Peter Hall (director)

Infobox actor
name = Peter Hall

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imagesize = 180px
caption =
birthname = nowrap|Peter Reginald Frederick Hall
birthdate = birth date and age|1930|11|22|df=y
birthplace = Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England
occupation = Director
spouse = Nicola Frei (1990-present)
Maria Ewing (1982-1990)
Jacqueline Taylor (1965-1981)
Leslie Caron (1956-1965)
yearsactive = 1950s-present
tonyawards = Best Direction of a Play
1967 "The Homecoming"
1981 "Amadeus"

Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE (born 22 November 1930) is an English theatre and film director.

Biography

Early years

Born at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, Hall attended The Perse School in Cambridge and went on to the Joint Services School for Linguists during his National Service where he learned to speak the Russian language. He produced and acted in several productions while at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1953 from St Catharine's College. During the same year, he staged his first professional play at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.

Career

From 1954 to 1955 he was at the Oxford Playhouse where he directed the young Ronnie Barker. In August 1955, he directed the English-language premiere of "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett at the Arts Theatre, London. During 1956-1959, he then ran that theatre.cite book | last=Hall | first=Peter | title=Making an Exhibition of Myself: The Autobiography of Peter Hall | pages=pp. 101, 435ff | location=London | publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson | year=1993 | isbn=1840021152] He was at Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon for the 1957 to 1959 seasons. There, his productions included: "Cymbeline" with Peggy Ashcroft; "Coriolanus" with Laurence Olivier and Edith Evans; and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with Charles Laughton.

Hall is best known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company which he founded in 1960, at the age of only 29. He served as its artistic director from that time until 1968. He was director of the Royal National Theatre from 1973 to 1988 and was also a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain resigning in protest from both roles in protest over cuts in public funding. After leaving the National Theatre he founded his own company directing a series of productions at the Old Vic.

In 1990, at the Chichester Festival Theatre he directed "Born Again", a musical version of Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros (play). For this Hall also wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the libretto with Julian Barry, for the music they hired British composer Jason Carr (it was Carr's first professional musical). Many years later one of the show's song's "When I Was Out This Morning" (with lyrics by Hall) was included on Carr's composer compilation album.

His latest project is as director of the Rose Theatre at Kingston upon Thames which opened in 2008, and which draws design inspiration from the original Rose theatre. In its basic shell prior to fit out, it has seen a sell out run of his production of "As You Like It".

Personal life

hall was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1963 and in 1977 was knighted for his services to the theatre. In 1999, he was presented with a Laurence Olivier Award. He was appointed Chancellor of Kingston University in 2000.

Hall married four times. His first was to French actress Leslie Caron, followed by Jacqueline Taylor, opera soprano, Maria Ewing, and present wife Nicola Frei. His diaries were published in 1983. One of his children is the actress Rebecca Hall and another is the director, Edward Hall.

Stage productions

*"An Ideal Husband" August 25, 2008 - November 29, 2008.
*"The Vortex" (Noel Coward) November 13, 2007 - December 1, 2007 Theatre Royal Windsor.
*"Amy's View" (David Hare) November 28, 2006 - February 17, 2007
*"Amadeus" December 15, 1999 - May 14, 2000
*"An Ideal Husband" May 1, 1996 - Jan 26, 1997
*"Four Baboons Adoring the Sun" March 18, 1992 - April 19, 1992
*"Born Again" September 1990 Chichester Festival Theatre
*"The Merchant of Venice" December 19, 1989 - March 10, 1990
*"Orpheus Descending" September 24, 1989 - December 17, 1989
*"Wild Honey" December 18, 1986 - January 11, 1987
*"The Petition" April 24, 1986 - June 29, 1986
*"Jean Seberg" (world première at the Royal National Theatre) December 1, 1983 - April 4, 1984
*"Amadeus" (world première at the Royal National Theatre) December 17, 1980 - October 16, 1983
*"Betrayal" January 5, 1980 - May 31, 1980
*"Bedroom Farce" (Originally produced by The Royal National Theatre) March 29, 1979 - November 24, 1979
*"No Man's Land" (Originally produced by The Royal National Theatre) November 9, 1976 - December 18, 1976
*"The Misanthrope" (Originally produced by The Royal National Theatre) March 12, 1975 - May 31, 1975
*"As You Like It" (Produced by arrangement with The Royal National Theatre) December 3, 1974 - December 8, 1974
*"Saturday Sunday Monday" (Produced by arrangement with The Royal National Theatre) November 21, 1974 - November 30, 1974
*"Via Galactica" November 28, 1972 - December 2, 1972
*"Old Times" November 16, 1971 - February 26, 1972
*"The Homecoming" (Original production by Peter Hall; By arrangement with the Governors of The Royal Shakespeare Company) January 5, 1967 - October 14, 1967
*"Waiting for Godot" (English-language première) (at the Arts Theatre) August 1955
*"Wars of the Roses", adaptation of the "Henry VI" and "Richard III" plays, the Royal Shakespeare Company 1963-1964

References

Further reading

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External links

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* [http://www.fathom.com/contributors/4557.html Fathom biography]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1555060,00.html Godot almighty] by Peter Hall