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Michael Blakemore
Michael Howell Blakemore AO OBE (18 June 1928 – 10 December 2023) was an Australian actor, writer and theatre director who also made some films. A former Associate Director of the National Theatre, in 2000 he became the only individual to win Tony Awards for Best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year for ''Copenhagen'' and ''Kiss Me, Kate''. Biography Early life and career Michael Howell Blakemore was born in Sydney, the son of Conrad Howell Blakemore, an eye surgeon, and his wife, Una Mary Litchfield. He married English actress Shirley Bush. Blakemore was educated at The King's School, Sydney, and went on to study medicine at the University of Sydney but failed his examinations. Blakemore's first job in the theatre was as a press agent for Robert Morley during the Australian tour of '' Edward, My Son'', who advised him to try drama school. In 1950 he came to London, enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and trained as an actor until 1952. He made h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama Desk Award For Outstanding Director Of A Play
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. The awards were established in 1955, with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director being presented each year to a director from any play or musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ... production. Starting in 1975, the singular director's award was replaced by separate play and musical categories. Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also * Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director * Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play References {{DEFAULTSORT:Drama Desk Award Play Director Play Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Barretts Of Wimpole Street
''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her domineering father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. Presented first at the Malvern Festival in August 1930, the play transferred to the West End, where it ran for 528 performances. An American production, produced by and starring Katharine Cornell, opened in 1931 and ran on Broadway for 370 performances. The play has subsequently been revived onstage and adapted for television and the cinema. The play caused some protests from the descendants of one of the central characters, Edward Moulton-Barrett, objecting to what they saw as his depiction as a depraved monster, although the author and original director denied that the play did so. Production ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' was Rudolf Besier's only real success as a playwright. It was first staged on 20 August 1930, at the Malvern Festival ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citizens Theatre
The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various studio theatres over time. The Citizens' Theatre repertory was founded in 1943 by dramatist and screenwriter James Bridie, author of around forty plays presented in Britain and overseas, art gallery director Tom Honeyman, cinema impresario George Singleton, known by many as "Mr Cosmo", whose headquarter cinema continues today as the Glasgow Film Theatre, and Paul Vincent Carroll, whose plays were first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin (founder W.B.Yeats) and later on Broadway, winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for '' Shadow and Substance'' (1938) and '' The White Steed'' (1939). Under the leadership of James Bridie (Dr O. H. Mavor), the Citizens Company was based at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Severed Head
''A Severed Head'' is a satirical, sometimes farcical 1961 novel by Iris Murdoch. It was Murdoch's fifth published novel. Primary themes include marriage, adultery, and incest within a group of civilised and educated people. Set in and around London, it depicts a power struggle between grown-up middle-class people who are lucky to be free of real problems. ''A Severed Head'' was a harbinger of the sexual revolution that was to hit Britain in the 1960s and 1970s. Plot Martin Lynch-Gibbon is a well-to-do 41-year-old wine merchant whose childless marriage to an older woman called Antonia has been one of convenience rather than love. It never occurs to him that his ongoing secret affair with Georgie, a young academic in her twenties, could be immoral. Martin is shocked when his wife tells him that she has been having an affair with Palmer Anderson, her psychoanalyst and a friend of the couple. Antonia informs Martin that she wants to divorce him and marry Anderson. Martin moves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toad Of Toad Hall
''Toad of Toad Hall'' is a play written by A. A. Milne – the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel ''The Wind in the Willows'' – with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson. It was originally produced by William Armstrong (theatre director), William Armstrong at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool, on 21 December 1929. It was given in the West End theatre, West End the following year, and has been revived frequently by many theatrical companies. Background and first productions For his stage version of Grahame's book, the humorist and playwright A. A. Milne concentrated on the adventures of Mr. Toad, Mr Toad, which make up about half of the original book, because they lent themselves most easily to being staged. He loved Grahame's book, which was one of the reasons why he decided to adapt it. He wrote in the introduction to the published play: The first production was at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool, on 21 December 1929, under the direction of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Theatre
The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,"Harold Pinter has London theatre named after him" ''BBC News'', 7 September 2011, accessed 8 September 2011. is a , and opened on Panton Street in the , on 15 October 1881, as the Royal Comedy Theatre. It was designed by Thomas Verity and built in just six months in painted ( |
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is one of Shakespeare's most popular and widely performed plays. Characters The Athenians: * Theseus – Duke of Athens * Hippolyta – Queen of the Amazons and Theseus' fianceé * Hermia – in love with Lysander * Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Helena – in love with Demetrius * Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Lysander – in love with Hermia * Demetrius (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Demetrius – s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play was included in the ''First Folio'', published in 1623. The play is set in Messina and revolves around two romantic pairings that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The first, between Claudio and Hero (Much Ado About Nothing), Hero, is nearly scuppered by the accusations of the villain, Don John. The second, between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing), Beatrice, takes centre stage as the play continues, with both characters' wit and banter providing much of the humour. Through "noting" (sounding like "nothing" and meaning gossip, rumour, overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into believ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love's Labour's Lost
''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to swear off the company of women for three years in order to focus on study and fasting. Their subsequent infatuation with the Princess of France and her ladies makes them forsworn (break their oath). In an untraditional ending for a comedy, the play closes with the death of the Princess's father, and all weddings are delayed for a year. The play draws on themes of masculine love and desire, reckoning and rationalisation, and reality versus fantasy. Though first published in quarto in 1598, the play's title page suggests a revision of an earlier version of the play. There are no obvious sources for the play's plot. The use of apostrophes in the play's title varies in early editions, though it is most commonly given as ''Love ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (disguised as a page named 'Cesario') falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her, thinking she is a man. The play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion, with plot elements drawn from Barnabe Rich's short story "Of Apollonius and Silla", based on a story by Matteo Bandello. The first documented public performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the year's calendar. The play was not published until its inclusion in the 1623 First Folio. Characters * Viola – a shipwrecked young woman who disguises hersel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Air Theatre
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London, established in 1932. Originally known for its Shakespearean productions, the theatre now features a wide variety of performances, including musicals, operas and plays simplified for children The theatre Established in 1932, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London, with 1,304 seats. It is situated in Queen Mary’s Gardens in Regent’s Park, one of London’s Royal Parks. The theatre’s annual 18-week season is attended by more than 140,000 people each year. In 2017, the theatre was named London Theatre of the Year in The Stage Awards, and received the Highly Commended Award for London Theatre of the Year in 2021. Many famous people have performed at the theatre. One of the first was in 1936 when Vivien Leigh played Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII, three years before she found fame in Gone with the Wind. Subsequent actors and actresses include Anna Neagle, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Hall (theatre Director)
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall (22 November 1930 11 September 2017) was an English theatre, opera and film director. His obituary in ''The Times'' described him as "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and on his death, a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled". In 2018, the Laurence Olivier Awards, recognising achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director. In 1955, Hall introduced London audiences to the work of Samuel Beckett with the UK premiere of ''Waiting for Godot''. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and was its director from 1960 to 1968. He went on to build an international reputation in theatre, opera, film and television. He was director of the National Theatre (1973–88) and artistic director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (19841990). He formed the Peter Hall Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
