Adam Meggido
Adam Meggido (born 1970) is a English writer, performer and director based in London. He is perhaps best known for his work in improvised theatre, being the co-creator and director of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, the first improvised show ever to win an Olivier Award (Best Entertainment and Family 2016). He directed Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre) for London's West End (Apollo Theatre 2015-16 and 2016–2017) and national tour, which was nominated for Best New Comedy, Olivier Awards 2016 and filmed by the BBC for broadcast Christmas 2016.
He is the artistic director of Extempore Theatre www.extemporetheatre.com
Adam Meggido is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited
Early life
Adam Meggido was born in North London in 1970. His parents were both dancers and choreographers. He studied at Birmingham University (1990–93) and trained at Webber Douglas but cites his years with Claude Chagrin (1989) and Ken Campbell (2004–2008) as the most important part of his training and development.
Career
From 2004–2008, Meggido enjoyed a close collaboration with the great theatre maverick Ken Campbell. The two created several projects together including Shall We Shog? (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, 2005), Décor Without Production (Royal Court Theatre 2005), In Pursuit Of Cardenio, (Edinburgh Festival 2006), and The School Of Night (2006-present) a troupe of actors who improvise in the Shakespearean style. The School Of Night played Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, The Royal National Theatre, Soho Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Oxford Playhouse, Bristol Old Vic as well as numerous festivals all over the UK. With fellow Showstopper Sean McCann he created Rhapsodes, a two-man development of the work originated with Ken Campbell, which has played extensively internationally. Meggido also created The Society Of Strange, (Theatre503 London, Edinburgh Festival, Norway, Italy, Canada).
Since 2008, Extempore Theatre (of which Meggido is Artistic Director) has been leading a revival of improvisation in the UK, bringing the art form back to mainstream theatre.
Work With Showstopper!
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical was the first improvised show ever to run for ten weeks in London's west end (Apollo Theatre, Autumn 2015). It has also played The Ambassadors Theatre London, Lyric Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, Criterion Theatre London, Leicester Square Theatre, and The Royal Albert Hall, having started out at The King's Head Theatre Islington, in 2008. Showstopper! has toured the UK extensively for eight years, playing in over one hundred venues. It was broadcast as a BBC Radio 4 series and has played in eleven countries worldwide. It has become a must-see staple of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, playing a variety of venues including the Gilded Balloon Debating Hall and The Pleasance Grand. In addition to winning an Olivier Award, Showstopper also won the 2016 Chortle Comedy Award for Best Improv, Character or Sketch.
Improvathon and London
In 2008, Meggido produced and directed the first London 50 Hour Improvathon, in association with Die Nasty, the award-winning troupe from Alberta, Canada, who created the show (known in Canada as the Soapathon). The event has run in London every year since 2008 and remains the longest annual improvised show in the world. Meggido was invited by The National Theatre Of The World and Soulpepper to direct the 2013 Toronto Soapathon, which, at 55 hours, is an unofficial world record.
Meggido helped director Tom Morris create the Bristol Jam, the UKs first professional festival of improvised performance (Bristol Old Vic Theatre). This led to the first London Jam in 2014 (Park Theatre, London).
Further Work and Writing
From 2004-2013 Meggido created and directed the only annual festival of Horror Theatre and Grand Guignol, a controversial event which divided critics and was nominated for a Peter Brook Empty Space Award (Union Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Soho Theatre). The Terror Seasons commissioned premiers from leading and emerging writers including Mark Ravenhill. Neil LaBute, April DeAngelis, Lucy Kirkwood, Darren Ormandy and Jack Thorne. It also staged the first revival of Noël Coward's The Better Half, written for the London Grand Guignol season of 1922.
He is a composer, bookwriter and lyricist of musicals. Burlesque (for which he wrote the score and co-wrote book/lyrics with Roy Smiles and Terry Johnson) won 4 Off West End Theatre Awards in 2012, including Best New Musical. The Tailor Made Man (lyrics, also co-written score with Duncan Walsh Atkins) ran at the Arts Theatre London in 2013.
He is an associate director of the National Youth Theatre, having been a member in the 1980s, and from 2007 -2016 he was Head Of Foundation at LAMDA. He teaches regularly at numerous drama schools and colleges all over the UK.
His plays include – Nina, Dysphoria, Devil In The Detail, Black Dog, Icarus, Close Up, The Christening, Resurrection, Some Other Bird, Best Men, Mr Israel and Chaos Of Delight.
From 1994-99 Meggido was a founder/director of the innovative Counterpoint Theatre, before creating The Sticking Place in 2001 (which in 2008 was renamed Extempore Theatre to reflect the company's ongoing commitment to improvisation).