Toby Gough

Toby Gough is a British theatre director, writer, actor and teacher. He is known for devising multi-cultural adaptations of Shakespeare plays and creating international music theatre shows from Cuba, Colombia, Ireland, India and Brazil.

His musical theatre productions from India include The Merchants of Bollywood produced by Harvey Goldsmith choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant, Taj Express choreographed by Shruti Merchant. Bollywood Masala-the Indian Riverdance is choreographed by Mahesh Poojary and pays tribute to the music of A.R.Rahman and the films of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Irish Celtic-Spirit of Ireland has been on tour since 2011 and has performed to over 300,00 audiences worldwide. Salsa Revolution from Colombia features dancers from Swing Latino, who performed with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show. The album he co-produced Small things fall from the Baobab Tree by the Zawose family of Tanzania was nominated for a Grammy Award. He studied Theatrical Biomechanics of Meyerhold with Gennady Bogdanov. He has directed Kylie Minogue in The Caribbean Tempest in The Holders Festival in Barbados. During the Bosnian war, he entered Sarajevo under siege through a sewage tunnel to co-direct the opera Evropa with the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Palcici children's choir.

After the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, Gough created Children of the Sea with child survivors of the disaster which toured to refugee camps across the island and went on to win the first prize at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

As a writer and director Gough has created the international touring productions of Linnaeus Prince of Flowers, Brazil! Brazil!, Lady Salsa, Irish Celtic-Spirit of Ireland, The 27 Club-Legends Never Die, Lady Salsa, The Bar at Buena Vista, Havana Rumba, Havana Street Party and Freakout Cabaret at Varieté im Hansa Theater.

Gough has served as a visiting lecturer and theatre practitioner leading workshops in Participatory Theatre for Conflict Transformation, and Devising Theatre in universities and drama schools in the UK and around the world. As a theatre practitioner, he has led educational workshops in eastern and central Africa.