He was the Artistic Director of BAC from 1995 to 2004 and has worked widely as a journalist, broadcaster and freelance writer, producer and director.

Productions at Bristol Old Vic include: Touching the Void (Bristol, UK and international tour), The Grinning Man (Bristol and West End), Swallows and Amazons (Bristol, West End and UK tour), Juliet and Her Romeo, The Crucible, King Lear, Handel’s Messiah and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Handspring Puppets).

Notable engagements elsewhere: The Death of Klinghoffer (ENO, Metropolitan Opera); Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (National Theatre); War Horse (as co-director for National Theatre; 2011 Tony Award for Best Director); A Matter of Life and Death (adapted from the film with Emma Rice, National Theatre); Disembodied, Newsnight: The Opera, Home, Passions, Unsung, Othello Music, Trio, All That Fall, all for BAC, where he also co-wrote World Cup Final 1966, Jason and the Argonauts, Ben Hur and produced Jerry Springer: The Opera, BAC Opera, British Festival of Visual Theatre, and Sam Shepard Festival. For Kneehigh, he co-wrote Nights at the Circus and The Wooden Frock with Emma Rice. He was founding Chair of the JMK Trust, has served on the boards of Complicite and Punchdrunk, has honorary doctorates from UWE and Bristol University, and an OBE for services to Theatre.