Sir Gregory Doran (born 24 November 1958) is an English theatre director known for directing the work of William Shakespeare. The Sunday Times called him "one of the great Shakespearians of his generation".
Doran was artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), succeeding Michael Boyd in September 2012. In an interview, announcing his appointment, Doran said that whilst Boyd had concentrated on the "Company", he would be concentrating on the "Shakespeare" in the Royal Shakespeare Company logo. Since April 2022, he is director emeritus at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Doran's notable productions include a production of Macbeth starring Antony Sher, which was filmed for Channel 4 in 2001, as well as Hamlet in 2008, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart.
Early life and education Doran was born in Huddersfield, but his family moved to Preston, Lancashire when he was six months old, for his father to take a post with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. He has a twin sister Ruth, to whom he is very close.
Doran was educated at St Pius X Catholic Preparatory School and Preston Catholic College. He attended Bristol University studying English and Drama, where he set up his own theatre company with fellow student Chris Grady, presenting Shakespeare and related classics. He then trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Doran received an honorary doctorate from Bristol University in July 2011 and an Honorary Degree from the University of Warwick in July 2013.
Career
Doran left the Bristol Old Vic School early having been invited to direct A Midsummer Night's Dream at Jamestown Community College in upstate New York. He then went to Nottingham Playhouse as an actor, before becoming Assistant Director then Associate Director, directing his own productions, including Waiting for Godot and Long Day's Journey into Night.
After a very brief acting career in TV, Doran joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987 initially as an actor (as Solanio in The Merchant of Venice and Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar) then became Assistant Director the following season.
Doran directed his first RSC production in 1992, commissioning Derek Walcott to write an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey which was performed at The Other Place.
In 1995 Doran directed his partner Antony Sher in the lead role of Titus Andronicus at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa. This controversial production, which toured to the National Theatre, is the subject of their book, Woza Shakespeare!
Doran returned to the RSC in 1996, becoming an Associate Director, and directing Jane Lapotaire, Ian Hogg and Paul Jesson in All is True (or Henry VIII), his first Shakespeare for the company. Since then, Doran has directed over half of Shakespeare's plays for the RSC.
Doran took compassionate leave from his role at the RSC in September 2021 to care for his husband, Antony Sher, who was terminally ill. His deputy, Erica Whyman, became acting artistic director. The RSC announced Doran was formally stepping down as artistic director in April 2022, becoming artistic director emeritus until the end of 2023.
TV and books
Doran contributed to Michael Wood's BBC series In Search of Shakespeare, and filmed a documentary for BBC Four, called A Midsummer Night's Dreaming.
In 2009, Doran's Shakespeare Almanac was published.
Personal life Doran and his frequent collaborator Antony Sher were in a relationship from 1987, and entered into a civil partnership in 2005. They married 10 years after their civil partnership, on 30 December 2015. Sher died in December 2021.
Doran was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to the Arts.
Doran appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs on 29 June 2025.
Theatre productions
RSC productions +YearProductionPlaywrightVenueNotes1999The Winter's TaleWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare TheatreTimon of AthensWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Michael Pennington2000MacbethWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonalso made into a Channel 4 film2001King JohnWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon2002Much Ado About NothingWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Harriet Walter and Nicholas le PrevostDoran supervised a season of seldom-performed Jacobean plays, including the debatedly Shakespearean Edward III and works by Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, John Marston and George Chapman which earned Doran a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement of the Year2003Taming of the ShrewWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre2003The Tamer TamedJohn FletcherSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonwith Alexandra Gilbreath and Jasper Britton2003All's Well That Ends WellWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonwith Judi Dench, in her first time back at the RSC for 25 years2004OthelloWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonwith Antony Sher and Sello Maake NcubeVenus & AdonisWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare TheatrePuppet based performance2005A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre2006Antony and CleopatraWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonwith Harriet Walter and Patrick Stewart, who both returned to the RSC after 24 yearsMerry Wives The MusicalBased on the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Gregory Doran, music by Paul Englishby, lyrics by Ranjit BoltRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Judi Dench and Simon Callow2007CoriolanusWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Will Houston, Janet Suzman and Timothy West which toured to Madrid and Washington DC (the final production in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre before it closed for redevelopment, re-opening in winter 2010/11)Venus & AdonisWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonRevival of 2004 production2008A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam ShakespeareCourtyard TheatreRevival of 2005 productionHamletWilliam ShakespeareCourtyard Theatrewith David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, also transferred to the Novello Theatre and adapted into BBC 2009 filmLove's Labour's LostWilliam ShakespeareCourtyard Theatre2011Written on the HeartDavid EdgarSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Duchess Theatreto mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible.2012Julius CaesarWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrefor the World Shakespeare Festival, which played in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, Moscow, New York and Ohio.2012The Orphan of ZhaoJi JunxiangSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon2013Richard IIWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre Barbican Centrewith David Tennant2014Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2William ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre Barbican CentreThe Witch of EdmontonWilliam Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John FordSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avonwith Eileen Atkins2015Death of a SalesmanArthur MillerRoyal Shakespeare Theatre Noël Coward Theatrewith Antony Sher in the role of Willy Loman, Alex Hassell as Biff and Harriet Walter as Linda Loman.Henry VWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre2016King LearWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Antony SherThe TempestWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Simon Russell Beale2017Venus & AdonisWilliam ShakespeareSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonRevival of 2004 and 2007 productionsImperium: The Cicero PlaysMike Poulton, based on the Cicero trilogy by Robert HarrisSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Gielgud Theatre2018King LearWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatrewith Antony SherTroilus and CressidaWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre2019The Boy in the Dressbased on the novel by David Walliams, book by Mark Ravenhill, music and lyrics by Robbie Williams and Guy ChambersRoyal Shakespeare TheatreMeasure for MeasureWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre2022Richard IIIWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre2023CymbelineWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre
Non-RSC Doran has directed productions outside the RSC including: The York Mystery Plays in the Millennium production in York Minster, 2000 The Real Inspector Hound and Black Comedy, 1998, Comedy Theatre, London Mahler's Conversion by Ronald Harwood, Aldwych Theatre, London The Giant by Antony Sher, Hampstead Theatre, London Anjin: the English Samurai by Mike Poulton The Merchant of Venice, Galaxy Theatre, Tokyo The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Oxford Playhouse, Oxford, 2024 The Government Inspector, Chichester Festival Theatre, 2025
References
External links
An audio biography of Gregory Doran