 | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(February 2019) |
Timothy Sheader (born 23 November 1971 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire) is a British theatre director. Sheader read Law with French at the University of Birmingham [1] before moving into a career in theatre. He has been Artistic Director at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre from 2007 to 2024. He became Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in 2024.
Sheader started his theatrical career as a Trainee Director at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond before becoming an Assistant Director with the Royal Shakespeare Company for two years. [2] Subsequent to his previous directorial work at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in 2005, he was appointed Artistic Director for the venue in November 2007, being responsible for productions from the 2008 season. [3]
Under Sheader’s tenure Open Air Theatre productions have won seven Olivier Awards, three Evening Standard Awards and six WhatsOnStage Awards.
In 2008, A Midsummer Night’s Dream re-imagined for everyone aged six and over was the first of many successful Shakespeare plays specially adapted for younger audiences.
In 2009, The Importance of Being Earnest was introduced as the first non-Shakespeare play to be produced at the theatre for several years.
His directorial successes at Regent’s Park include: Hello, Dolly! (2009) which won three Olivier Awards, including Best Musical Revival, Into the Woods (2010) which transferred to New York, Crazy For You (2011) which was a double Olivier Award-winner and transferred to the West End, and To Kill a Mockingbird (2013/14) which went on tour in the UK, ending at the Barbican in mid-2015.
Jesus Christ Superstar (2016) won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and Evening Standard Award for Best Musical, and returned to the Open Air Theatre for an extended engagement in 2017 ahead of a run at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in spring 2018. It then played a season at the Barbican Theatre in 2019, ahead of a North American Tour, and in the summer of 2020 it was reconceived as Jesus Christ Superstar: The Concert. This was the first West End production to re-open during the coronavirus pandemic.
In June 2023, it was announced [4] that Sheader would be leaving Regent's Park in March 2024 to take over as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse.
| Year | Production |
|---|---|
2005* | Twelfth Night |
2008 | Romeo and Juliet |
2009 | Hello, Dolly! |
2010 | The Crucible |
2011 | Crazy For You |
2012 | Into the Woods New York (co-director) |
2013 | To Kill a Mockingbird |
2014 | To Kill a Mockingbird |
2015 | Lord of the Flies (& Tour) (co-director) |
2016 | Jesus Christ Superstar |
2017 | Running Wild Tour (co-director) |
2018 | J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan (co-director) |
2019 | Jesus Christ Superstar Barbican |
2020 | Jesus Christ Superstar: The Concert |
2021 | Carousel |
2022 | 101 Dalmations |
2023 | La Cage aux Folles |
* Prior to his appointment as Artistic Director in 2007.
In 2013 Sheader worked with the Chichester Festival Theatre to direct a new production of Barnum , starring Christopher Fitzgerald. The previous year he directed The Magistrate at London's National Theatre starring John Lithgow. At the beginning of 2015 he directed My Fair Lady at the Aarhus Teater in Denmark.
Other productions that Sheader has directed include Imagine This (New London); Hobson's Choice, The Clandestine Marriage , Love in a Maze (Watermill Theatre); Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella , The Three Musketeers (Bristol Old Vic); The Star Throwers, Unless (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough); Misconceptions (Derby Playhouse); Streetcar to Tennessee (Young Vic); Achilles (Edinburgh Fringe First); Wild, Wild Women (Orange Tree); Arms and the Man (National Tour) Piaf, Sweet Charity (Sheffield Crucible). [5] 2018 also saw Sheader's Jesus Christ Superstar play at Chicago's Lyric Opera. [6] In 2019, Sheader made his Royal Opera House debut, directing the World Premiere of The Monstrous Child [7] at the Royal Opera House.
Jesus Christ Superstar is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centered on Judas, who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Contemporary attitudes, sensibilities and slang pervade the rock opera's lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional anachronisms.
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London.
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Matthew Warchus is an English theatre director, filmmaker and dramaturg. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015.
Jenna Russell is an English actress and singer. She has appeared on the stage in London in both musicals and dramas, as well as appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She performed the role of Dot in Sunday in the Park with George in the West End and on Broadway, receiving the Tony Award nomination and the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role. She has also appeared in several television series, including Born and Bred and EastEnders.
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2005 he was Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres.
Marilyn J. "Lynn" Farleigh is an English actress of stage and screen.
Michael Howell Blakemore AO OBE was an Australian actor, writer and theatre director who also made a handful of films. A former Associate Director of the National Theatre, in 2000 he became the only individual to win Tony Awards for Best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year for Copenhagen and Kiss Me, Kate.
John Newport Caird is an English stage director and writer of plays, musicals and operas. He is an honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, was for many years a regular director with the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain and is the principal guest director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm (Dramaten).
Thelma Holt is a British theatre producer and former actress.
Hugh Vanstone is one of the UK’s foremost lighting designers. He has lit more than 160 productions, working in all spheres of live performance lighting, as well as exhibitions and architectural projects. His career has taken him all over the world and his work has been recognised with many awards, including a Tony Award for his lighting of Matilda the Musical, and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design in 1999, 2001 and 2004.
William Dudley is a British theatre designer.
Samantha Spiro is an English actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Barbara Windsor in the stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and the television films Cor, Blimey! and Babs, DI Vivien Friend in M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, Melessa Tarly in the HBO series Game of Thrones and Maureen Groff in Sex Education. She has won two Laurence Olivier Awards.
Sean Holmes is a British theatre director and former Artistic Director of Lyric Hammersmith.
Laura Donnelly is a Northern Irish actress. She is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. On television, she is known for her roles in the Starz series Outlander (2014–2017), the ITV series Beowulf (2016), and the HBO series The Nevers (2021–2023).
The 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on 20 November 2011. The shortlist was revealed on 7 November 2011 and the longlist on 19 October 2011.
The 2010 Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on 29 November 2010. The shortlist was revealed on 22 November 2010 and the longlist on 25 October 2010.
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on November 24, 2008. The longlist was revealed on November 4, 2008 and the shortlist on November 7, 2008.
The WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are a fan-driven set of awards organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com, based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions of English theatre, with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.
The 2020 Laurence Olivier Awards was held on 25 October 2020 at the London Palladium and hosted by Jason Manford, who presented all of the awards except Special Recognition.