Biography of Nick Ormerod

Nick Ormerod is joint founder of Cheek by Jowl with Declan Donnellan. He is joint Artistic Director of the company and has designed all but one of Cheek by Jowl's productions. After qualifying as a barrister, Nick trained in design at Wimbledon School of Art. His first job in theatre was a year as an assistant at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. From there he went on to work with Donnellan on various productions for the Royal Court and Arts Education Drama School before they started Cheek by Jowl (1981). Nick's work is characterised by its simplicity and directness, an approach that has shaped the visual signature of the company's work. To quote Carol Chillington Rutter, "His genius is a visual poetry of suggestion, of material minimalism". He lives in London with Declan Donnellan. On designing for the stage, Nick has said - "Theatre is very pragmatic. It's no good coming in with a vision and thinking you're going to realise something purely from your own mind, because the process of working with people makes your vision change." "One of the essential things about Cheek by Jowl is that it's collaborative. It always puzzles me when designers tell me they would never enter into a discussion with an actor, that they'd just tell them what they will be wearing."