For over thirty years Stanford was an associate of the Gate Theatre Dublin both as actor and director. At the Gate he has directed "Romeo and Juliet", "Tartuffe", "Present Laughter" twice, "Pride and Prejudice", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "Great Expectations" twice, "A Tale of Two Cities", "The Collection", "Lady Windermere's Fan", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "An Ideal Husband", "A Christmas Carol", "Arms and the Man", "Oliver Twist", "Blithe Spirit", "Jane Eyre", "The Constant Wife", "Private Lives", "The Importance of Being Earnest", "The Deep Blue Sea", "The Old Curiosity Shop", "The Real Thing", "Endgame", "God of Carnage", and "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris".