Jonathan Kent (director)

Jonathan Kent (born 1946, South Africa) is an English theatre director and opera director. He is best known as a director/producer partner of Ian McDiarmid at the Almeida Theatre fron 1990 to 2002.

After an upbringing in South Africa, educated at the Diocesan College, he came to London in the 1970s and trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Working under Giles Havergal and Phillip Prowse at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, he found that "acting taught him just how difficult it is to act....acting is a valiant pursuit" ["The Observer" (London), 27 January 2002] .

By 1990 Kent had formed an association with the Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid, and between 1990 and 2002 as joint artistic directors, they turned the Almeida into a major producing theatre. The success of this venture - presenting a wide range of international plays - led to productions transferring to the West End (14 between 1990 and 2002 under Kent's tenure) and also to Broadway.

In 1995/6, he directed Mother Courage and Her Children, at the Royal National Theatre. Diana Rigg was awarded an Evening Standard Theatre Award for her performance as "Mother Courage". For the stage, Kent's most recent production of Brian Friel's "Faith Healer" was a success in both Dublin and on Broadway.

On 9 July 2007 it was announced [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330163833-123425,00.html Michel Billington, "People Thought We Were Mad", "The Guardian" (London), 10 July 2007] ] that Kent had been invited to direct three plays at the Haymarket Theatre from September 2007 as a means of re-invigorating the West End theatre scene. These were William Wycherley's "The Country Wife", Edward Bond's "The Sea", and "Marguerite", a musical based on "La Dame aux camélias", with music by Michel Legrand and book by Alain Boublil.

Kent as opera director

Following his departure from the Almeida, Kent has emerged as a significant force in the world of opera. His operatic directing debut was during the Santa Fe Opera's 2003 season production of "Katya Kabanova", a production received with great acclaim. [Simon Williams, "Opera News", “Director Jonathan Kent is new to opera, having made his name in spoken drama in London. He displayed a natural feel for the dynamics and rhetoric of opera, and he directed with unwavering attention to the score. In short, this was an outstanding interpretation of a great modern tragedy".]

His first British production was not actually an opera at all but Michael Tippett's oratorio, "A Child of Our Time" in 2005. He returned that same year to Santa Fe for Mozart's "Lucio Silla" as well as in 2006, when he directed the US premiere of Thomas Adès' "The Tempest", again with significant critical acclaim: [Hugh Canning of "The Times" (London), June 2006 writes::"Kent’s production began with one of the most magical stage images I can recall in recent opera seasons. Paul Brown’s permanent set is a sandy island with a pool of water representing the sea: in the prelude, a procession of fully clothed people (presumably the Neapolitan shipwreck survivors) walk out of the water like amphibious creatures, a dazzlingly surreal opening gambit in a production remarkable for its narrative clarity and observant delineation of character. :Kent and Brown achieve an organic fusion of theatrical elements with the simplest of means. The dune-like “island” provides opportunities for wittily surprising entrances — at one point, Ariel’s head pops out of Prospero’s magic cabinet — and perilous exits — the comic characters, Stefano and Trinculo, are swallowed up as if by quicksand". ]

In Britain, Kent's most recent work in opera has been on a new production of Puccini's "Tosca" for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Expectations were high, since this was Covent Garden's replacement for the famous Franco Zeffirelli production for Maria Callas in 1964, and which had been in use for 42 years.Kent "believes "Tosca" - which Puccini adapted from a five-act French play - is an ideal vehicle for his talents. "What I admire about it, quite apart from the thrilling music, is its theatre craft", he said...."It's a taut, sinewy melodrama, exquisitely put together. There isn't an ounce of flesh on it.... "That's what interested me: to find a way within that hurtling narrative to examine the relationships and its themes of sex, power and death." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5048492.stm BBC online interview] ]

In 2007 Kent directed Richard Strauss' "Elektra" at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and Benjamin Britten's "The Turn of the Screw" for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the 2007 season.

He returned to the Santa Fe Opera in June 2008 to direct a new production of "The Marriage of Figaro" and will come back in 2009 to direct the premiere of a new opera by Paul Moravec and Terry Teachout, "The Letter" based on Somerset Maugham's 1927 stage version of his short story of the same name.

References

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,546925,00.html Fiachra Gibbons, "Celebrated double act quits Almeida", "The Guardian" (London), 5 September 2001 (announcement of Kent and McDiarmid's departure)]
* [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/arts/story/0,,640718,00.html Kate Kellaway, "Almeida: end of Act One", "The Observer" (London), 27 January 2002 (Interview with Jonathan Kent as he departs)]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2225452,00.html Hugh Canning, "Opera: A triumph for tragedy", "The Sunday Times" 18 June 2006 (review of ROH's new "Tosca")]

ee also

*List of opera directors