell (Donmar); Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship (National); Pygmalion (Broadway); Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, The Good Soldier, Entertaining Angels, Single Spies, Balmoral, The Lady in the Van, Abigails Party, How the Other Half Loves, Victory (Theatre Royal Bath); Noises Off, Year of The Rat, Little Shop of Horrors (WYP); Hysteria, Dealer’s Choice, My Night With Reg (Birmingham Rep); 5 @ 50, Charlie’s Aunt, Hobson’s Choice, Yerma (Royal Exchange Manchester); Us and Them, The Dead Eye Boy, Buried Alive (Hampstead); Madness of George III (WYP/Birmingham Rep); Office (Edinburgh); For Alan Ayckbourn at Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough: Dear Uncle, Carmen, Awaking Beauty, Mr A’s Amazing Maze Plays, Life of Riley. West End credits include: The Rivals, Rainman, Absurd Person Singular, Duet for One, Honour, Glorious, Great Balls of Fire, Some Girl(s), High Society, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, Kindertransport, Twelfth Night, Abigail’s Party, And Then There Were None, What The Butler Saw, Iolanthe, The Mikado, Yeoman Of The Guard, The Letter and Pretending to be Me.

Sound Designer
Steve Mayo

Steve's credits include: The Amazing Vancetti Sisters (Tristan Bates); Midnight Your Time, Dusk Rings A Bell and Nicked (HighTide Festival); Incoming (HighTide Festival/Latitude Festival); Lidless (E4 Underbelly, Edinburgh/Trafalgar Studios); Flesh and Blood & Fish and Fowl (Pit Theatre, Barbican, Associate Sound Designer); Flyboy is alone again this Christmas (Pit Theatre, Barbican); Our Share of Tomorrow (Edinburgh 10/York Theatre Royal); Cabaret Simon (Pit Theatre, Barbican); The Line (Arcola Theatre); Public Property (Trafalgar Studios); Ordinary Dreams (Trafalgar Studios); Muhmah, Guardians, Fixer (HighTide Festival 2009); Well (Apollo Theatre); Sh*t M*x (Trafalgar Studios); I Caught Crabs in Walberswick (HighTide/Bush Theatre/Edinburgh); Stovepipe (HighTide/National Theatre/Bush Theatre); Fight Face (Lyric Studio/Decibel Festival, Manchester); Lie of the Land, Lough/Rain (Edinburgh/Arcola Theatre/York Playhouse); Hangover Square (Finborough Theatre); Absolutely Frank (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); Snowbound (Trafalgar Studios); Jack and the Beanstalk (Barbican Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (BAC); Weightless, You Were After Poetry, Lyre and Ned & Sharon (HighTide Festival 2007); Future/Perfect (Soho Theatre); Eden’s Empire (Finborough Theatre); Miniaturists (Arcola); Mythomania (White Bear Theatre); Tale of Two Cities, Cinderella (G.S.M.D); Dr Foster (Menier Chocolate Factory); Silence (Arcola).

Composition: The Amazing Vancetti Sisters (Tristan Bates); Breathing Corpses, Soft Armour (Theatre Souk); Love & Money (Arts Ed); Guardians, Fixer (HighTide Festival 2009); Simpatico (Old Red Lion); Absolutely Frank (Queen’s Theatre).