About imitating the dog 

“[imitating the dog’s] three artistic co-directors, Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright, magicking together technology and live performance, create spectacular, innovative theatre, as dramatically forceful and thought-provoking as it is entertaining.”

Clare Brennan, The Guardian (2021)

Who we are

imitating the dog (ITD) have been creating and touring original and ground-breaking performance work for theatres and other spaces since 1998. 

Pete Brooks (director), Andrew Quick (writer) and Simon Wainwright (video design) are our Artistic Directors, and their creative work has built a company with a popular and critical reputation in the UK, Europe and internationally. 

imitating the dog is a National Portfolio Organisation.

What we do 

Our work at ITD has been seen on stages (and screens) across the world, and we have made installations for outdoor festivals and events, seen by hundreds of thousands of people. 

We’re recognised for our originality, our exploration of screen and projection technologies in live performance, accessible site responsive work and collaborations with artists and organisations. 

We like to challenge audiences to see things from a new perspective – stories, theatre, the world around them. You can get a flavour of this in our Showreel.

Creative Learning is also at the heart of what we do. We enjoy testing and sharing creative processes and tech knowledge with students, practitioners and community groups through programmes, projects and toolkits – online, in schools, in venues, wherever. 

Working with Others 

We have created shows and pieces with Leeds Playhouse, National Theatre of Greece, Oldham Coliseum, Raisin and Willow, The Singapore Repertory Theatre, the Georgian National Theatre, The Dukes Lancaster, Marche Teatro, Italy and Pinwheel.

In 2022, our creative team worked alongside Parisian haute couture house Maison Margiela, and their creative director John Galliano, to create Cinema Inferno – a unique staging of their Artisanal Collection 2022 at Paris Haute Couture Week. The work was considered a groundbreaking hybrid of fashion and theatre. 

Our most recent works include our 2024 theatre tour Frankenstein, co-produced with Leeds Playhouse, projection installation Dear Einstein for Light Up Lancaster 2023 and Ribble of Dreams, a digital trail of story boxes across Preston city centre for Encounter Festival 2024. 

Original Theatre Productions:

• All Blood Runs Red (2025)
• Frankenstein (2024)
• Macbeth (2023)
• Dracula: The Untold Story (2021/2)
• Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show (2020)
• Night of the Living Dead™ – Remix (2020)
• Heart of Darkness (2018)
• Nocturnes (2017)
• The Train (2016)
• A Farewell to Arms (2014)
• The Zero Hour (2012)
• 6 Degrees Below the Horizon (2012)
• Kellerman (2010)
• Hotel Methuselah (2009)

Other Work from the last 5 years:

• All Change (2025) – a spectacular outdoor live performance and drone show commissioned by S&DR 200 Festival to help launch their nine-month celebration and 200th anniversary of the modern railway, in collaboration with SKYMAGIC and movement directors Rocky Norton and Katie Pearson
• Otherham (2025) – a trail of large scale digital installations celebrating Rotherham’s inaugural Children’s Capital of Culture status, commissioned by Flux Rotherham and inspired by the imaginations of the town’s young residents
• Christmas at Castle Howard (2023, 2024) – video-mapping projections and original soundscapes by composer James Howard for Castle Howard’s annual immersive trail 
• Ribble of Dreams (2024) – a digital trail of story boxes across Preston city centre, commissioned by Encounter Festival 
• Dear Einstein (2023) – outdoor installation commissioned by Light Up Lancaster, featuring composer James Hamilton and a live community choir
• Follow Me Into (2023) – a video-mapping installation adventure, commissioned by the City of London for Bartholomew Fair to project over several historic buildings and sites
• The City Off the Map (2023) – an immersive digital video installation featuring recorded interviews from the residents of Cali, Colombia, commissioned by The GREAT Project
• 100 Stories High (2022) – outdoor installation commissioned by Lightpool, Blackpool and Light Up Lancaster, featuring composer James Hamilton and a live community choir
• Cinema Inferno (2022) – the ITD creative team staged the ground-breaking new show for Paris haute couture house Maison Margiela, based on an original concept by John Galliano, for their Artisanal Collection 2022. Presented on the official Paris Haute calendar and live streamed by Sodium Films.
• Seeing in the Dark (2022) – touring immersive installation, inspired by the Cinema Memory and the Digital Archive project at Lancaster University 
• Take Me To The River (2022) – outdoor installation inspired by local stories for North of the Tyne, Under the Stars Festival in Newcastle, produced by Pinwheel and DAT Events and commissioned by North of the Tyne Combined Authority, featuring footage from Yorkshire and North East Film Archives
• Dracula On Demand (2021/2) – version of Dracula: The Untold Story filmed especially for VOD viewing by Sodium Films for people unable to attend the live production 
• Lilliput (2021) – outdoor installation commissioned by Worcester Light Night, based on a series of interviews with local Worcester children 
• Street (2021) – participatory online project, made with the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal and the people of Cumbria
• Airlock (2020) – live action graphic novel in three episodes released from the series of BBC Arts and Arts Council England commissions as part of the Culture in Quarantine programme
• Leap (2019, 2021 and 2024) – outdoor installation commissioned by Lakes Alive and performed at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, before appearing at Light Up Wakefield and twice at Light Up Lancaster