David Pugh is the most successful theatre producer of his generation with productions on both sides of the Atlantic, winning every major world theatre award.

He first produced Art at the Wyndham’s Theatre where it won every theatre award. It subsequently became one of the most successful new plays in London in the last 25 years. Art subsequently opened on Broadway at the Royale Theatre, winning David his first Tony Award.

David’s production of the jukebox musical The Blues Brothers played in London’s West End for four separate seasons, toured throughout the world for fifteen years and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.

David produced The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl and Sean Foley, directed by Kenneth Branagh. The Play What I Wrote, which opened at the Wyndham’s Theatre, won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, and every review was a rave. The Play What I Wrote opened at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway and was nominated for the Tony Award for Special Achievement.

Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Gerald Sibleyras’ play Heroes opened in the West End and won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, whilst Hamish McColl and Sean Foley’s Ducktastic, starring themselves and 46 Indian Runner ducks, opened for a very short run at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End and still managed to be nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Entertainment.

David then produced Equus in London’s West End, which starred Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths and played a sell-out season at the Gielgud Theatre. Following this at the same theatre his production of God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, which starred Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Grieg, Janet McTeer and Ken Stott, where it played a phenomenally successful season and won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy.

God of Carnage then opened on Broadway starring James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis, where it was one of Broadway’s biggest play successes. God of Carnage played for four hundred and seventy-six performances and won David his second Tony Award.

David commissioned and produced Kneehigh Theatre’s production of Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter, which played for nearly a year in an old cinema on the Haymarket in London and toured the UK, winning the UK Theatre Award. His production then played at St Ann’s Warehouse in New York, where it received a rave review from The New York Times, and then transferred to Broadway.

David’s production of Tim Firth’s award-winning comedy Calendar Girls opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre, transferred to the West End, played in nearly every English-speaking country around the world and then toured the UK where it ran for over four years with fourteen different casts and has become one of the most successful touring productions of a play ever.

Following the international success of Brief Encounter, David continued his relationship with Kneehigh, commissioning Emma Rice to write and direct a new version of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca which opened at the Theatre Royal Plymouth and played theatres up and down the country to rave reviews.

David produced The Full Monty which was Simon Beaufoy’s adaptation of his own screenplay. The play won the UK Theatre Award for Best Touring Production and toured the UK successfully for three years.

David produced the musical The Girls by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth which was tried out at Leeds Grand Theatre and The Lowry, Manchester where it received marvellous reviews. The Girls opened in London’s West End and was then re-titled Calendar Girls the Musical which embarked on a sixty-week tour of the UK.

The Band – the Take That musical written by Tim Firth and produced by David opened at Manchester Opera House to the largest advance box office ever and toured throughout the UK for eighteen months and played a record-breaking season in London’s West End.

Just prior to the pandemic, David had produced a highly acclaimed production of Willy Russell’s Educating Rita which was curtailed by lockdown. But as soon as open air theatre was allowed, David presented this production at the Minack Open Air Theatre in Cornwall making worldwide news as at that time he was the only producer anywhere in the world producing a play.

David won the Olivier Award for his production of Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort of), by Isobel McArthur after Jane Austen, at the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End. The critically acclaimed production subsequently broke box office records around the UK.

Most recently, David produced Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine, starring Sheridan Smith, at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End. During the 15-week season every seat and every standing place was sold at every performance.

David continues to produce shows all over the world and is delighted that Cunard’s new ship the Queen Anne will play host to two of his very favourite productions, Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) and Brief Encounter.