Nicolas Kent (born 26 January 1945) is a British theatre director. His father arrived in Britain in 1936, a Jewish German refugee, and changed his name from Kahn to Kent.

Early life and education

Kent, who was brought up in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentiet ...

, was educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

from 1958 to 1963 and at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

, where he read English from 1964 to 1967.

Professional career

Kent began his career in theatre as a trainee director at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actress ...

in 1967 and then worked from 1970 to 1972 at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...

in Edinburgh, before working for six years (from 1976 to 1982) as the administrative director of the

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...

. He became artistic director of the

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as ...

in 1984 and stood down from the role in 2012. Kent's work at the Tricycle included verbatim political plays. Some of these were edited by

Richard Norton-Taylor Richard Norton-Taylor (born 6 June 1944) is a British editing, editor, journalist, and playwright. He wrote for ''The Guardian'' on defence and security matters from 1975 to 2016, and was the newspaper's security editor. He now works for the i ...

: ''Half the Picture'' examined the arms to Iraq inquiry, ''Tactical Questioning'' examined the inquiry into the death of

Baha Mousa Baha Mousa was an Iraqi man who died while in British Army custody in Basra, Iraq, in September 2003. The inquiry into his death found that Mousa's death was caused by "factors including lack of food and water, heat, exhaustion, fear, previous inju ...

, and ''The Colour of Justice'' examined the Macpherson inquiry into the death of

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

. Kent also commissioned theatrical responses to the detentions at

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay ( es, Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off ...

, the

2011 London riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...

, and – in ''The Great Game'' – Britain's involvement in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Under Kent's direction, the Tricycle also presented the London premieres of many Irish plays, such as ''

Stones in His Pockets ''Stones in His Pockets'' is a two-hander written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland. The play is a tragicomedy about a small rural town in Ireland where many of the townspeople are extras in a Hollywo ...

'' by

Marie Jones Sarah Marie Jones (born 1951) is a Belfast-based actress and playwright. Born into a working-class Protestant family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing. Her plays have been staged on Broadway theatre, Br ...

, as well as staging productions with an emphasis on Afro-Caribbean experience, such as

Mustapha Matura Mustapha Matura (17 December 1939 – 29 October 2019) was a Trinidadian playwright living in London. Characterised by critic Michael Billington as "a pioneering black playwright who opened the doors for his successors", Matura was the first Br ...

's ''

Playboy of the West Indies ''Playboy of the West Indies'' (1984) is a play by Trinidadian playwright Mustapha Matura, a Caribbean version of John Millington Synge, Synge's ''The Playboy of the Western World''. Production history ''Playboy of the West Indies'' opened in 1 ...

'', Lara Foot Newton's ''

Karoo Moose ''Karoo Moose'' is a play by the South African playwright Lara Foot Newton. Set in a remote village in the Karoo, the play depicts the trials and tribulations of a young girl called Thozama. In the play, the main character Thozama ends up killi ...

'' and the ''Not Black and White'' trilogy (comprising new plays by

Kwame Kwei-Armah Kwame Kwei-Armah (born Ian Roberts; 24 March 1967 in Hillingdon, London) is a British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. He is best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'' from 1999 unti ...

, Roy Williams and

Bola Agbaje Bola Agbaje is a British-born playwright of Nigerian origin.

). The theatre also saw the premieres of ''

Kat and the Kings ''Kat and the Kings'' is a South African musical with a book and lyrics by David Kramer and music by Taliep Petersen. Set in late-1950s South Africa, it focuses on teenager Kat Diamond, who believes he's the best singer and dancer in District Si ...

'', a musical which won two Olivier awards, and

Patrick Barlow Evan George Patrick Barlow (born 18 March 1947) is an English actor, comedian and playwright. His comedic alter ego, ''Desmond Olivier Dingle'', is the founder, artistic director and chief executive of the two-man National Theatre of Brent, whi ...

's adaptation of

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief legal career ...

's '' The Thirty-Nine Steps''. Kent chose to cease running the Tricycle following a £350,000 cut in the venue's annual artistic subsidy.

Honours

In 2012 he became the first person to be awarded the freedom of the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Nicolas 1945 births Living people Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British people of German-Jewish descent English theatre directors People educated at Stowe School