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Douglas Rintoul is an accomplished theatre-maker. He studied Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham, received a bursary on the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme, and was invited to join the Royal National Theatre Studio Young Directors' Programme.

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Growing up on a council estate in a family that didn’t attend the theatre greatly influenced his work and the kinds of stories he tells. Encouraged by passionate drama teachers during his state education, he pursued higher education and a career in theatre. Since then, he has directed a wide range of productions, including musicals, opera, large-scale community shows, contemporary drama, classics, pantomimes, and original pieces. His productions are known for being accessible and moving, often highlighting voices from the fringes of society. His work demonstrates his commitment to creating theatre that is inclusive, thought-provoking, and emotionally engaging.

 

Douglas’s work has been showcased across the UK and internationally, at venues such as Barbican London, Hackney Empire, Hampstead Theatre, Trafalgar Studios, Theatre503, New Diorama, Vault Festival, Unicorn Theatre, Salisbury Playhouse, Watermill Theatre, Dundee Rep., Derby Theatre, Hull Truck Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Northern Stage, Yvonne Arnaud, Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds, Theatre by the Lake, and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg.

 

Productions directed by Douglas include: As You Like It (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and National Theatre Public Acts ), Noises Off (New Wolsey Theatre, Theatre by the Lake, Queen's Theatre and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg) Footloose (New Wolsey Theatre and Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (New Wolsey Theatre and Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds), Brief Encounter (New Wolsey Theatre, Wiltshire Creative, and Yvonne Arnaud), Don’t Look Now (New Wolsey Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse), Dardanus (English Touring Opera), Abigail’s Party(Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Salisbury Playhouse, Derby Theatre, and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg), Macbeth (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Derby Theatre), The Crucible (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, and Selladoor), Made in Dagenham and Rope (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and New Wolsey Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing, In Basildon, Love Letters, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole The Musical, Misfits, and The Hired Man (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), Europe (Barbican/Dundee Rep.), DNA, Private Lives (New Wolsey Theatre), State Red (Hampstead Theatre), The Summer Book (Unicorn Theatre), Jonny Woo’s East London Lecture(Shoreditch Town Hall), The Deep Blue Sea, All My Sons, Of Mice and Men (Watermill Theatre), Touched (Trafalgar Studios), Elegy (Transport/Theatre503), 1001 Nights (Transport/Unicorn Theatre), As You Like It (Transport/Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg), Invisible (Transport & New Wolsey Theatre), Copenhagen, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Fen (Salisbury Playhouse), King Lear (Creation), Closer, and Design for Living (Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg).

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He will next direct Caroline, a brand-new British musical about the rise of pirate radio in the 1960s, which will be the first production presented by the new East Anglian Touring Consortium.

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As an associate director, his work includes A Disappearing Number, Endgame (Complicité), Measure for Measure(Complicité/National Theatre), Julius Caesar (directed by Deborah Warner – Barbican), Fidelio (directed by Deborah Warner – Glyndebourne), and Testosterone (Rhum and Clay).

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As a writer and deviser, Douglas’s works include 1001 Nights (Offie nomination for Best Production for Young People), 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Unicorn Theatre), The Edge, Elegy (Transport Theatre) — which has received productions in Spain, Mexico, and Australia and been translated into Spanish — and Love Letters (Offie nomination for Best New Musical – Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), among others.

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Douglas has directed and taught at institutions such as Complicité, LAMDA, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Mountview, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, University of North London, University of Hyderabad, and Royal Central School of Speech & Drama.

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His dramaturgy work includes projects at Soho Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, National Theatre Studio, Salisbury Playhouse, Transport, and Complicité, working with writers like Martha Loader, Tena Štivičić, Vikki Stone, Atiha Sen Gupta, Sadie Hasler, Vickie Donoghue, Kenny Emson, Clem Garritty, Anne Odeke, Rhum & Clay, Jonny Woo, Guleraana Mir, and Zoe Lewis.

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Before all this, Douglas was an assistant director at London Bubble and the English Shakespeare Company, a script reader for Soho Theatre, an usher at the Royal Court Theatre, a box office assistant at the Royal Albert Hall, a marketing assistant at the National Theatre, and an administrative assistant, then administrator, at Complicité.