Huge congratulations are in order for One Year Course alumni Richard Gadd. Richard is the creator, writer, and star of the huge Netflix hit Baby Reindeer. If you’re anything like us, you’ve likely binged the entire series and are still processing the darkly uncompromising tale of obsession (if you haven’t, go and watch it now!), but what you may not know is the journey the show went on before its successful Netflix debut. So, join us as we look back at the extraordinary career of Oxford School of Drama alumni Richard Gadd.
As part of his final term here at OSD, Richard performed in Defining Moments of Truth and Deception at the SoHo theatre in London. A central part of the One and Three Year courses here at OSD is the ‘London Season’. This takes place during the final term at the school and takes the form of a professional season, where students perform in venues such as the SoHo Theatre and Southwark Playhouse. Richard can be seen here in Defining Moments of Truth and Deception.
photo by Ludovic des Cognets
Following his graduation in 2012, Richard went on to appear many more times at the SoHo theatre with a series of stand-up shows that he wrote and performed between 2014 and 2016, including Breaking Gadd and Waiting for Gaddot. In 2016, Richard’s show Monkey See Monkey Do premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won the highly coveted Edinburgh Comedy Award, beating out comedic powerhouses such as James Acaster and Nish Kumar. Then, at the 2019 Fringe, he debuted his first solo theatre show, Baby Reindeer. The show took the fringe by storm; Richard won The Stage Award for Outstanding Performance and the Fringe First Award for Best New Writing.
After its successful sold-out run, it transferred to the Bush Theatre in London. Following further critical success, the show was due to transfer to the West End before the Covid lockdowns led to the cancellation of its run at The Ambassadors Theatre. But the story doesn’t stop there. Baby Reindeer was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2020 and went on to win for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre. The show then transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City.
It’s been a sprawling journey of success, from the Fringe to Off West End to West End, to NYC, and finally to global success on Netflix. As we write this, Baby Reindeer is the number one TV show on Netflix in the UK and the USA and number seven most-watched show globally.
Congratulations Richard!
