Trevor Nunn
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[edit] Introduction and Personal Life
Sir Trevor Nunn CBE (born 14 January, 1940) is an English theatre and film director. He has held both the posts of Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Director of the Royal National Theatre, following in the footsteps of Sir Peter Hall. He was knighted in 2002. He was born in Ipswich, England and educated at Downing College, Cambridge, where he began his stage career before becoming a trainee director at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.
[edit] Career
In 1968, he was appointed Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a position he held until 1986. His first wife, Janet Suzman, appeared in many of his productions. Nunn became a leading figure in theatrical circles, and was responsible for many ground-breaking productions, such as the RSC's version of Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, co-directed with John Caird. A very successful director of musicals, in the non-subsidised sector, Nunn was responsible for Cats (1981), formerly the longest running musical in Broadway's history, and the first English production of Les Misérables in 1985, also with John Caird.
He has also directed opera at Glyndebourne, and began directing for television with Antony and Cleopatra (starring Suzman) in 1974. He re-staged his highly successful Gyndebourne production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for television in 1993, and it was more favorably received than the 1959 Samuel Goldwyn - Otto Preminger film version of the opera. He has occasionally ventured into film directing, such as Lady Jane (1986), Hedda, an adaptation of Hedda Gabler, and a 1996 film version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. He is currently married to actress Imogen Stubbs, whose play We Happy Few he directed, and who often appears in his productions, including the Twelfth Night mentioned above.
Nunn is known for his direction of world renowned musicals including Starlight Express and Sunset Boulevard. His current London production Les Miserables, has been running for nearly 22 years, whilst recent London credits include My Fair Lady, The Woman In White, Othello and Acorn Antiques, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Rock 'N' Roll (starring Alice Eve, Sinead Cusack, Brian Cox and Rufus Sewell) and Porgy and Bess (an abridged version with dialogue instead of recitatives, unlike Nunn's first production of the opera).
In 2004, Nunn created a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. This performance starred Ben Whishaw, and it took place at the Old Vic Theater in London, England.
New productions currently playing in Stratford include his RSC productions of King Lear and The Seagull. They embarked on a world tour before playing at the New London Theatre from November 2007. The two plays both starred Ian McKellen, Romola Garai, Frances Barber, Sylvester McCoy, and William Gaunt.
Nunn's latest project, a musical adaptation of Gone With the Wind will open at the same theatre from March 2008.
Prior to this, Nunn will be returning to The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry (the theatre where he started his career) to direct Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage starring Imogen Stubbs and Iain Glen.
[edit] Trivia
When Nunn spoke out against the use of the term "luvvie" in Britain, which he regarded as insulting to thespians, Private Eye took to calling its Luvvies section Trevvies.
[edit] External links
[edit] Further discussion
| Cultural offices | ||
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| Preceded by Sir Richard Eyre | Director of the National Theatre 1997–2003 | Succeeded by Nicholas Hytner |
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