David Bradby

Professor David Bradby (27 February 1942 - 17 February 2011) was a drama and theatre academic with particular research interests in French theatre, Modernist / Postmodernist theatre, the role of the director and the Theatre of the Absurd. He wrote extensively on the theatre of Samuel Beckett, Roger Planchon, Jacques Lecoq, Arthur Adamov among many others. He also translated several works, principally by Michel Vinaver, Jacques Lecoq and Bernard-Marie Koltes.

Life

Bradby was educated at Rugby School and originally studied Modern Languages at Trinity College, Oxford, but started to develop an interest in the theatre. During his time as a language assistant in Lyon, Bradby became a bit-part actor in Roger Planchon’s theatre company.

Bradby’s subsequent education saw him taking a postgraduate teaching course at the University of Bristol, and then a PhD on the playwright Arthur Adamov at the University of Glasgow.

His academic career included the founding of the Department of Drama at the University of Kent in 1970, as well as work with the British Council in Nigeria. Bradby developed the first colloqium on popular film and theatre, featuring contributions from the British theatre director, Max Stafford-Clark. David Bradby was appointed head of the Department of Drama at the University of Caen, Normandy before moving to Royal Holloway, University of London in 1988, where he also took the position of department head. He retired in Summer 2007.

Bradby edited the Cambridge University Press ‘Studies in Modern Drama’ series, as well as the journal Contemporary Theatre Review.

He was Professor Emeritus of Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway. David Bradby give many public lectures and broadcasts; he has also been a consultant and advisor to many productions of works by Jean Genet, Molière, Michel Vinaver and Bernard-Marie Koltes.

In 1997, he was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in recognition of his contribution to the study of French culture.^[1] Bradby was married to the Author Rachel Anderson and died on 17 January 2011.

Bibliography

• Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot (2001)
• Mise en Scène: French Theatre Now (with Annie Sparks) (1997)
• The Theater of Michel Vinaver (1993)
• Modern French Drama 1940-1990 (1991)
• Le Théâtre Français Contemporain (1990)
• Directors' Theatre (with David Williams) (1988)
• The Theatre of Roger Planchon (1984)
• Modern French Drama 1940-1980 (1984)
• Studying Drama (with K. Pickering and P. Thomas) (1984)
• People's Theatre (with John McCormick) (1978)
• Adamov (1975)
• The Paris Jigsaw: Internationalism and the City’s Stages (ed. with Maria M. Delgado) (2002)
• Morality and Justice: The Challenge of European Theatre (2001)
• Renard the Fox (with Rachel Anderson) (1986)
• Performance and Politics in Popular Drama (ed. with Louis James and Bernard Sharratt) (1982)

As editor

• Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt: Plays I (2002)
• Frontline Drama 6: New French Plays (1998)
• Bernard-Marie Koltès: Plays I (1997)
• Michel Vinaver: Plays I; Plays II. (1997).
• Michel Vinaver: Théâtre de Chambre (1995)
• Landmarks of French Classical Drama (1991)
• New French Plays (with C. Schumacher) (1989)
• Kean (1973)

References

1. ^ http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=414960&c=1

Persondata
Name	Bradby, David
Alternative names
Short description	Drama and theatre academic
Date of birth	27 February 1942
Place of birth
Date of death	17 February 2011
Place of death