The Traverse Theatre is delighted to announce that from 8 May award-winning theatre director Gareth Nicholls will be joining the Company’s artistic team as Associate Director. Working alongside Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin and fellow Associate Director Zinnie Harris, Gareth’s duties will include working on the dramaturgy of in-house commissions, overseeing open submissions, directing a range of ambitious new work, contributing to a range of creative learning projects and assisting in both year-round and Festival curation. Gareth will also direct one of the Traverse Festival 2017 productions.
Gareth trained in Contemporary Theatre Practice at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and previously held the posts of National Theatre of Scotland Emerging Artist and Imaginate Artist in Residence. His aim is to produce bold, challenging and uncompromising work with strong aesthetics and robust texts at their heart.
The Traverse previously welcomed Gareth when he directed the World Premieres of A Gambler’s Guide to Dying (Festival 2015) and Donald Robertson is Not a Stand-Up Comedian (Festival 2014), both penned by now Traverse Associate Artist Gary McNair, and together winning them a Fringe First award, a Holden Street Theatres’ award and a Scottish Arts Club Award.
Previously, Gareth was the Glasgow Citizens Theatre’s Main Stage Director in Residence from 2014-16 during which time he stacked up show duties on a sell-out production of Trainspotting, along with Blackbird and Into That Darkness that both received Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) nominations. This year has seen him direct the Scottish Premiere of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre, whilst A Gambler’s Guide to Dying continued its ongoing world tour with a stint at New York’s East 59 East.
Gareth Nicholls says, “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Traverse as Associate Director. The Traverse has been fundamental to the development of theatre in Scotland for decades – encouraging, challenging and emboldening artists to say what they want to say in vibrant and uncompromising new ways. It champions the strongest voices and supports the brightest talent to tell stories that cut straight to the heart of what it means to be human. I’m looking forward to contributing to a theatre that has such a rich history; to directing bold and ambitious new work on its iconic stage, to collaborating with the very best of Scotland’s new writing talent and to building on the stellar work that’s already taking place at the Traverse.”