1976 – 1977 Actor/Teacher, Action Projects in Education

During the early 1980s he was amongst a group of theatre practitioners which was instrumental in bringing local authorities together with the Arts Council creating partnerships to deliver Theatre in Education and Community Theatre (in both Welsh and English). By the early 80s a company had been created in every one of the (former) eight counties in Wales, touring TIE as a free service to schools and community theatre. Action PIE was one of the first of these companies, and the company devised and co-wrote a number of projects for schools, special schools, local communities and other groups.

1977 – 1978 Actor, Cardiff Laboratory Theatre

Epiphanies – Experimental site-specific production in and around Cardiff.

1978 – 1978 Actor/Teacher, Action Projects in Education

(Member, SCYPT National Committee, Equity Wales Committee, Gulbenkian New Writers’ Panel)

1978 – 1980 Director, Spectacle Theatre

Spectacle Theatre is the Community Theatre for the old Mid Glamorgan area (South Wales Valleys) and was formed out of an initiative between Action PIE, Open Cast Theatre and Gwent TIE. The company’s work involved creating theatre projects for young people and the valleys communities.

1980 – 1981 Writer in Residence, Spectacle Theatre

Do You Mind? By Tim Baker. A musical play dealing with Mental Health issues in the Valleys
‘Tim Baker’s musical play is …an amusing, bitter and very relevant show‘ - The Guardian

1981 – 1983 Theatr Bara Caws

Company Member/Musician.
Theatr Bara Caws is the main Welsh Language Touring company in Wales.

1981 Arts Council Playwriting Commission for Spectacle Theatre

Trouble by Tim Baker – a play for young people

1982 – 1982 Musical Director, Cwmni Hwyl a Fflag (Welsh Language)

1982 – 1997 Artistic Director, Theatre West Glamorgan

For over a decade Tim was Artistic Director of the celebrated Theatr West Glamorgan (TWG), based near Swansea, transforming the company into Wales’ most - For over a decade Tim Baker was Artistic Director of this popular Welsh theatre company based near Swansea. During that time he was instrumental in transforming the company into Wales’ most popular touring company in Welsh and English, gaining a vast experience of devising, working with writers, translations and adaptations, and bringing a number of renowned texts to their Welsh Language Premieres. Productions included the first ever Welsh Language productions of Raymond Briggs’s When The Wind Blows and Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine, which attracted the biggest Welsh Language audience ever. He directed over thirty productions for TWG between 1984 and 1997, including the acclaimed first stage version of Alexander Cordell’s novel Rape of the Fair Country in conjunction with the Grand Theatre, Swansea.

‘Quite simply, the best theatre company in Wales‘ - The Guardian, 1987

In 1994 he was invited to write and direct the National Eisteddfod Drama Commission, which resulted in the musical Combrogos. In 1995 the company co-produced, with Theatr Gwynedd, the Xmas show Sothach a Sglyfath which he directed.

Over this whole period he has regularly run courses for teachers, actors, businesses and young people and in particular developed a range of techniques and processes for encouraging new writing, particularly for young people.

Under his direction, TWG created three series for Radio Cymru and wrote and performed two series for HTV/S4C on Welsh history which are still used in schools today. In 1989 the company won a prestigious Incentive Funding Award from the Arts Council of Great Britain.

This period also offered wide experience in co-production and strategic partnerships, for example the EU Interreg partnership he created between TWG and the Irish company Galloglass theatre in Ireland in 1986.

Freelance work during this period includes:

Silas Marner for Theatr Clwyd
‘A shining example of creative ensemble work…Tim Baker directs with a highly developed theatrical nous...’ - The Stage
‘Tim Baker‘s reputation in Wales as a brilliant ensemble director is unchallenged‘ - Western Mail

Canterbury Tales for Mappa Mundi Theatre

Voler es Poder for Frec a Frec Theatre, Catalonia

Since 1995 he has worked regularly in Catalonia, creating a company dedicated to working for young people, Frec a Frec, of which he is Associate Director. Following Voler es Poder came FDV, and Gabia, All three of these projects are currently still touring Catalonia (200 performances in 2002 alone); two have been translated into Spanish and there are plans for one of the projects to be re-created in the Basque language. During 2002 he has been invited back to Barcelona to direct a fourth production.

1997 - present Associate Director, Clwyd Theatr Cymru

Clwyd Theatr Cymru, formerly known as Theatr Clwyd, is the largest theatre complex in Wales. It comprises a main house, studio theatre, young people’s performance space, restaurant, two bars, two galleries and function rooms. During Local Government re-organisation in Wales, the former county of Clwyd was split into four counties and the theatre has subsequently been funded by Flintshire County Council and the Arts Council of Wales. A new remit encouraged the theatre to become a National Theatre for Wales, mounting a programme of classical and modern works and new writing, with an emphasis on Welsh product, actors and talent. The theatre mounts two tours to mid-scale venues annually, with a third tour in a self-contained mobile unit, in addition to residencies in South Wales.

In addition to directing in the theatre, as part of the senior management team Tim Baker runs the entire Education/Young People’s Theatre Department at CTC, which provides workshops and educational support to all the activities within the theatre, He directs four Theatre-in-Education productions annually and works with over 30,000 young people a year. In 1999 the theatre won the TMA Theatre of the Year Award, with particular reference to the education and community work.
The department is heavily committed to the notion of access and lifelong learning. Tim Baker is also involved in the developing role of arts and creativity in business, and 2001 saw the beginning of an innovative collaboration with HSBC bank. Tim is currently Terry Hand’s Associate Director at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, recently designated the National Theatre of Wales by the Welsh Arts Council.

Productions at Clwyd Theatr Cymru include:

Rape of The Fair Country by Alexander Cordell(first part of The Alexander Cordell Trilogy)
(Liverpool Daily Post 1997 Production of the Year)
‘Welsh Theatre has finally come of age with this epic drama…‘ Liverpool Daily Post

Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter
‘Tim Baker directs with his customary sure touch..‘ - Western Mail
‘A superb production of a classic play, not to be missed ‘- North Wales Chronicle

Art (In Welsh as Celf) by Yasmina Reza
‘Under Tim Baker’s direction, he has created a rock solid trio...’ - Western Mail

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
‘See it – you won’t see a better version for a very long time‘ - Liverpool Daily Post

Also resident for 2 weeks in the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool

Hosts of Rebecca (second part of The Alexander Cordell Trilogy)
‘Gutsy and committed, especially in the singing and ensemble work‘ - Independent

Song of the Earth (Third part of The Alexander Cordell Trilogy)
‘One of the most moving theatrical events we are likely to see for some time…‘ - Liverpool Daily Post

The Alexander Cordell Trilogy comprises three novels which cover the emergence of the working class in Wales in the 19th Century. This was a massive project created over three years and which was revived and ran in repertoire during early 2000 as the theatre’s Milennium Project in Mold and in Cardiff with all three productions playing on certain days – the biggest theatrical event ever created in Wales.
‘Standing ovations are not dished out lightly at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, so to have witnessed three in one day must signify something pretty special – the trilogy was a complete triumph from start to finish‘ - North Wales Chronicle

Hard Times by Charles Dickens (adapted by Tim Baker)
‘A widely enjoyable and imaginative production that captures the Dickens spirit‘ - Liverpool Daily Post)

Accidental Death of an Anarchist (in English and Welsh) by Dario Fo
‘The play is so well cast, the shape of each actor contrasting well with another…for me this production more than justifies the adding of the 'Cymru' to 'Clwyd Theatre Cymru' which is what Terry Hands promised when he first took over‘ - Wales Theatre Website

by Harper Lee, adapted by Christopher Sergel

‘If you needed to see one stage drama last year it was To Kill A Mockingbird, a theatre version of the novel presented by Mold's Clwyd Theatr Cymru.
It was one of those shows which had a satisfying storyline, a theatrical way of presenting it and performances which raised lumps in the throat.
Not surprisingly, it went on tour to become a huge success with sell-out performances everywhere.‘ - Liverpool Daily Post

‘The students packed into the Quays Theatre last night should be grateful that this powerful novel Is now part of their syllabus. It is also to the credit of a superb production by the respected Clwyd Theatr Cymru that you could hear a pin drop in the crowded auditorium, apart from an audible gasp at one particularly dramatic moment and spontaneous bursts of applause throughout from an age group sometimes difficult to please.‘ - Manchester Evening News

Silas Marner by George Eliot, adapted by Tim Baker
‘Baker has taken George Eliot’s richly allegorical book Silas Marner and created a musical play full of charm and pathos. He has untangled the complex warp and weft of Eliot’s novel and re-woven it beautifully.‘ - Giles Cooper, Western Mail

‘Baker's adaptation of the George Eliot story is uplifting, inspiring, an emotional roller coaster from its gentle beginning to its riotous and cele bratory end - yet another 'must see' for Clwyd Theatr Cymru audiences.‘ - The Chronicle

As a writer/adapter, Tim Baker created a number of new plays for Clwyd Theatr Cymru, including a trilogy of plays for young people. As part of Clwyd Theatr Cymru’s 25th anniversary celebration this year all three of the plays were performed in repertoire from Monday January 28 to Friday 1 March, and on Saturday 2 March, the theatre mounted a special day for young people and parents, when all three plays were seen in one day. The trilogy is:

Flora’s War (Winner, Barclays Stage Partners Award
2000) written and directed by Tim Baker
It is certainly the best theatre production for school children that I have personally experienced in nearly 24 years of teaching. -Ysgol Bro Famau
‘It is a measure of Baker’s direction that this modest domestic wartime activity becomes an uproariously comic set piece without ever losing its reality‘ - The Stage

The Secret written and directed by Tim Baker
‘...strong on story and entertainingly told. The Secret is being staged for school parties of 8-11 year olds. How lucky they are‘ - Liverpool Daily Post
‘A really excellent production. The actors held the children spellbound …… ‘First rate educationally and dramatically‘ - Kingsmead School, Hoylake.

Word for Word written and directed by Tim Baker
‘The audience ... were spellbound by the acting and the suspenseful story, gripped by the use of clever puppetry and special effects - Evening Leader
A small miracle – enough laughter, pain, fear, loss and character development to put many a longer play to shame‘ - The Stage

Freelance work during the past four years has included theatre projects in The Netherlands, Brussels, Berlin and, more recently in Tokyo with the National Theatre.

Tim Baker also works regularly with the Welsh College of Music and Drama – Wales’ conservatoire, teaching and lecturing, and in 2000/2001 directed two productions there: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Cegin Y Diafol by Sion Eirian, and has been invited to return there to direct a Shakespeare production later in 2002.

Also in 2002, Tim Baker became an Associate of The National Theatre, directing the mobile tour of Brecht’s Threepenny Opera.

‘Tim Baker’s enjoyably hard-edged production uses a cast of nine actor-musicians, most of them playing brass, not a bowed instrument in sight, and a banjo the only string. There is nothing like the sight of actors creating their own music for giving an air of all-round liveliness to a show, joining the seemingly casual to evident expertise.‘ - The Times

‘Baker's production, cleverly manages with just nine actors and one constant musician to make The Threepenny Opera worth more than 30 West End musicals.‘ - Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard

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