Peter Hall (director)
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall ( born November 22, 1930 in Bury St. Edmunds, England ) is a British theater and film director.
Life and work
Hall was born in Bury St Edmunds, England and went to Cambridge to school. Hall learned Russian during his army service. While studying at the University of Cambridge, in the 1953 he got his degree, he played and directed in several plays. In 1953, he also staged his first play on a professional stage, the Theatre Royal in Windsor. From 1954 to 1955 he was engaged at the Oxford Playhouse and at the Arts Theatre Club in London. In August 1955, he staged at the Arts, the English-language premiere of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. From 1956 to 1959 he lead the theater. In the seasons 1956 to 1960 he was in Stratford- upon- Avon and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. His productions have included here Cymbeline with Peggy Ashcroft; Coriolanus with Laurence Olivier and A Midsummer Night's Dream with Charles Laughton.
Hall is best known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which he founded at the age of 29 years in 1960. He was its artistic director until 1968. Afterwards he was seen from 1973 to 1988 director of the Royal National Theatre and was Maximilian Schell's 1973 award-winning film The pedestrian in a supporting role. In 1974 he played the male lead in the film adaptation of Eric Malpass - As the mother went on strike. During this time he moved to the newly built theater on the South Bank with the ensemble. He was a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain. From both positions he resigned in protest against the cuts in public funding. After leaving the National Theatre, he founded his own Company, the Peter Hall Company, with whom he staged a series of plays at the Old Vic.
Hall has directed at many of the leading opera houses, including the Royal Opera House London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, in Bayreuth ( one of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung ), at the Houston Grand Opera and in Geneva.
His latest project is The Rose of Kingston in Kingston upon Thames, which "Uncle Vanya", a production staged the Hall itself in January 2008 with Chekhov, was opened. However, Hall came directly after in favor of Stephen Unwin as artistic director back. The Rose Theatre draws its inspiration from the eponymous theater from Shakespeare's time, which was as much as the Globe Theatre to the most important of his time.
In 1963 he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE ); In 1977 he was knighted for Sir for his services to the theater. In 1999 he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award. He was appointed in 2000 to the Chancellor of Kingston University. 2006, the University of Bath awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Hall was married four times, including to actress Leslie Caron and the opera singer Maria Ewing. With Ewing he has the daughter Rebecca Hall ( b. 1982 ), who works as an actress and appeared several times under his direction. From his 2.Ehe the director Edward Hall dates (* 1967).
Presentations (selection)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare in 1962, RSC
- The War of the Roses ( Wars of the Roses), adaptation v. Henry VI. Part 1-3 and Richard III. by William Shakespeare 1963-1964, RSC
- The Homecoming by Harold Pinter in 1965, RSC
- Moses und Aron by Arnold Schoenberg in 1965, The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London
- The Magic Flute by Mozart in 1966, The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare in 1967, RSC
- The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart in 1973, Glyndebourne
- Fidelio by Beethoven in 1979, Glyndebourne
- The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner in 1983, Bayreuth
- The Magic Flute by Mozart in 1992, Los Angeles Opera House
- The Seagull by Anton Chekhov in 1997, Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic London