Fred Proud

Last updated

Fred Proud (born 20th century) is a British theatre director.

Education

He graduated from the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in London in 1967.[ citation needed ]

Career

Proud is the co-founder of the Soho Theatre Company, which he set up with his partner, the writer Verity Bargate, in 1969. [1] Known at the time as the Soho Poly Theatre, it won wide acclaim for its production of cutting-edge plays [2] establishing itself as a home of good acting and arresting texts, which ranged from modern English and American plays to Sheridan.

He was artistic director with the company for many years—initially at the Soho Theatre, 6a, New Compton Street, then for two seasons of plays at the King's Head, 199 Upper Street, and thereafter at the Soho Poly in Riding House Street. The Soho Poly was the starting point for many of the best-known actors, writers, designers, and directors still working today. It was especially important in showcasing women in the theatre.

Proud continued directing at venues including the Ludlow Festival, Greenwich Theatre and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. He returned to the Riding House Street space when it was revived by the University of Westminster, helping with the restoration and giving poetry readings and talks.

In 2018, Proud directed a staged reading of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s play One Autumn Evening , starring Peter Marinker, Paul Alexander, James Sanderson and Poppy Abbott to mark exactly fifty years since the Soho Theatre was founded. This play was the first-ever production by the company, performed at London's Open Space Theatre in 1968.

Proud puts his verse-speaking skills to good use on his YouTube channel (Fred Proud@Caspar33).

Retirement

Now retired, Proud divides his time between London and Minas Gerais in Brazil. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live Theatre Company</span> Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Live Theatre, formerly Live Theatre Company, is a new writing theatre and company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As well as producing and presenting new plays many of which go on to tour nationally and internationally, it seeks out and nurtures creative talent and runs a large education programme for young people.

James David Sharman is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director since the 1960s, and is best known internationally as the director of the 1973 theatrical hit The Rocky Horror Show, its film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and the film's follow-up, Shock Treatment (1981).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Spencer</span> English writer and artist (1933–2023)

Colin Spencer was an English writer and artist who produced a prolific body of work in a wide variety of media after his first published short stories and drawings appeared in The London Magazine and Encounter when he was 22. His work included novels, short stories, non-fiction, vegetarian cookery books, stage and television plays, paintings and drawings, book and magazine illustrations. He wrote and presented a television documentary on vandalism, appeared in numerous radio and television programmes and lectured on food history, literature and social issues. For fourteen years he wrote a regular food column for The Guardian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soho Theatre</span> Theatre in Soho, London, England

The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soho Repertory Theatre</span> American Off-Broadway theater company

The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep, is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for producing avant-garde plays by contemporary writers. The company, described as a "cultural pillar", is currently located in a 65-seat theatre in the TriBeCa section of lower Manhattan. The company, and the projects it has produced, have won multiple prizes and earned critical acclaim, including numerous Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Drama Critics' Circle Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. A recent highlight was winning the Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement for "nearly four decades of artistic distinction, innovative production, and provocative play selection."

Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart "Max" Stafford-Clark is a British theatre director.

Nancy Meckler is an American born director, known for her innovative approach to theatre, specifically her work in the United Kingdom with Shared Experience, where she was a joint artistic director alongside Polly Teale. Educated in both the USA and England, she has directed for a number of prominent theatres, including the Globe Theatre, the Royal National Theatre, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also directed feature films such as Sister My Sister, and Alive and Kicking/Indian Summer.

Tony McHale is a British actor, writer, director and producer, who is known for starring in Coronation Street and also known as a "stooge" to Jeremy Beadle on Game For A Laugh and later Beadle's About. He trained at the Rose Bruford College. He also enjoyed a long stint as a writer/story consultant/director on the top rated BBC1 soap opera EastEnders from its conception to the mid 1990s. He co-created BBC medical drama Holby City, and served as its executive producer and showrunner from 2007 to 2010. McHale also served as a core writer on numerous other TV dramas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Files</span> Australian-Canadian actor, theatre director and radio writer

Gary Files is an Australian-Canadian actor, theatre director and radio writer who has worked in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Resident in Australia since 1976, Files is noted for the accentual versatility of his radio-based voice acting.

Portable Theatre Company was a writer-led company that toured alternative arts venues in the UK between 1968 -1973. Their aim was to present original and provocative new writing that challenged the staid mediocrity of mainstream theatre.

Glenn Chandler is a Scottish playwright, novelist, producer and theatre director. He has written plays for theatre and radio, original screenplays for television and films, television series, and also novels. His best known work is the Scottish television detective series Taggart, which was commissioned by Scottish Television for the ITV Network from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010, and which continues to be broadcast around the world. Since the completion of Taggart in 2010, Glenn Chandler has focused on writing for the theatre, with a consistent run of productions in both London and Edinburgh.

Mark Anthony Dornford-May is a British theatre and film director, now based in South Africa.

Oakley "Tad" Hall III was an American playwright, director, and author. The co-founder and first artistic director of Lexington Conservatory Theatre, in 1978 he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall from a bridge; he spent decades in recovery and in the process of creating a new life. He is the subject of the 2004 documentary The Loss of Nameless Things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Dennis</span> Canadian actor

Charles Dennis is a Canadian actor, playwright, journalist, author, director, and screenwriter.

Matthew Charman is a British screenwriter, playwright, and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his 2015 film Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg and co-written with Joel and Ethan Coen. Charman started out writing for theatre, making a breakthrough as writer-in-residence at the National Theatre in London, where then-director Nicholas Hytner described Charman as having "a priceless nose for a story".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Henry</span>

Stephen Henry is a British stage director, a theatre producer, and an educator.

Verity Eileen Bargate (1940–1981) was an English novelist and theatre director.

Tom Harvey MBE is a BAFTA winning creative entrepreneur and writer.

Lisa Goldman is a British theatre director, dramaturg, writer and author. She was Artistic Director and joint Chief Executive of Soho Theatre (2006–10) and The Red Room Theatre Company which she founded (1995-2006). In 2008 Lisa was included in the London Evening Standard’s ‘Influentials’ list as one of the 1000 most influential people in London.

Vincent O'Connell is a British filmmaker and writer of films, theatre, television and radio drama. His films as director include the 1995 film Skin, starring Ewen Bremner, written by Sarah Kane, and his 2000 film, Beyond the Boundary, which won a British Academy Children's Award. His feature films as a writer include I.D. and ID2: Shadwell Army, other full-length films as writer including Sweet Nothing and Criminal, both for the BBC. Criminal won 1993 Best Single Drama at the Royal Television Society.

References

  1. Soho Poly Festival
  2. Time Out article, 1975
  3. Morrison, M. (2017). The Soho Theatre, 1968-1981. London: The Society for Theatre Research.