Deborah Warner

Last updated

Deborah Warner
CBE
Deborah Warner .jpg
Born (1959-05-12) 12 May 1959 (age 66)
Oxfordshire, England
Alma mater Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation Theatre director
Years active1980–present

Deborah Warner CBE (born 12 May 1959) is a British director of theatre and opera, known for her interpretations of the works of Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Benjamin Britten, and Henrik Ibsen, and for her collaborations with Irish actress Fiona Shaw.

Contents

Early life and education

Warner was born on 12 May 1959 in Oxford, England, to antiquarians Roger Harold Metford Warner and Ruth Ernestine Hurcombe. [1] [2]

After attending Sidcot School and St Clare's, Oxford, she studied Stage Management at Central School of Speech and Drama. [3] [2]

In 1980 she founded the KICK theatre company when she was 21. [4]

Career

Warner's ENO production of Handel's Messiah (London Coliseum, 2009) Deborah Warner's production of Handel's Messiah for the ENO.jpg
Warner's ENO production of Handel's Messiah (London Coliseum, 2009)

Warner has since the 1980s worked in close creative partnership with the actor Fiona Shaw, developing a wide range of projects that have been seen throughout Europe and the United States. The Sunday Times ' critic John Peter wrote of their vision of Richard II that "Warner and Shaw are not being either fashionable or reactionary ... They are making theatre that is an adventure, a journey of the mind, a discovery of other ages, other countries, other people, other minds." [5] Warner has also enjoyed long-term collaborations with the designers Jean Kalman  [ de ], Hildegard Bechtler, Chloé Obolensky  [ de ], Tom Pye, the composer Mel Mercier  [ de ] and the choreographer Kim Brandstrup.

Although the majority of her work has focused on major classics of spoken drama and opera, she has also experimented with the performance of poetry ( The Waste Land , Readings) and the staging of oratorios ( St John Passion , Messiah ), as well as installations (The St Pancras and Angel projects, Peace Camp). She has made relatively few excursions into new work (Jeanette Winterson's The Powerbook (2002), Tansy Davies' 2015 opera Between Worlds and The Testament of Mary being exceptions) or comedy ( The School for Scandal ), and although she has made much creative use of video on stage, she has directed little for film and television.

Her first creations for Kick, a company that she started and managed, were deeply influenced by the example of Peter Brook and his belief that the performer must always be at the centre of the event. "I'm not sure I would have been in any way conscious of the potency of theatre if I hadn't seen his work", she said in an interview with Vogue in July 1994. Other figures important in her formative years include Peter Stein, who commissioned her production of Coriolanus at the Salzburg Festival, and Nicholas Payne and Anthony Whitworth-Jones who commissioned her first essays in opera, at Opera North and Glyndebourne respectively.

Although she has refused to subscribe to a programmatic feminism or a political ideology, her work has often explored issues of gender, notably in her ground-breaking casting of Fiona Shaw as Shakespeare's Richard II. She was also the first woman director to be given sole charge of a production in the main house of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Theatre

In 1987 Warner joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she directed Titus Andronicus and where she also began her long-time collaboration with Fiona Shaw.[ citation needed ] Warner and Shaw have collaborated on many plays, including Electra (RSC); The Good Person of Sezuan (1989, National Theatre); Hedda Gabler (1991, The Abbey Theatre and BBC2); the controversial Richard II , with Shaw in the title role, also at the National Theatre (1995) and televised by BBC2; Footfalls, whose radical staging so enraged the Beckett estate that the production was pulled during its run; The PowerBook, at the National Theatre, a dramatisation of Jeanette Winterson's novel; Medea (2000–2001, Queen's Theatre and Broadway); and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar , in which Shaw played the small part of Portia. The production starred Ralph Fiennes and Simon Russell Beale; first staged at the Barbican Centre, it later toured Europe.[ citation needed ]

Shaw and Warner toured the world with T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land , which began in Wilton's Music Hall in London's East End [ citation needed ]. Her work began to focus on the link of drama to places, a theme which was expanded upon in her Angel Project.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, following negotiations with the Beckett estate, Warner directed Shaw in Happy Days at the National Theatre, which toured internationally including at the ancient amphitheatre at Epidaurus in Greece and Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, followed in 2009 by Mother Courage and Her Children (with Shaw in the title role) at the Olivier Theatre at the National.[ citation needed ]

She returned to the Barbican Centre in 2011 to direct The School for Scandal .[ citation needed ]

Opera and classical music

Warner has also worked extensively in field of opera and classical music, including a production of The Diary of One Who Disappeared by Janáček starring Ian Bostridge; a staging of the St John Passion at English National Opera; a controversial staging of Mozart's Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne; [3] [6] Wozzeck for Opera North; Death in Venice and Tansy Davies' Between Worlds at English National Opera; and Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Les Arts Florissants in Vienna, Paris, and Amsterdam.[ citation needed ]

Other notable productions include opening the 2015/15 season at La Scala, Milan, with Fidelio conducted by Daniel Barenboim and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the 2013/2014 season.[ citation needed ]

She frequently collaborates with Canadian set designer Michael Levine. [7]

Film

Warner directed the 1999 film The Last September , starring Michael Gambon and Maggie Smith.[ citation needed ]

Recognition and awards

Awards

Nominations

Plays and operas

YearWorkPlace
1980 The Good Person of Szechwan Kick Theatre Company: Oxford
1981 Woyzeck Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
1982WoyzeckKick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
1983 The Tempest Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
1984 Measure for Measure Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
1984The Tempest Contact Theatre, Manchester
1985Measure for MeasureKick Theatre Company: Glasgow Mayfest; Hemel Hempstead; British Council tour, Israel Festival; Bridge Lane Theatre, London; Wells-next-the Sea
1985 King Lear Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe; Almeida Theatre, London; British Council tour, Yugoslavia and Egypt
1986 Coriolanus Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe; Almeida Theatre, London
1987 Titus Andronicus Royal Shakespeare Company: The Swan, Stratford
1987The Tempest British Council tour, Bangladesh
1988 King John Royal Shakespeare Company: The Other Place, Stratford
1988 Electra Royal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London
1988Titus AndronicusRoyal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London
1989Titus AndronicusRoyal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London; Madrid; Bouffes du Nord, Paris; Copenhagen; Aarhus
1989King JohnRoyal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London
1989The Good Person of Szechwan National Theatre, London
1990King LearNational Theatre, London: Tokyo; Nottingham; Cardiff; Leeds; Belfast; Schauspielhaus, Hamburg; Teatro Lirico, Milan; Odéon, Paris; Cork Opera House; Cairo Opera House
1991King LearNational Theatre, London; National Theatre (Prague); National Theatre Bucharest; Schauspielhaus, Leipzig; Edinburgh
1991 Hedda Gabler Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Playhouse Theatre, London
1991 Electra Royal Shakespeare Company / Thelma Holt: MC 93 Bobigny, Paris; Derry; Tramway, Glasgow; Bradford
1993 Wozzeck Opera North; Leeds; Manchester; Nottingham; Hull; Sheffield
1993 Coriolanus Salzburg Festival: Felsenreitschule
1993Hedda Gabler BBC
1994 Don Giovanni Glyndebourne
1994 Footfalls Garrick Theatre, London
1994 Coriolanus Salzburg Festival: Felsenreitschule
1995 Richard II National Theatre, London
1995 The Waste Land Kunsten Festival, Brussels; Dublin Theatre Festival
1995Don GiovanniGlyndebourne
1995The St Pancras ProjectSt Pancras Chambers, London
1996Richard II MC93 Bobigny and Pernel Insel, Salzburg Festival
1996The Waste Land École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris; Gooderham and Worts Factory, Toronto; Rialto Cinema, Montreal; Liberty Theatre, New York
1996 Wozzeck Opera North: Leeds, Manchester; Nottingham; Hull; and Sheffield
1997Richard IIFilm
1997The Waste Land Liberty Theatre, New York; Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork; Wilton's Music Hall, London
1997 Jeanne d'Arc au Bucher BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, London
1997 The Turn of the Screw Royal Opera: Barbican Centre, London
1997Une Maison de Poupée Théâtre de l'Odéon, Paris
1998The Waste LandWilton's Music Hall, London; MC93 Bobigny, Paris; Royalty Theatre, Adelaide; Brighton Festival
1998The Turn of the ScrewRoyal Opera: MC 93 Bobigny, Paris
1999 The Last September Film
1999 The Diary of One Who Disappeared English National Opera: Coliseum, London; Dublin Theatre Festival; MC 93 Bobigny, Paris
1999The Angel Project London International Festival of Theatre
1999The Diary of One Who DisappearedEnglish National Opera: National Theatre, London
2000The Angel Project Perth International Arts Festival
2000The Waste LandHis Majesty's Theatre, Perth
2000 Medea Abbey Theatre, Dublin
2000 St John Passion English National Opera; London Coliseum
2000The Diary of One Who DisappearedEnglish National Opera: Stadsschouwburg, Holland Festival; Musiktheater, Munich
2001The Waste Land Bergen International Festival
2001MedeaQueen's Theatre, London
2001The Diary of One Who DisappearedEnglish National Opera: Lincoln Center, New York
2001 Fidelio Glyndebourne: BBC Proms, Woking; Norwich; Milton Keynes; Plymouth; Oxford; Stoke-on-Trent
2002The Power BookNational Theatre, London
2002Fidelio Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris
2002The Turn of the ScrewRoyal Opera House, London
2002MedeaAbbey Theatre and Extremetaste: Brooklyn Academy of Music; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Wilbur Theatre, Boston; Kennedy Center, Washington DC; Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley
2003MedeaBrooks Atkinson Theatre, New York; Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris
2003The Angel ProjectLincoln Center Festival, New York
2003The Power BookNational Theatre: Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris; RomaEuropa, Rome
2004Small WonderCharleston Festival
2004 The Rape of Lucretia Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich
2005 Julius Caesar Barbican Theatre, London; Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris; Teatro Espanol, Madrid; Luxembourg
2005ReadingsThéâtre de Chaillot, Paris
2006 Dido and Aeneas Wiener Festwochen, Vienna
2006 La voix humaine Opera North: Leeds; Salford; Nottingham; Sadler's Wells, London; Newcastle
2006ReadingsSala Umberto, RomaEuropa Festival
2007 Happy Days National Theatre, London: Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris; Epidavros; Abbey Theatre, Dublin; Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
2007 Death in Venice English National Opera: London Coliseum
2007Readings Holland Festival, Amsterdam
2008Dido and Aeneas Opéra Comique, Paris
2009 Mother Courage and Her Children National Theatre, London
2009The Waste Land Wilton's Music Hall, London
2009Death in Venice La Monnaie, Brussels
2009Dido and Aeneas Wiener Festwochen, Vienna and Netherlands Opera, Amsterdam
2009 Messiah English National Opera: London Coliseum
2010The Waste LandMadrid Festival
2011Death in Venice Teatro alla Scala, Milan
2011 Eugene Onegin English National Opera: London Coliseum
2011 The School for Scandal Barbican Theatre
2012Dido and AeneasOpéra Comique, Paris
2012 La traviata Wiener Festwochen, Vienna
2012 Messiah Opéra de Lyon
2012Peace Camp London 2012 Cultural Olympics, UK: Cuckmere Haven, Sussex; Godrevy, Cornwall; Camaes, Anglesey; White Park Bay, Co Antrim; Mussenden Temple, Co Londonderry; Valtos, Isle of Lewis; Fort Diddes, Aberdeenshire; Dusntanburgh, Northumberland
2013 The Testament of Mary Walter Kerr Theatre, New York
2013 Eugene Onegin Metropolitan Opera, New York
2014The Testament of MaryBarbican Theatre, London
2014FidelioTeatro alla Scala, Milan
2015Between WorldsEnglish National Opera: Barbican Theatre, London
2016The Tempest (Der Sturm) Salzburg Festival: Perner Insel
2016King Lear The Old Vic, London
2017 Billy Budd Teatro Real, Madrid
2017The Testament of MaryComédie-Francaise: Odéon, Paris
2017 Eugene Onegin Metropolitan Opera, New York
2018Billy Budd Teatro Costanzi, Rome
2018FidelioTeatro alla Scala, Milan
2018La TraviataThéâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris
2023 Peter Grimes Opéra national de Paris, Paris
2023Wozzeck The Royal Opera House, London

References

  1. "Deborah Warner Biography". Film Reference. 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Warner, Deborah (1959–)". Encyclopedia.com. 12 May 1959. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Profile: Disturbing the picnic: Deborah Warner: The director who shocked Glyndebourne is bold, emotional but no iconoclast, says Geraldine Bedell" by Geraldine Bedell, The Independent , 17 July 1994
  4. "Deborah Warner". Hollywood.com. 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  5. Nightingale, Benedict (18 April 2005). "Deborah Warner" . The Sunday Times . Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. "A catalogue of unspeakable acts: In Deborah Warner's staging, Don Giovanni's sexual conquests only just stop short of sacrilege. No wonder it upset a few of the Glyndebourne faithful. Edward Seckerson heard the catcalls" by Edward Seckerson, The Independent , 12 July 1994
  7. Bach Track: "Billy Budd in Madrid", retrieved 1 November 2016 Archived 29 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "No. 58014". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2006. p. 8.