Josie Rourke
Josie Rourke is an English theatre and film director. She is a vice-president of the London Library, and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut with the Academy Award- and BAFTA-nominated historical drama ''Mary Queen of Scots (2018 film), Mary Queen of Scots'', starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. Early life and education Josie Rourke was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. She attended St Mary's RC Primary School, Swinton, St Gilbert's RC Primary School, Winton, St Patrick's Roman Catholic High School, St Patrick's RC Secondary School, Eccles, and Eccles College of Further Education. Rourke was the first person in the history of her school to attend Cambridge University, where she studied English at New Hall, now Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, Murray Edwards College. She began directing for theatre at Cambridge and, amongst other credits, was the first woman ever to direct the Footlights ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mary Queen Of Scots (2018 Film)
''Mary Queen of Scots'' is a 2018 historical drama film directed by Josie Rourke (in her feature directorial debut) and with a screenplay by Beau Willimon based on John Guy (historian), John Guy's 2004 biography ''Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart''. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots, and Margot Robbie as her paternal first cousin once removed Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I. Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, David Tennant, and Guy Pearce also star in supporting roles. ''Mary Queen of Scots'' had its world premiere on closing night of AFI Fest on 15 November 2018, was released in the United States on 7 December 2018, and in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2019. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for the performances (particularly Robbie) and costumes, but was criticised for the screenplay and several historical inaccuracies. The film received three nominations at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards, and two nominations, for Academy Award for Best C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 British Academy Television Awards, BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance. Ayoade was president of the Footlights club whilst a student at the University of Cambridge. He and Matthew Holness debuted their respective characters Dean Learner and Garth Marenghi at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000, bringing the characters to television with ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' (2004) and ''Man to Man with Dean Learner'' (2006). He appeared in the comedy shows ''The Mighty Boosh (TV series), The Mighty Boosh'' (2004–2007) and ''Nathan Barley'' (2005). After directing music videos for Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, he wrote and directed the comedy-drama film ''Submarine (2010 film), Submarine'' (2010), an adaptati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nicholas Hytner
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner ( ; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include ''Miss Saigon'', '' The History Boys'' and '' One Man, Two Guvnors''. He is also known for directing films such as '' The Madness of King George'' (1994), ''The Crucible'' (1996), '' The History Boys'' (2006), and '' The Lady in the Van'' (2015). Hytner was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II. Early life and education Hytner was born in the prosperous suburbs of south Manchester in 1956,Andrew Dickson"A life in theatre: Nicholas Hytner" ''The Guardian'', 16 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2012. to barrister Benet Hytner and his wife, Joyce.Paul Harris"A Knight At The Theater – But Just Call Him Nick" ''Jewish Telegraph ''. Retrieved 28 October 2012. He is the eldest child of four, and has described his upbr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
''Merrily We Roll Along'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The show tells the story of how three friends' lives and friendship devolve over the course of 20 years; it focuses particularly on Franklin Shepard, a talented composer of musicals who, over those 20 years, abandons his friends and songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood movies. Like the play on which it is based, the show's story moves in reverse chronology, beginning in 1976 at the friends' lowest moment and ending in 1957, at their youthful best. ''Merrily'' premiered on Broadway on November 16, 1981, in a production directed by frequent Sondheim collaborator Hal Prince, with a cast almost exclusively of teenagers and young adults. However, the show was not the success the previous Sondheim–Prince collaborations had been: after a chaotic series of preview performan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Passion Play
The Passion Play or Easter pageant is a dramatic Play (theatre), presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus: his Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus, trial, suffering and death. The viewing of and participation in Passion Plays is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in the Catholic Church, Catholic and Evangelicalism, Evangelical traditions; as such, Passion Plays are often ecumenical Christian productions. Passion Plays have had a long and complex history involving faith and devotion, civic Medieval pageant, pageantry, religious and political censorship, large-scale revival and Historical reenactment, historical re-enactments. Origin and history in Great Britain The origin and development of Passion Plays in Great Britain can be traced back to one of the earliest pieces of theatre in Britain, which was the Quem quaeritis?, Quem Quaeritis: four lines spoken by two choirs addressing each other in a dramatic form. It can also be traced back to the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Nichols (playwright)
Peter Richard Nichols (31 July 1927 – 7 September 2019) was an English playwright, screenwriter, director and journalist. Life and career Born in Bristol, he was educated at Bristol Grammar School, and served his compulsory National Service as a clerk in Calcutta and later in the British Army's BFBS Live Events, Combined Services Entertainment Unit in Singapore where he entertained the troops alongside John Schlesinger, Stanley Baxter, Peter Vaughan and Kenneth Williams, before going on to study acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He later claimed to have studied acting because there were no dedicated courses for playwrights. While working as a teacher, he began to write television plays that achieved notice. His first play for the stage was ''The Hooded Terror'', part of a season of new plays at the Little Theatre in Bristol. He later wrote ''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'' for the stage. An early film script was ''Catch Us If You Can'' directed by John Boorman. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 2 May 1962) 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. Early years Grandage was born in Yorkshire, England, and raised in Penzance, Cornwall, where his parents ran a family business. He was educated at the Humphry Davy Grammar School before training as an actor at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama through 1984. He spent twelve years working as an actor for companies such as the Royal Exchange, Manchester, Royal Exchange and the Royal Shakespeare Company and was also a member of National Youth Theatre before turning to directing. He made his directorial debut in 1996 with a production of Arthur Miller's ''The Last Yankee'' at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. In 1998 he was invited by Sheffield Theatres to d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sam Mendes
Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours, 2020 New Years Honours List. In 2000, Mendes was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg, Germany. In 2005, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of Great Britain."Sam Mendes gets directing honour" BBC. Retrieved 18 June 2012 In 2008, ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 15 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture". Born in Berkshire to a Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Trinidad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Watford Palace Theatre
Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building in Watford, Hertfordshire. The 600-seat theatre on Clarendon Road was refurbished in 2004. It houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, cafe and bar. History The theatre was built for the Watford Hippodrome Co., Ltd. The foundation stone of what was to become the Palace Theatre was laid on 3 June 1908. Five days later Mr H.M. Theobald, the architect, lodged the notification of his intention to build the theatre. Construction was undertaken by Barker Brothers of Maidenhead, and took six months, opening on 14 December 1908. The opening proprietors were the Watford Palace of Varieties Co., the Managing Director: Mr. T.M. Sylvester. In early days it put on variety shows and plays, mostly imported from other theatres. Variety artists who appeared at the Palace included Marie Lloyd, Evie Greene and Lottie Lennox. The theatre also puts on regular Christmas pantomimes. For almost a decade (around the ear ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dangerous Corner
''Dangerous Corner'' is a 1932 British play by the English writer J. B. Priestley, the first of his " Time Plays". It was premiered in May 1932 by Tyrone Guthrie at the Lyric Theatre, London, and filmed in 1934 by Phil Rosen. Priestley had recently collaborated with Edward Knoblock on ''The Good Companions'' and now wished "to prove that a man might produce long novels and yet be able to write effectively, using the strictest economy, for the stage." While it was praised highly by James Agate, ''Dangerous Corner'' received extremely poor reviews and after three days he was told that the play would be taken off, a fate that he averted by buying out the syndicate. It then ran for six months. Priestley's action was further vindicated by the worldwide success the play was to enjoy, although he soon lowered his estimate of this work and as early as 1938 remarked "It is pretty thin stuff when all is said and done." In 1947 the play was republished in a Pan Books paperback titled ''T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Laurie Sansom
Laurie Sansom (born 1972) is a British theatre director. He is currently the Artistic Director of Halifax-based theatre company Northern Broadsides. Early life and education Sansom grew up in East Peckham, near Tonbridge, Kent. He attended the local East Peckham Country Primary School and Mascalls Comprehensive School in Paddock Wood. His early theatre training, whilst at primary school, included an amateur dramatics society in nearby Hadlow where he appeared in a number of productions including pantomime. He subsequently attended the National Youth Theatre and is an alumnus of the National Student Drama Festival. A bright student, Sansom studied the English Tripos at Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating with a first-class degree in 1994. Involved in student theatre, his contemporaries included Rupert Goold, David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Sacha Baron Cohen and Olivia Colman, who was his flatmate. Career Sansom was the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thames in southeast England, at the head of a tidal estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years. Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has been the centuries-long host of Government of the United Kingdom, the national government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. London grew rapidly 19th-century London, in the 19th century, becoming the world's List of largest cities throughout history, largest city at the time. Since the 19th cen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |