Unwin read English at Downing College, Cambridge,[1] where he directed many student productions, including an award-winning production of Measure for Measure that transferred to the Almeida, where he was awarded an Arts Council Trainee Director’s Bursary.
He worked with a wide range of leading actors, including Simon Russell Beale, Tilda Swinton, Ken Stott, and dozens of others.
He launched the English Touring Theatre in June 1993, where he directed twenty productions, many of which were seen at the Old Vic, the Donmar, the Lyric Hammersmith and others.
He was joint winner of the 2003 Sam Wanamaker Award with Barrie Rutter, and in autumn 2003 was Judith E Wilson Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University.
In September 2010, Unwin directed Noël Coward's Hay Fever, a Rose Theatre production starring Celia Imrie, which received great critical acclaim.