Paul Garrington

Paul studied English and Music at Birmingham University and has an MA in Drama from London University.

In 1996, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as an Assistant Director and worked with Sir Peter Hall, Adrian Noble, Steven Pimlott and Ian Judge. He was the Artistic Director of the company's Off the Hook Festival at the Young Vic in London, directing new plays Broken Journey and The Mothers, and also directed the British premiere of Eric Emmanuel Schmitt's La Nuit de Valognes at the Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon. He led the company's world tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream and was the Associate Director for The Secret Garden in Stratford and the West End.

In London, productions include Picasso's Women for Ambassador Theatre Group, Take the Fire at the Lyric, Hammersmith, and a season of plays by the poet Glyn Maxwell, Anyroad, Broken Journey, and The Lifeblood.

In Paris, he is a director with the experimental theatre company Glasshouse, and has directed Vita and Virginia at L'Herbetot Theatre and Genet’s The Maids in a disused shop in Montmartre.

Previous directing credits include Dirty Dancing in Hamburg, the world premiere of a new musical play by Ariel Dorfman, Dancing Shadows, at the Opera House in Seoul, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for Stage Entertainment in Holland, where it won Best Musical - Audience Award. Since 2001, Paul has worked with Littlestar, the global producer of the hit musical Mamma Mia!, and has, to date, directed productions in Germany, Sweden, Holland, Korea, Japan, Spain, Russia, France, Italy and China.

Awards include a Golden Mask Award for Best Director for Mamma Mia! in Sweden and the Korean Tony Award for Dancing Shadows.