Simon Evans (director)
English theatre and television director, writer, and actor (born 31 December 1983)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simon Richard Evans (born 31 December 1983)[1][2] is an English theatre and television director, writer, and actor. He is best known as co-creator, writer, and producer of BBC One' Staged (2020–2022), in which he also co-stars as a fictionalised version of himself.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Simon Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 31, 1983 |
| Education | Homerton College |
| Occupation | Television writer, actor, director theatre director |
| Works | Staged |
Early life and education
Evans was raised in Oxford with his sister, actress Lucy Eaton, while his parents ran a dental practice in nearby Kidlington. He was educated at The Dragon School and Abingdon School, where his fellow alumni include Tom Hollander, Toby Jones, Hugh Laurie and members of Radiohead.[9] He studied Education, English, Drama & the Arts at Homerton College, Cambridge.[10]
Career
As a theatre director, Evans' productions include The Dazzle (starring Andrew Scott), Bug (James Norton), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Lenny Henry), Killer Joe (Orlando Bloom) and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner).[9][11]
As an actor, Evans' early roles include parts in Stig of the Dump (2002) and Lewis (2007).[4]
Working with Secret Cinema, Simon directed immersive productions of Shawshank Redemption and Millers Crossing.[12]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans wrote, directed and co-starred in the BBC Television series Staged, playing himself, alongside exaggerated versions of the show's stars, Michael Sheen and David Tennant.[5][6][7] The series was notable for being made using video conferencing technology. Evans had been due to rehearse Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing at Chichester when lockdown came into effect.[13] His cinematic directorial debut, Hunter in the Dark, was also postponed.[9][14]
Following Staged, Evans hosted and directed another lockdown event, a live-streamed Oxford Playhouse fundraiser, A Theatre Near You, starring Stephen Fry, Marcus Brigstocke, and Lucy Porter.[9]
In 2025, directed Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright written by and starring Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton at the Wyndham's Theatre before touring the UK, ending with a run at the Hammersmith Apollo.[15][16][17] The same year, Evans directed and co-wrote with Debris Stevenson a new adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac for the Royal Shakespeare Company starring Adrian Lester and Susannah Fielding.[18] Following the success in Stratford-upon-Avon, the production will transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre in June 2026.[19]
Evans is the founding director of the theatre company, Myriad Entertainment, along with Georgia Clarke-Day and David Frias Robles.[4][12]
Personal life
Works
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Stig of the Dump | Nathan Pinchbeck | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Crisis | Sean Bell | Short film |
| 2007 | Lewis | Dr. Martin Cook | Episode: "Expiation" |
| 2012 | John Carter | Zodangan Guard | Credited as Si Evans |
| 2020–2022 | Staged | Himself / Director | Also creator and writer |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Playwright | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Silence of the Sea | Anthony Weigh | Trafalgar Studios, London (Donmar Trafalgar season) |
| 2015 | The Dazzle | Richard Greenberg | Found111, London |
| 2016 | Bug | Tracy Letts | Found111, London |
| 2016 | Fool for Love | Sam Shepard | Found111, London |
| 2016 | Alligators | Andrew Keatley | Hampstead Theatre, London |
| 2017 | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Bertolt Brecht | Donmar Warehouse, London |
| 2017 | The Best Man | Gore Vidal | UK tour and Playhouse Theatre, London |
| 2018 | Killer Joe | Tracy Letts | Trafalgar Studios, London |
| 2019 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Peter Nichols | Trafalgar Studios, London |
| 2025 | Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright | Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith | Wyndham's Theatre, London, UK tour and Hammersmith Apollo |
| 2025 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Edmond Rostand (in a new version by Simon Evans and Debris Stevenson) | Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Noël Coward Theatre, London |
