Peter is a theatre director and actor based in London. Originally from Chicago, he worked for many years there and in San Francisco before relocating to the UK.

He is drawn to thoughtful, human plays that centre on themes of connection and social justice and that ask audiences to actively and viscerally engage.

He started his career in the Storefront Theatre scene in Chicago, where hundreds of small companies in shopfront and warehouse spaces regularly create ambitous and engaging professional theatre. It’s a world of big theatre made in little rooms and big ideas viewed in tight focus. Chicago also is the birthplace of improvisation, so immediacy and spontaneity are prized, and it is home to a surprising number of ensemble companies, so collegial collaboration is highly valued. 

Having come up in that world, this is the style of theatre closest to his heart and fundamental to his work.

Peter started his career as an actor, and was a founding member of the Immediate Theatre ensemble. His directing and producing debut was a fringe production of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood that became a surprise hit, winning an After Dark Award for best direction and running for more than a year.

In the UK, he made his directorial debut as co-director of Title and Deed by Will Eno, on tour for Farnham Maltings.

Launching his own company, Storefront Theatre London, Peter then produced and directed the UK premiere of the new American play This Bitter Earth at the White Bear Theatre in London. The show ran multiple weeks to great acclaim and was nominated for both Offie and London Pub Theatre Standing Ovation Awards.

Other Chicago directing credits include Waiting for Godot (CT20 Ensemble), and Adam Bock’s Five Flights (Immediate Theatre), which he also produced. In San Francisco, he developed and directed Keep the Yuletide Gay (Theatre Q); and in Grand Rapids, Michigan, staged Ike Holter’s blistering Stonewall drama, Hit the Wall (Actors’ Theatre).

Assistant directing credits include Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth (Goodman Theatre Chicago) and Polly Teale’s Brontë (Remy Bumppo Theatre Chicago).

Peter has worked as an actor at numerous companies in Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. He also has worked as a writer, covering theatre, performing arts, and travel, and as an editor and researcher.

His theatrical tastes range broadly, but he maintains a keen interest in new American writing. While incorporating British and European influences, his practice is grounded in the naturalistic style of his hometown.

He trained under Peter James CBE at Mountview on the MA Theatre Directing program, and is a member of Stage Directors UK and Equity UK.