Adam Spreadbury-Maher is an Australian/Irish theatre artistic director, producer and writer. He is the founding artistic director of the Cock Tavern Theatre, OperaUpClose and The Hope Theatre, and was artistic director of the Kings Hesd until 2021 King's Head Theatre. Spreadbury-Maher introduced the first unionised pay agreement for actors in a pub-theatre in 2011, and in 2017 introduced the first fringe creative pay agreement and gender policy.
Biography
Spreadbury-Maher was born in Australia. He received his initial training as an opera singer at the Canberra School of Music. His debut directorial production of Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing won Spreadbury-Maher an Australian Critics' Circle Award in 2004. In 2005 Adam moved to the UK, and attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama before making his London directing debut at White Bear Theatre, directing three critically successful shows as the theatre's Associate Director, including the two world premieres The Ides of March by Duncan Ley and Studies for a Portrait by Daniel Reitz. Studies for a Portrait transferred to the Oval House Theatre following its critics' choice sell-out run at the White Bear Theatre. In 2008 Spreadbury-Maher directed Australian actor Mark Little in a production of Così by Louis Nowra. Other early notable productions include the first UK revival of Peter Gill's The York Realist, presented at Riverside Studios to mark Gill's 70th birthday.
In 2010, Spreadbury-Maher was Associate Director on the UK premiere of the multi-award-winning Holding the Man, adapted by Tommy Murphy and based on the novel by Timothy Conigrave. Further 2010 directing work included the UK premiere of Hannie Rayson's landmark Australian play Hotel Sorrento, the rarely revived first play of Peter Gill's The Sleepers Den, the world premiere of Edward Bond's There Will Be More, and ended 2010 with his operatic directing debut in a new version of "Madama Butterfly" retitled "Bangkok Butterfly", which he adapted into English for OperaUpClose. The production ran for four months at King's Head Theatre, garnishing critical notice from Fiona Maddocks in The Observer, "Madam Butterfly has been updated to Bangkok Butterfly to chilling effect... full of promise and musically intelligent." and Michael Tanner in The Spectator, "Beautiful and sexy... the evening was a powerful one".
King's Head Theatre
In March 2010, Spreadbury-Maher was appointed Artistic Director of King's Head Theatre. Spreadbury-Maher has transferred work from the King's Head Theatre to the West End, Australia and Off-Broadway. In 2011 he introduced the first unionised pay agreement for actors in an unfunded pub theatre, which was followed by the first creatives pay agreement and gender policy in 2017.
Cock Tavern Theatre and OperaUpClose
In 2009, Adam founded the Cock Tavern Theatre and OperaUpClose, becoming the company's founding Artistic Director. Under his leadership the theatre followed a strict artistic policy of staging only world premiers and revivals from world class playwrights and composers, a strategy which saw the theatre praised for its imaginative programming and quality productions. At the Cock Tavern Theatre, Adam directed revivals by Stephen Fry, Nick Ward, Hannie Rayson and produced a six-decade retrospective season of work by Edward Bond, including London, UK and World premieres, and a production of The Fool directed by Bond himself.