John Ginman
John Ginman is Convenor of the MA Writing for Performance programme at Goldsmiths, and the undergraduate Level 3 course, Drama Production 3, for which he also teaches the Text and Performance option. He contributes to the teaching of undergraduate and MA option courses in New Performance Writing, and supervises a range of postgraduate research projects. He is the Drama Department's Senior Tutor, responsible for the oversight of its pastoral support systems. He is currently External Examiner on the MA in Playwriting and Script Development at Exeter University.
He has been working professionally in the UK theatre as a director and writer for twenty-five years, including periods as Associate Director at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, as Director of Theatre at South Hill Park Arts Centre, and as Artistic Director at the Swan Theatre, Worcester and at Contact Theatre, Manchester. During the 1990s he wrote and directed extensively for the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham. He specialises in the direction of Shakespeare, the mainstream European repertoire (including Brecht, Molière, and Wedekind), large-scale community projects, and work for children and young people, in addition to developing plays by new writers. In collaboration with the composer Colin Riley, he has also directed and written the libretti for three operas, including Noir (Purcell Room, 1995), Gulliver (Malvern, 1995) and Science Fictions (CD release and the Drill Hall, London, 1998). He is in increasing demand as a Dramaturg as well as Director, Teacher and Writer.
He taught Drama at Brunel University (formerly Brunel University College) for twelve years from 1989 to 2001, including six years as Head of Performing Arts, where he oversaw programmes in Drama, Film and Television, and Music, as well as the work of the Rambert School. He has also led workshops at the Actors' Centre, London and directed in drama schools and in colleges, including Central School of Speech and Drama, Rose Bruford College and King Alfred's College, Winchester.
During his time at Goldsmiths, John has published articles in journals such as Contemporary Theatre Review (Out of Joint: Max Stafford-Clark and 'the Temper of our Time' , Vol 13(3), 2003 pp 16 – 25; and 'Theatre as information': the dramaturgy of The Death of Klinghoffer , Vol 14(1), 2004 pp 51 – 60), and Western European Stages (Cruel and Tender: Metaphysics and Performance in a time of terror, Vol 16, No 3, 2004 pp. 113 – 118). In the autumn of 2006, he convened a major international symposium for Goldsmiths, Ravenhill 10, which included presentations by academics and leading professional practitioners from Germany, the UK and the US, and the participation of Ravenhill himself. He has also been working as Dramaturg on production projects for South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, and the West Midlands-based theatre company, Theatre Absolute.
Research interests
John has particular interests in: the development of new theatre writing, particularly in the UK; new writing and performance in Spain; theatre for children and young people; processes of rehearsal; the staging of Shakespeare; and opera and music theatre.
Recent / forthcoming publications / professional projects
John is currently continuing his relationship with Theatre Absolute, working as Dramaturg on new projects, and has just begun to work as translator on a new writing collaboration between the Madrid-based publishers, Caos Editorial, and Rose Bruford College, the first result of which will be the UK première of Culpable? in the summer of 2008. He is also developing the book and lyrics for a new large-scale community musical production.