Dominic Cooke

Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer.

Early life Born in Wimbledon, south London, Cooke saw a lot of theatre as a teenager thanks to free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Education Authority.

Career Soon after graduating from Warwick University, Cooke's first job as a TV runner led him to start his own theatre company, Pan Optic, which he ran for two years before becoming an assistant director at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

He started his relationship with the Royal Court Theatre under Stephen Daldry in 1995. He became an associate director at the Royal Court for Ian Rickson in 1999. During this time, he directed Fireface by Marius von Mayenburg, Other People by Christopher Shinn, and Redundant by Leo Butler. In 2003, he left the Royal Court and returned to the RSC for Michael Boyd, where he directed his acclaimed version of The Crucible starring Iain Glen, which won him the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director; the play also won the Olivier for Best Revival.

He has won five Olivier Awards. In addition to Best Director and Best Revival for The Crucible in 2007, he won Best Revival for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 2016, Best Musical Revival for Follies in 2018, and, in 2013, his final season in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court won Achievement In An Affiliate Theatre.

In 2013, he won the International Theatre Institute Award for Excellence in International Theatre, and in the same year, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by his alma mater, Warwick University. Cooke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to drama.

Royal Court Cooke was artistic director and Chief Executive of the Royal Court Theatre 2006 to 2013 during which time he pioneered new writing by actively promoting the Royal Court's Young Writers’ Programme and new, young writers such as Mike Bartlett (My Child), Polly Stenham (That Face), Penelope Skinner (The Village Bike) and Bola Agbaje (the Olivier Award-winning Gone Too Far!).

During his tenure at the Royal Court Cooke staged Jez Butterworth’s multi-award winning Jerusalem which Ian Rickson directed; and which transferred to the West End, Broadway, and San Francisco; Lucy Prebble’s 2009 Enron, which was directed by Rupert Goold; and Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park, which Cooke directed himself. All three were transferred to the West End amid critical acclaim and box office success.

Cooke's time at the Royal Court was a huge success; His 2017 production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's Follies starring Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee, and Tracie Bennett was nominated for ten Olivier Awards, winning Best Musical Revival. Cooke received the Critics' Circle Best Director Award.

Television Cooke's TV directorial debut was in May 2016 with the second BBC TV series of The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses. The series was televised in three parts: Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2, and Richard III. It was produced by Sam Mendes' company, Neal Street Productions, and starred Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Sturridge, and Hugh Bonneville.

Film Cooke's feature directorial debut, On Chesil Beach, starring Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2017. It is based on the novel of the same name by Booker Prize winning novelist Ian McEwan. The film received a wide release in 2018 and was chosen by Variety as one of the ten best films at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017. His latest film, The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, and Jessie Buckley, premiered at Sundance in January 2020. It was released in the US by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. He is slated to direct a movie of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's musical Follies.

Private life Cooke's civil partner is the actor and playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell.

Work

Theatre

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Theatre