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David was originally going to design The Lady in the Van. He was only asked to take over directing less than a week before auditions. So, as with The Playboy of the Western World (2015), which David also designed and then directed, he has had a long time to look at it as designer and very little time as director. With Festen last year, David had been thinking about the play for six years before an opportunity came to direct it, so he now seems to alternate between plays with a long lead time and plenty of time to work on them, and those that involve a short period of intense work, thought and planning. With a total change of tone and step away from realism, David will direct Noddy at TheatreWorks Birkenhead in 2019. He has been thinking about that for some months already.
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The Lady in the Van is an interesting play to approach as a director. Miss Shepherd may well be cantankerous and demanding, and may never say ‘thank you’ to anyone who helps her, but she must gain the sympathy of the audience. We have tried also to give her a winsomeness, and even an innocence, especially when she is recounting the stories of her schooldays. Her religious beliefs should not come across as too mad but should reflect her Catholic upbringing. I did not want to leave her to be mocked by atheist liberals, such as Alan Bennett and his neighbours, Rufus and Pauline, without also mocking them and their refined brand of socialism.
At the end, Alan Bennett says she has been around for 20 years of his life. He met her in the scene when he is looking at the convent, prior to 1969, and their relationship ended with her death in 1989. I have given the lighting team a lot of work to do in trying to convey this passage of time, but, more importantly, I have asked the cast to show the developing relationship between Alan Bennett and Miss Shepherd, which culminates in a scene together – without words – which we hope you will find deeply moving. As always, I have tried to bring my own vision of a play to the stage, and, as always, I am grateful to the cast, to the production team and the crew for their commitment, intelligence and imagination for seeing what I wanted to do and helping me achieve it. |
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For Ellerslie Theatre | Our Man in Havana (2022) | director |
| Our Man in Havana (2022) | sound designer |
| Our Man in Havana (2022) | lighting designer |
| Our Man in Havana (2022) | set builder |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (2021) | set builder |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (2021) | technical operator |
| Sham (2021) | set builder |
| Proof (2020) | set builder |
| Enchanted April (2019) | set builder |
| Suspicious (2019) | writer |
| The Ellerslie Festival of One Act Plays 2019 (2019) | lighting designer |
| Things I Know to be True (2019) | set builder |
| The Bach (2019) | set designer |
| The Lady in the Van (2018) | director |
| The Lady in the Van (2018) | set designer |
| Beautiful Thing (2018) | construction manager |
| The House of Angels (2018) | construction manager |
| The Witches (2018) | construction manager |
| The 39 Steps (2017) | set designer |
| Performing (2017) | writer |
| Festen (2017) | director |
| Boys at the Beach (2017) | construction manager |
| Waiting in the Wings (2016) | set designer |
| The Pin-Up Boys (2016) | set designer |
| The Graduate (2016) | construction manager |
| The End of the Golden Weather (2016) | set builder |
| The Playboy of the Western World (2015) | director |
| The Playboy of the Western World (2015) | set designer |
| The Playboy of the Western World (2015) | sound designer |
| Farewell (2015) | writer |
| Cat And Mouse (2015) | director |
| Things My Mother Taught Me (2015) | lighting designer |
| Things My Mother Taught Me (2015) | construction manager |
| Social Climbers (2015) | construction manager |
| Journey's End (2014) | set designer |
| Journey's End (2014) | production assistant |
| Journey's End (2014) | set builder |
| I Hate Hamlet (2014) | set designer |
| Motel (2014) | set designer |
| Take A Chance On Me (2014) | set designer |
| The Dining Room (2013) | set designer |
| The Dining Room (2013) | set dresser |
| Ellerslie One Act Play Festival 2013 (2013) | staging |
| Loot (2013) | set designer |
| Present Laughter (2013) | director |
| Travels With My Aunt (2012) | set designer |
| Nude With Violin (2012) | George |
| Nude With Violin (2012) | set designer |
| The Winter's Tale (2012) | Archidamus / Old Shepherd |
| The Winter's Tale (2012) | set designer |
| Les Liaisons Dangereuses (2012) | set designer |
| Cherish (2011) | set designer |
| Roleplay (2011) | writer |
| Roleplay (2011) | director |
| Roman Fever (2011) | Waiter |
| Blithe Spirit (2011) | set designer |
| Blithe Spirit (2011) | production coordinator |
| Blithe Spirit (2011) | set builder |
| Extremities (2011) | set designer |
| The First Night of Pygmalion (2010) | set designer |
| The History Boys (2010) | Headmaster |
| The History Boys (2010) | set designer |
| Communication (2009) | writer |
| Communication (2009) | Andrew |
| Where There's A Will... (2009) | The Vicar |
| Where There's A Will... (2009) | set designer |
| Where There's A Will... (2009) | construction manager |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2008) | set designer |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2008) | properties |
| The Lion in Winter (2008) | set designer |
| Confidence Tricksters (2008) | construction manager |
| South Sea Bubble (2007) | Sir George Shotter |
| South Sea Bubble (2007) | set designer |
| Theft (2007) | production manager |
| Theft (2007) | production assistant |
| Theft (2007) | set builder |
| The Weir (2007) | Brendan |
| The Weir (2007) | set designer |
| The Lady's Not For Burning (2006) | set designer |
| Gigi (2006) | set designer |
| Female Transport (2006) | set designer |
| Not Now Darling (2006) | Commander Frencham |
| Not Now Darling (2006) | set designer |
| My Three Angels (2005) | Gaston Lemare |
| My Three Angels (2005) | set designer |
| Curtains (2005) | set designer |
| The Constant Wife (2004) | Bernard Kersal |
| The Importance of Being Earnest (2004) | Merriman, Butler |
| The Importance of Being Earnest (2004) | Lane, Manservant |