Richard Williams is a

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, producer and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

working mainly in the areas of dramatic and lyric presentation. Richard Williams’ career has concerned classics, new plays, music theatre and opera productions. In a directing career lasting some 35 years he has directed more than 250 productions. He has been Artistic Director of four theatre companies -

Contact Theatre Contact is an arts organisation in Manchester, England that focuses on youth leadership. History Contact was founded in 1972 by Barry Sheppard (General Manager of what was then Manchester University Theatre) and Hugh Hunt (Professor of Drama) ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he was awarded Best Director Award two years running, The

Oxford Stage Company Headlong is a British touring theatre company noted for making bold, innovative productions with some of the UK’s finest artists. Jeremy Herrin took over the artistic directorship of the company in 2013, and is the current artistic director. Ar ...

, Unicorn (Arts) Theatre, London (1990-1997) and

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 ...

(1996-1998). His varied opera work includes seventeen years as director of opera at the Dartington International Music Festival as well as a flourishing freelance career. He was given Barclays Regional Theatre Award and The Liverpool Echo Award in recognition of his work at Liverpool Playhouse. He directed the Glyn Robbins adaptations of ''

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Among all the ...

'' (at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...

, 1984) and ''

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

'' (Mermaid Theatre, 1988), and

Graeme Garden David Graeme Garden OBE (born 18 February 1943) is a Scottish comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of The Goodies and a regular panellist on ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. Early life and education ...

's musical '' The Pocket Orchestra'' (Trafalgar Studios 2, 2006). He wrote the stage adaptation of

Clive King David Clive King (28 April 1924 – 10 July 2018) was an English author best known for his children's book ''Stig of the Dump'' (1963). He served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in the last years of the Second World War and then worked for t ...

's ''

Stig of the Dump ''Stig of the Dump'' is a children's novel by Clive King which was first published in the United Kingdom in 1963. It is regarded as a modern children's classic and is often read in schools. It was illustrated by Edward Ardizzone and has been ...

'' for the

Tabard Theatre The Tabard Theatre is a small 96-seat theatre in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. Close to Turnham Green Underground station, it is situated above the Tabard public house on Bath Road. The Tabard Theatre was licensed and opened for t ...

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, production of 2008-09. He directed some components of the Deloitte Ignite Festival at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

in 2010. His association with composer Stephen McNeff goes back to about 1978, when Williams directed ''

Aucassin et Nicolette ''Aucassin et Nicolette'' (12th or 13th century) is an anonymous medieval French fictional story. It is the unique example of a ''chantefable'', literally, a "sung story", a combination of prose and verse (similar to a ''prosimetrum''). History ...

'' with McNeff's music for the latter's South-West Music Theatre; during McNeff's residency at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

in Canada Williams directed a production of

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' there in 1981. Williams's work as librettist includes texts for McNeff's community opera adaptation of ''

Tarka the Otter ''Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers'' is a novel by English writer Henry Williamson, first published in 1927 by G.P. Putnam's Sons with an introduction by the Hon. Sir John Fortescue. It won the ...

'' (2007) and his opera-oratorio ''The Chalk Legend'' (2012). His opera work includes

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

'' at the

Garden Opera Company A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, ''

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

'' at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, and ''Médée'' and ''Pygmalion'' at the Dartington Festival. He has also directed twentieth century operas, including

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...

''. In June 2012 he and the pianist

Joanna MacGregor Joanna Clare MacGregor (born 16 July 1959) is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She is currently artistic direc ...

revived and reworked their chamber adaptation of Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'' (first presented at the Unicorn Theatre) for the

Bath International Music Festival The Bath International Music Festival was held late each spring in Bath, South West England between 1948 and 2016. The festival included many genres such as Jazz, Classical, World and Folk and merged with the Bath Literature Festival in 2017 to ...

, of which Professor MacGregor was then Artistic Director. He is currently (2020) Course Leader of the BA Acting at

Drama Centre London Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint Martins, a constitue ...

, and remains associated with Dartington. Williams' recent work includes directing the British premiere of Vivaldi’s opera ''

L'Olimpiade ''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Metastasio originally written for an operatic setting by Antonio Caldara of 1733. Metastasio’s plot vaguely draws upon the narrative of "The Trial of the Suitors" provided from Book 6 of '' ...

'' at the

, also presented at the

Eilat Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...

Festival. His work with Nova Music Opera under George Vass includes stage direction of several contemporary operas, including Stephen McNeff's ''Prometheus Drown'd'' (2014, to Williams's libretto),

Charlotte Bray Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. She was championed by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London Sinfonietta and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been performed by many notable condu ...

and

Amy Rosenthal Amy Rosenthal (born 1974) is a British playwright from Muswell Hill, London. She is a recipient of ''The Sunday Times'' Drama Award. Biography Amy Rosenthal was born in 1974, the daughter of dramatist Jack Rosenthal and actress Maureen Lipman ...

's '' Entanglement'' (2015), and

Joseph Phibbs Joseph Phibbs (born 25 April 1974) is an English composer of orchestral, choral and chamber music. He has also composed for theatre, both in the UK and Japan. Since 1998 he has written regularly to commissions for Festivals (including for Chelten ...

and Laurie Slade's ''Juliana'' (2018).A. Clements, 'Juliana review - Miss Julie reworking makes for a convincing, effective new opera'
''The Guardian'', 17 July 2018

Publication

* ''Directing for the Stage'', Crowood Theatre Companions (Crowood Press 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Richard English theatre directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people