Tom Hughes

I grew up in Folkestone, Kent.

I am playful, scruffy and thoughtful.

From August 2023, I am the Resident Associate Director on the Olivier Award-winning production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club @ The Playhouse, directed by Rebecca Frecknall. My job entails leading rehearsals and auditions for future casts of the show.

I went to a state grammar school, where there was no drama & my interest in movies was treated with suspicion-going-on-hostility.

My first jobs were touring with punk rock bands. I booked shows, sold merch and read maps in the van. We played in youth centres in Guildford and slept in squats in Liverpool. A bit later on, I did three years on the stand-up comedy circuit.

In 2009, I completed a PhD in Film Studies by the University of Warwick. I wrote a thesis about cinephilia and the work of Richard Linklater. My research was awarded a 100% scholarship from the Arts Humanities Research Council.

I began theatremaking in 2010. I learnt and trained mostly on the job, supplemented by short professional development workshops. My first job was as assistant director on a show at the Cock Tavern Theatre, where you’d arrive for a 10am rehearsal & the pub was already full. In this time I also worked as a bar person, bar supervisor, personal tutor, box office supervisor and audio transcriber.

I later worked as an associate, assistant or staff director on plays and musicals to Rufus Norris, Michael Longhurst, Carrie Cracknell and Wils Wilson. During this time, I directed short shows in tiny theatres. One of these shows - Late in the Day by Sharon Kanolik - got me invited onto the 2013 National Theatre Directors’ Course.

I directed my first full production in 2016 - punkplay by Gregory S. Moss at Southwark Playhouse. This production won Best Director at the 2017 Offie Awards.

Since 2019, I have also been learning to write for screen to work towards my ambition of writing & directing for film & TV. My pilot script, All Yesterday’s Parties, reached the top 12% of the BBC Writersroom Open Call 2022. Watch this space.

I am passionate about quality, rigour and accessibility in arts education, and I have taught actors at Mountview and directors at Rose Bruford. I also worked as an Associate Director for NT Connections between 2017-19, working with companies from Rotherham to Paisley to Kildare to Canterbury.

I live in North London, with my wife, son, and elderly French bulldog.

Awards

WINNER - MGCFutures Bursary 2018
’Heel’

WINNER - Off West End Offie Awards, 2017
Best Director, ‘punkplay’

LONGLISTED - Off West End Offie Awards, 2017
Best Male Performance, Samuel Perry, ‘punkplay

Email

Social media