British theatre director (born 1958)
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]
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
Year
Production
Playwright
Venue
Notes
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 Musical
Based 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:
The
York Mystery Plays in the Millennium production in
York Minster , 2000
The Real Inspector Hound and Black Comedy , 1998, Comedy Theatre, London
Mahler's Conversion by Ronald Harwood, Aldwych Theatre, London
The Giant by Antony Sher, Hampstead Theatre, London
Anjin: the English Samurai by Mike Poulton
The Merchant of Venice , Galaxy Theatre, Tokyo
The Two Gentlemen of Verona ,
Oxford Playhouse , Oxford, 2024
[24]
References
^
"RSC director Greg Doran's Preston drama days" . Preston Playhouse web site . Archived from
the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2008 .
^
The Shakespeare Almanac . Hutchinson. October 2009.
ISBN
9780091926199 . Retrieved 21 February 2011 .
^
"Interview with Gregory Doran" . The Royal Shakespeare Company website . Archived from
the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012 .
^
a
b Murray, Jessica (22 April 2022).
"Gregory Doran to step down after a decade as artistic director at RSC" . The Guardian . Retrieved 24 April 2022 .
^
"Who's Who in British Theatre: Gregory Doran" .
The Guardian . London. 6 July 2002. Retrieved 29 October 2008 .
^
Macbeth at
IMDb
^
"Theatrical story of awards trio" . Huddersfield Daily Examiner . 15 November 2004. Retrieved 21 February 2011 .
^
"Othello: The Director" .
Royal Shakespeare Company web site . Archived from
the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007 .
^
"Honorary Graduates 2011" .
University of Bristol . Retrieved 22 August 2011 .
^
"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 .
^
a
b
"Stratfordians" . Archived from
the original on 18 September 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2016 .
^ Wiegand, Chris (10 September 2021).
"Gregory Doran takes leave from RSC to care for terminally ill Antony Sher" . The Guardian . Retrieved 10 September 2021 .
^
"Ten things you didn't know about Shakespeare" . The Sunday Times (website only accessible to subscribers) . 9 October 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^
"In the paper" . The Stage . 29 October 2009. Archived from
the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^
"The art of darkness" .
The Times . 30 August 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^
"Antony Sher, celebrated actor on stage and screen, dies aged 72" . The Guardian . 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021 .
^
"Obituary: Sir Antony Sher, a giant of the stage" . BBC News . 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021 .
^
"No. 64269" .
The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N2.
^ Taylor, Paul (25 August 1999).
"First night Timon teams with a wealth of ideas" . The Independent . London. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^
"Olivier Winners 2003" . Official London Theatre Guide website . 25 April 2008. Archived from
the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008 .
^
"Review: The Taming of the Shrew / The Tamer Tamed – Michael Billington" . Guardian . London. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^
"Review: All's Well That Ends Well – Alastair Macaulay" . Financial Times . 2003. Archived from
the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^ Koenig, Rhoda (2004).
"Othello, Swan Theatre, Stratford" . The Independent . London. Retrieved 23 March 2011 .
^
"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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