on 6 August 2015 McBurney is a founder and artistic director of the UK-based theatre company
Complicité, which performs throughout the world. In 1997 he was awarded the
Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, with the
Théâtre de Complicité. He directed their productions of
Street of Crocodiles (1992);
The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (1994), which was adapted from the
John Berger trilogy
Into Their Labours;
To the Wedding (another Berger collaboration);
Mnemonic (1999);
The Elephant Vanishes (2003);
A Disappearing Number (2007); ''A Dog's Heart
(2010); The Master and Margarita (2011), and The Kid Stays in the Picture'' (2017).
A Disappearing Number was a devised piece conceived and directed by McBurney, taking as its inspiration the story of the collaboration between two of the 20th century's most remarkable pure mathematicians, the Indian genius
Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Cambridge don
G. H. Hardy. It played at the
Barbican in autumn 2008 and toured internationally. In February 2009, McBurney directed the Complicité production
Shun-kin, based on two texts by
Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. It was produced in London and Tokyo in 2010. On a freelance basis, McBurney directed the following:
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and
All My Sons (2008) (both in New York City), and live comedy shows, including
Lenny Henry's
So Much Things To Say and
French and Saunders'
Live in 2000. McBurney is an established screen actor. He played the recurring role of Cecil the choirmaster in
The Vicar of Dibley, CIA computer whiz Garland in
Body of Lies, Dr. Atticus Noyle in
The Manchurian Candidate (2004), British diplomat Nigel Stone in
The Last King of Scotland, the
metrosexual husband Aaron in
Friends with Money, Fra Pavel in
The Golden Compass,
Charles James Fox in
The Duchess, and Oliver Lacon in
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He also wrote the story and was an executive producer for ''
Mr. Bean's Holiday''. From 2010 to 2014, he appeared in the
BBC comedy television series
Rev., portraying the role of Archdeacon Robert. McBurney provided the voice of
Kreacher in
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). In the series
The Borgias, he portrayed the canon law expert
Johannes Burchart. He is the Artiste Associé of the 66th
Festival d'Avignon (2012). He starred in
The Encounter, about photographer
Loren McIntyre becoming lost in the Javari Valley in Brazil and his experiences with locals, which premiered at the 2015
Edinburgh International Festival. In July 2015, he starred as Atlee, the director of
MI6 in the film
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and in 2016, he portrayed paranormal investigator
Maurice Grosse in the horror film sequel
The Conjuring 2. In 2013, he directed the
English National Opera production of Mozart's
The Magic Flute at the
London Coliseum, and the same opera at the New York
Metropolitan Opera in 2023. In September 2019, the Complicité production of
The Encounter was ranked by
The Guardian writers as the 13th best theatre show since 2000. ==Personal life==