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Boswell Appointed Artistic Director of Bath Studio

Theatre Royal Bath has appointed Laurence Boswell as artistic director of its 120-seat Ustinov Studio. The director will seek to programme "the very best of international theatre" with all of the texts performed British premieres.

An associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a former artistic director of the Gate Theatre in Nottinghill, Boswell will launch his tenure with an autumn season of Don't Fool With Love by Calderon, in a new version which he will translate; Iphigenia by Goethe, in a new translation by Meredith Oakes; and The Second Surprise of Love by Marivaux, in a new translation by Mike Alfreds. Boswell will programme further themed seasons, performed by ensemble companies.

The Ustinov Studio is the Theatre Royal Bath’s second space and seats 120 people. It was opened in 1997 after a fund-raising campaign led by actor, writer and dramatist Peter Ustinov, becoming one a home for new writing, drama, comedy and music. The space underwent a radical refurbishment in 2007.

Boswell directed "The Spanish Golden Age" season for the RSC which won the 1992 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement. His West End directing credits include his Olivier Award-winning production of Ben Elton’s Popcorn, the 2002 production of Up For Grabs in which he directed Madonna in her London stage debut and This Is Our Youth at the Garrick starring Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Amongst his other star-studded directing projects have been Christopher Hampton’s Treats starring Billie Piper and Eddie Izzard in a revival of A Day In The Death of Joe Egg for which Boswell was nominated for a Tony, and which received the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Boswell's appointement follows the departure of Andrew Smaje to Hull Truck Theatre where he was appointed as the theatre's chief executive.

The Ustinov Studio will present six in-house productions each year, performed in two seasons of three productions each. Each season will consist of an ensemble of actors with the company performing in all three plays. The first season will run from September to December 2011 with casting and performance schedules announced in June followed by a second season commencing in February 2012.

- by Andrew Girvan

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