Biography

Toby trained at the Jacques Lecoq School in Paris in the 1970s, where he founded The Moving Picture Mime Show, which established itself as one of the innovators of physical theatre throughout the world. Toby won the 2008 Olivier Award as Director of Movement and Horse Choreographer for War Horse, playing Ted Narracott in the original production. He has worked internationally and extensively in UK theatres foremost as an actor, including the RSC, Chichester Festival Theatre, the Royal Exchange and the National Theatre. With Théâtre de Complicité he has performed and co-devised several productions including Help I'm Alive, The Noise of Time, Light and The Master & Margarita. He played Harpo Marx in Animal Crackers and appeared in The Play What I Wrote, both in the West End. Also he appeared in Vacuums a film by Stomp, Laissez Passer for Bertrand Tavernier, and The Last Planet directed by Terrence Malik in 2019. Toby's work as Director of Movement has been seen worldwide: The 39 Steps (West End, Broadway, Japan, Russia, Korea, Australia and Europe), War Horse productions in New York, Toronto, Berlin, Australia and a UK and North American Tour. A Dog's Heart (De Nederlandse Opera, La Scala, Opéra National de Lyon and English National Opera), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne), Fanny and Alexander (Old Vic), Tintin (Barbican Theatre), Swallows and Amazons (Bristol Old Vic) etc. He directed The Mill for Ockham's Razor at The Royal Opera House and for a major UK tour. He co-directed The Hudsucker Proxy with Simon Dormandy. Toby collaborated with Danny Boyle on the London 2012 Olympics as Director of Movement and Choreographer of the 'Industrial Revolution' and 'The Green and Pleasant Land'. He was Director of Movement in Boyle's National Theatre production of Frankenstein and appeared in his film 28 Days Later. Toby's innovative choreography can also be seen in the film Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, directed by Susannah White. In 2017 he was Director of Movement for the film Stan and Ollie directed by Jon S Baird, starring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly, and in 2021 Pistol directed by Danny Boyle, set in the 1970's about the punk band the Sex Pistols. The London Mime Festival 2021 commissioned a short film of Toby as Bernard Knowes, the character he created during lockdown.
- IMDb mini biography by: MN 25/11/2021