Craig McCorquodale is a director based in Glasgow, pushing theatre into public space and public space back into the theatre. Often working with local people rather than actors, his projects ask us to look more closely at the people we share our streets with.
Craig seeks to mobilise a new movement of civic theatre in the UK, rooted in the traditions of socially-engaged practice but with a renewed sense of scale – exploding the possibilities of what theatre can look like. As a director, he works with theatre’s familiar languages of temporality, storytelling and audience experience but embraces expanded ideas of encounter, spontaneity, site, conversation and risk. He sees his role as a director akin to a host: constructing situations that accelerate intimacy, following Glasgow’s long lineage of performance that holds the fragility of social connection.
At the heart of his work lies a deep fascination with the lives of others and a desire to find common ground in times of conflict. When public space is being eroded, and polarisation is rampant, Craig’s work asks what it means to assemble. Alongside his own work, Craig is committed to opening up new curatorial thinking and supporting the sector in taking braver, more adventurous roles in the public sphere.
Craig has worked with the National Theatre of Scotland, Transform Festival, Wunder der Prarie Festival, Zeitraumexit, Kaserne Basel, Tramway, Glasgow Life, PS21 Chatham New York, Cifas Brussels, FABRIC, Viernulvier in Ghent and the national Culture Collective project. In 2021, Craig was awarded the Jerwood Live Work Fund, and in 2023, he was a recipient of the Jerwood New Work Fund. Craig is currently working with Factory International and, in 2024, was awarded the inaugural Artist Takeover at Aviva Studios.