Observations One to Watch: Bruce Guthrie, theatre director, 31

Heralded as the new Sam Mendes ever since he got the job as associate director on Mendes' Richard III, starring Kevin Spacey in 2011.

But now the Scottish director from Stirling, whom actors love, is coming into his own. He directs An Incident at the Border and The Man on Her Mind in the West End. Trained on the National Theatre directors course, he hopes to open a theatre company and is asking mentor Mendes for advice.