Martin Coat
Martin Coat is a Theatrical Director, Artistic Director and Creative Producer. Martin’s work incorporates classical training, theory of drama and modern platforms to bring spectacle to new audiences. Martin pioneered the immersive theatrics of Boomtown Fair, a five-day music festival with 66,000 attendees that prides itself on its theming, performance arts and storytelling.
Martin trained as a professional actor at the Oxford School of Drama. After graduating in 2010 he found numerous roles, including the titular role in Macbeth and compelling parts such as Iago (Othello) and Prospero (Tempest).
Driven by a view that audience interactivity was invaluable in the development and promotion of the performative arts, Martin was drawn to immersive theatre, which prioritises audience experience and engagement.
Having became adept at managing and producing the stages and sets of the immersive performances he worked on by assuming leadership roles with great success, Martin co-founded Dank Parish, an immersive theatre production company where he serves as Artistic Director.
Dank Parish has produced many events and performances with Martin as Director, including the Legitimate Peaky Blinder Festival which Martin directed and developed in partnership with the producers of the hit T.V. show.
His work with Dank Parish was instrumental in securing the position of Director of Theatre and Concept Development at Boomtown Fair, the most immersive theatrical music festival on Earth, in 2013, a position which he has held since. In this role Martin has developed immersive storytelling at the festival to the point where it is, today, an integral part of the Boomtown brand identity and represents a significant proportion of the audience experience. The concept of a five-day themed alternate reality space serving tens of thousands of people, most of whom have no interest in traditional theatre, is representative of Martin’s pioneering spirit and dedication to his craft.
Developing Boomtown’s theatrics involved the application of new approaches and techniques; to this end Martin formed a collaboration with Rogue Beacon, a creative agency specialising in alternate reality gaming, intellectual property development and narrative-driven brand experience. After the success of this partnership Martin joined Rogue Beacon as the Creative Producer and leads a team that fuses experimental approaches with traditional marketing wisdom and creative inspiration.
Between his directorships at Dank Parish, Boomtown and Rogue Beacon, Martin is exploring every corner of his field, both creative and commercial. He has built a wide network of collaborators and partners with a set of skills both deep and broad, sufficient to produce across any medium and speak to any audience.
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