Theatre director accused of inappropriate behaviour

A leading British theatre and opera director is at the centre of an “independent investigation” after actresses lodged complaints that he had behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner.

Ramin Gray, the 54-year-old artistic director of the Actors Touring Company (ATC), has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a number of women relating to “historic events”. Some of those allegations are said to include claims he behaved in a sexually inappropriate way.

The Young Vic in London is currently showing The Suppliant Women, a play Gray directed. 

A statement issued by Young Vic said: “As soon as we were made aware of allegations, all of which related to historic events, the Young Vic and in consultation with Equity, Actors Touring Company have initiated an independent investigation.”

It is not known how many of the the women who have lodged complaints are actors, or whether any of them are staff or members of the public who either worked at or visited the theatre companies Gray has been employed by. However, the Young Vic insisted no one involved in The Suppliant Women, which opened last week, has lodged any complaints against Gray.

The allegations emerged after Gray, a divorced father of five, was interviewed by an online theatre blogger earlier this month. The article, in which Gray said it would be an “honourable search” to find the Harvey Weinstein of the British theatre world, is believed to have prompted a number of women to contact Carl Woodward, the interviewer and author of the article.

Their claims were forwarded to The Corner Shop PR which set up the interview and was hired by ATC to promote its 40th anniversary next year. A spokesman for company said it had decided not to represent ATC and had returned any fees paid.

Gray is understood not to have been seen at the Young Vic for a week, despite final rehearsals and the play’s premier on Friday. It is understood the cast and crew were told last Monday that he was absent due to “personal reasons”.

Malinda Smith, 31, a member of the all-female chorus made up of non-actors from South London, walked out claiming it was “ironic” that a play largely about female emancipation and sexual oppression had seen its director become embroiled in such allegations.

“I would say that they should have been transparent about what was happening,” she told the Telegraph. Both the Young Vic and ATC insisted that the welfare of everyone involved in the production had been paramount.

A Young Vic spokeswoman said: “When the investigation was initiated, senior members of our team spent time with our participants to share as much information as we were advised was permissible at that time.”

A spokesman for the ATC said it takes any allegations of misconduct “very seriously” and its board of trustees  was “working in full collaboration with Equity and the Independent Theatre Council." He added that steps to initiate an independent investigation process, with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure fairness to everyone concerned, were underway.

No one was at Gray’s West London home yesterday, and he failed to respond to a request for a comment.

In the theatre blog interview said to have led to the allegations, Gray was asked whether he believed the sex scandal engulfing movie-mogul Weinstein was the “tip of the iceberg”. Gray replied: “I think the search for who is the Weinstein of British theatre is an honourable search and some names have come up. More may come up. It is a terribly traumatic process and it’s right that we are examining it and bringing it to light.”

The ATC website describes Gray as one of Britain’s “most groundbreaking and enquiring” theatrical directors. After studying at Oxford University, he began his career as a director in 1988 at the Latchmere Theatre.

He went on to be associate director at the Royal Court in West London where he directed 15 world or British premiers. After leaving the Royal Court in 2008, he directed Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice and Brett Dean’s Bliss for the Hamburg State Opera in Germany.

He recently directed the UK premiere of Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Ernest for the Royal Opera House. He has also worked on two plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Liverpool Playhouse. He joined the ATC in 2011.