Gregory Doran

Last updated

Sir

Gregory Doran
Born
Gregory Doran

(1958-11-24) 24 November 1958 (age 65)
Huddersfield
Education Preston Catholic College
Bristol University
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupation(s)Theatre director, actor
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2015;died 2021)​

Sir Gregory Doran (born 24 November 1958) [1] is an English director known for his Shakespearean work. The Sunday Times called him 'one of the great Shakespearians of his generation'. [2]

Contents

Doran was artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), succeeding Michael Boyd in September 2012. In an interview, announcing his appointment, Doran said that whilst Boyd had concentrated on the 'Company', he would be concentrating on the 'Shakespeare' in the Royal Shakespeare Company logo. [3] Since April 2022 he is director emeritus at the Royal Shakespeare Company. [4]

His notable productions include a production of Macbeth starring Antony Sher, which was filmed for Channel 4 in 2001, [5] [6] as well as Hamlet in 2008, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart.

Early life and education

Doran was born in Huddersfield, but his family moved to Lancashire when he was six months old. [7] He was educated at St Pius X Catholic Preparatory School and Preston Catholic College. [8] He attended Bristol University studying English and Drama, where he set up his own theatre company with fellow student Chris Grady, presenting Shakespeare and related classics. He then trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

He received an honorary doctorate from Bristol University in July 2011 [9] and an Honorary Degree from the University of Warwick in July 2013. [10]

Career

Doran left the Bristol Old Vic School early having been invited to direct A Midsummer Night's Dream at Jamestown Community College in upstate New York. He then went to Nottingham Playhouse as an actor, before becoming Assistant Director then Associate Director, directing his own productions, including Waiting for Godot and Long Day's Journey into Night .

After a very brief acting career in TV, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987 initially as an actor (as Solanio in The Merchant of Venice and Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar ) then became Assistant Director the following season.

He directed his first RSC production in 1992, [11] commissioning Derek Walcott to write an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey which was performed at The Other Place.

In 1995 he directed his partner Antony Sher in the lead role of Titus Andronicus at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa. This controversial production, which toured to the National Theatre, is the subject of their book, Woza Shakespeare!

He returned to the RSC in 1996, becoming an Associate Director, and directing Jane Lapotaire, Ian Hogg and Paul Jesson in All is True (or Henry VIII), his first Shakespeare for the company. Since then, Doran has directed over half of Shakespeare's plays for the RSC.

Doran took compassionate leave from his role at the RSC in September 2021 to care for his husband, Antony Sher, who was terminally ill. His deputy, Erica Whyman, became acting artistic director. [12] The RSC announced Doran was formally stepping down as artistic director in April 2022, becoming artistic director emeritus until the end of 2023. [4]

TV and books

Doran contributed to Michael Wood's BBC series In Search of Shakespeare, and filmed a documentary for BBC Four, called A Midsummer Night's Dreaming.

In 2009, Doran's Shakespeare Almanac was published. [13] [14]

Personal life

He and frequent collaborator Sir Antony Sher had, when they entered into a civil partnership in 2005, been together since 1987. [15] They married 10 years after their civil partnership, on 30 December 2015. Sher died in December 2021. [16] [17]

Doran was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to the Arts. [18]

Theatre productions

RSC productions

YearProductionPlaywrightVenueNotes
1999 The Winter's Tale William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Timon of Athens William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Michael Pennington [19]
2000 Macbeth William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon also made into a Channel 4 film
2001 King John William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
2002 Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Harriet Walter and Nicholas le Prevost
Doran supervised a season of seldom-performed Jacobean plays, including the debatedly Shakespearean Edward III and works by Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, John Marston and George Chapman [11] which earned Doran a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement of the Year [20]
2003 Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre
2003 The Tamer Tamed John Fletcher Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with Alexandra Gilbreath and Jasper Britton [21]
2003 All's Well That Ends Well William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with Judi Dench whose first time back to the RSC after 25 years [22]
2004 Othello William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with Antony Sher and Sello Maake Ncube [23]
Venus & Adonis William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre Puppet based performance
2005 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre
2006 Antony and Cleopatra William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with Harriet Walter, and Patrick Stewart who both returned to the RSC after 24 years
Merry Wives The MusicalBased on the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Gregory Doran, music by Paul Englishby, lyrics by Ranjit Bolt Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Dame Judi Dench and Simon Callow
2007 Coriolanus William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Will Houston, Janet Suzman and Timothy West which toured to Madrid and Washington DC (the final production in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre before it closed for redevelopment, re-opening in winter 2010/11)
Venus & Adonis William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Revival of 2004 production
2008 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare Courtyard Theatre Revival of 2005 production
Hamlet William Shakespeare Courtyard Theatre with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, also transferred to the Novello Theatre and adapted into BBC 2009 film
Love's Labour's Lost William Shakespeare Courtyard Theatre
2011 Written on the Heart David Edgar Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Duchess Theatre

to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible.
2012 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre for the World Shakespeare Festival, which played in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, Moscow, New York and Ohio.
2012 The Orphan of Zhao Ji Junxiang Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
2013 Richard II William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Barbican Centre

with David Tennant
2014 Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Barbican Centre

The Witch of Edmonton William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with Eileen Atkins
2015 Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Noël Coward Theatre

with Antony Sher in the role of Willy Loman, Alex Hassell as Biff and Harriet Walter as Linda Loman.
Henry V William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre
2016 King Lear William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Antony Sher
The Tempest William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Simon Russell Beale
2017 Venus & Adonis William Shakespeare Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Revival of 2004 and 2007 productions
Imperium: The Cicero Plays Mike Poulton, based on the Cicero trilogy by Robert Harris Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Gielgud Theatre

2018 King Lear William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Antony Sher
Troilus and Cressida William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre
2019 The Boy in the Dress based on the novel by David Walliams, book by Mark Ravenhill, music and lyrics by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers Royal Shakespeare Theatre
2022 Richard III William Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Non-RSC

Doran has directed productions outside the RSC including:

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References

  1. ↑ "RSC director Greg Doran's Preston drama days". Preston Playhouse web site. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  2. ↑ The Shakespeare Almanac. Hutchinson. October 2009. ISBN   9780091926199 . Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "Interview with Gregory Doran". The Royal Shakespeare Company website. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 Murray, Jessica (22 April 2022). "Gregory Doran to step down after a decade as artistic director at RSC". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Who's Who in British Theatre: Gregory Doran". The Guardian . London. 6 July 2002. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  6. ↑ Macbeth at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  7. ↑ "Theatrical story of awards trio". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 15 November 2004. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  8. ↑ "Othello: The Director". Royal Shakespeare Company web site. Archived from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  9. ↑ "Honorary Graduates 2011". University of Bristol . Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "Warwick honorary degrees for stars of Gavin & Stacey & Hustle, RSC & Royal Court Artistic Directors, scientists, historians, philanthropist & a US government adviser". www2.warwick.ac.uk.
  11. 1 2 "Stratfordians". Archived from the original on 18 September 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  12. ↑ Wiegand, Chris (10 September 2021). "Gregory Doran takes leave from RSC to care for terminally ill Antony Sher". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Ten things you didn't know about Shakespeare". The Sunday Times (website only accessible to subscribers). 9 October 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  14. ↑ "In the paper". The Stage. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "The art of darkness". The Times . 30 August 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  16. ↑ "Antony Sher, celebrated actor on stage and screen, dies aged 72". The Guardian. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Obituary: Sir Antony Sher, a giant of the stage". BBC News. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  18. ↑ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N2.
  19. ↑ Taylor, Paul (25 August 1999). "First night Timon teams with a wealth of ideas". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  20. ↑ "Olivier Winners 2003". Official London Theatre Guide website. 25 April 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  21. ↑ "Review: The Taming of the Shrew / The Tamer Tamed – Michael Billington". Guardian. London. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  22. ↑ "Review: All's Well That Ends Well – Alastair Macaulay". Financial Times. 2003. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  23. ↑ Koenig, Rhoda (2004). "Othello, Swan Theatre, Stratford". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  24. ↑ "Gregory Doran to finally direct 36th play from Shakespeare's First Folio – for student production". The Guardian . 2 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
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