Dromgoole currently runs the Oxford Stage Company. Previously he was a successful head of new writing for the Peter Hall Company and ran the Bush Theatre (one of London’s most important fringe venues for new plays). The appointment of Dromgoole, who is seen as something of a contemporary writing specialist, to run the Globe with its focus on Shakespeare and his contemporaries, has surprised many theatre-watchers. His name was not frequently mentioned on the speculative shortlists in the press (the usual suspects included Edward Hall and Gregory Doran).

In a statement, the Globe’s chief executive officer Peter Kyle said, “I know Dominic to be a wholly committed man of the theatre, with a passion for Shakespeare and a strong desire to engage with what he has described as ‘the maverick energy’ of the Globe. We all look forward to Dominic’s own maverick energy being brought to bear on our 2006 Theatre Season which he will begin programming immediately and to welcoming him when he formally takes up the post at the end of the year.”

Dromgoole is also known for his writing. He writes articles (including a recent Guardian piece where he confessed to taking an adversarial attitude to theatre critics), and books. His new book on Shakespeare will be published by Penguin in March 2006.