Eight women describe alleged cases of historic harassment against director who called for search for ‘Weinstein of British theatre’

A leading director who called for a search for “the Weinstein of British theatre” is facing allegations of harassment from eight women.

Ramin Gray, the artistic director of Actors Touring Company (ATC), gave an interview to theatre writer Carl Woodward to mark the company’s 40th anniversary. After Gray said in the interview that “the search for who is the Weinstein of British theatre is an honourable search”, Woodward said that he was contacted by the women, who described alleged cases of historic harassment.

Five of the women are understood to have made formal complaints to Equity, the actors’ trade union.

Gray is yet to respond publicly to the allegations. In a statement, ATC announced that it had “policies in place to deal with any allegations of misconduct, whatever the nature of those allegations. We take any such allegations very seriously.” The ATC board has launched an independent investigation, working in collaboration with Equity and the Independent Theatre Council.

ATC’s production The Suppliant Women, a version of Aeschylus’s tragedy created with Edinburgh’s Lyceum theatre, is currently being performed with a chorus of local women at the Young Vic in London. The Young Vic has issued a statement stating that “the safeguarding of those we work with is our priority” and that when it became aware of the allegations against Gray, which are understood to relate to historic events, it “took action to look after all participants in The Suppliant Women”.

The theatre said that no complaints of inappropriate conduct had been made formally or informally by any members of the company or the local chorus featured in The Suppliant Women.

The statement continues: “Our policies were shared with the entire company of The Suppliant Women and include resources for reporting concerns or complaints of this nature … Experienced members of staff oversaw rehearsals with the community chorus to ensure their wellbeing. 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.”



Gray, 54, who has directed theatre and opera productions in Europe, became artistic director of ATC in 2011 and was previously associate director at the Royal Court in London. He is the latest figure in the theatre industry to face allegations of misconduct.

Last month, it was revealed that Max Stafford-Clark was forced to stand down from his company Out of Joint after being accused of inappropriate behaviour. Last week, the Old Vic revealed that it had received 20 individual allegations against its former artistic director Kevin Spacey, who is yet to respond.