Bob Tomson GoDA

Bob, who lives in West Sussex, has been an actor, stage and screen writer, a college and university lecture in drama, and now divides his time as a professional director in both theatre and TV. His early years as an amateur actor with Liverpool Masque players and the National Youth Theatre gave him his first love of the stage, since when he has founded no fewer than 18 youth theatre groups and has become a sought-after guest tutor at leading London Drama Schools and on amateur theatre training courses.

​Many of his productions have toured the UK or run in the West End and you might have seen one of them. His production of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers has won every major British theatre award, recently completed a record 25-year run in London, and was nominated for three Olivier Awards.

His international productions include: Evita (Europe), and Blood Brothers in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and, most significantly, in the US, where the show ran for three years and was nominated on Broadway for no fewer than six Tony Awards, including Best Director. His Tokyo production of Patrick Stewart’s one-man version of A Christmas Carol won the prize for Best Production. His current production of Ghost – the Musical has recently finished runs in Moscow, Paris, Dubai and Istanbul.

Television direction includes: BBC drama series Hero to Zero, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award and whose subsequent full-length film version was sold to 53 countries; Sky TV’s Is Harry on the Boat? and several series of the soccer drama serial Dream Team; ITV’s Night and Day, The Bill and Heartbeat; Channel 5’s Family Affairs, and Channel 4’s Brookside.