Nancy Meckler is an American theatre and film director, known for her work in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with

Shared Experience Shared Experience is a British theatre company.
Its current joint

, where she was a joint artistic director alongside Polly Teale.

Life and career

Nancy Meckler was born and educated in the US, where she obtained a Masters Degree in Performance Theory and Criticism from

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. She moved to London in 1968 where she became a founder member of Freehold Theatre Company (1968–72) which toured the UK with ''Antigone'' in a version by Peter Hulton and the company. In 1970, ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & R ...

'' was sent by the British Council to represent the UK at

BITEF The Belgrade International Theatre Festival (abbr. BITEF) is a theatre festival that takes place every September annually in Belgrade, Serbia. History Founded in 1967, BITEF has continually followed and supported the latest theatre trends. It ...

and the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. The Freehold Theatre Company won the

John Whiting Award Between 1965 and 2010, the John Whiting Award (from 2007 renamed the Peter Wolff Trust Supports the John Whiting Award) was awarded annually to a British or Commonwealth playwright who, in the opinion of a consortium of UK theatres, showed a new ...

for New Writing in 1970. Meckler was the first woman to direct at the Royal National Theatre, with Edward Albee's '' Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' in 1981. She was the Artistic Director of Shared Experience Theatre from 1988 to 2011. Meckler has directed 5 plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...

'' at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Directing Credits

As a Freelance Director 1972 - 2000

* Eight

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

plays (including world premieres of ''Killers Head'', ''

Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

'', '' Curse of the Starving Class'', and ''A Particle of Dread: Oedipus Variations'') * ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dir ...

'' by

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

, 1979. * ''Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi'' by

Pam Gems Pam Gems (1 August 1925 – 13 May 2011) was an English playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play '' Piaf''. Persona ...

– Hampstead Theatre and West End, 1976. * ''Sufficient Carbohydrate'' by

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

- Hampstead Theatre and West End, 1984. * ''Low Level Panic'' by Clare McIntyre -

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

Upstairs and

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

, 1988. * ''St Joan'' by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

- Cambridge Theatre Company tour. * ''Rose'' by

Martin Sherman Martin Gerald Sherman (born December 22, 1938) is an American dramatist and screenwriter best known for his 20 stage plays which have been produced in over 60 countries. He rose to fame in 1979 with the production of his play '' Bent'', which e ...

- National Theatre and Broadway (

Lincoln Centre Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, 2000).

As Artistic Director of Shared Experience Theatre 1988-2011

* ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...

-'' Edinburgh Festival, UK tour, 1988. * ''Abingdon Square'' by

Maria Irene Fornes Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

- Soho Poly (1989), National Theatre (1990). * '' The Birthday Party'' by Harold Pinter - UK tour, 1990. * ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

'' adapted by Helen Edmundson - UK tour and World tour, 1992. * '' Mill on the Floss'' adapted by Helen Edmundson (co-director Polly Teale) - UK tour and World Tour, 2001. * ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'' adapted by Helen Edmundson (co-director Polly Teale) - UK tour, National Theatre, 2008. * ''

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...

'' adapted by

- UK tour, BAM Next Wave Festival, New York, 2004. * ''Bronte'' by Polly Teale - Watermill, UK tour, Tricycle Theatre.

As a Freelance Director 2011 - Present

With the Royal Shakespeare Company

* ''House of Desires'' * ''Romeo and Juliet'' * ''The Comedy of Errors'' * ''All's Well that Ends Well'' * ''The Heresy of Love'' by Helen Edmundson * ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream''

= Other

= * ''King Lear'' - Shakespeare’s Globe 2017.

Film

Meckler directed the films ''

Sister My Sister ''Sister My Sister'' is a 1994 film starring British actresses Julie Walters, Joely Richardson, and Jodhi May. The film was directed by Nancy Meckler and written by Wendy Kesselman, based on her own play, ''My Sister in This House''. The fil ...

'' (1994) and ''

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

'' (aka ''Alive & Kicking'') (1996).

Ballet

Meckler was the director and creator of ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' for

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

Awards

* ''The Mill on the Floss'' ** Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Visiting Production, 2001 (Kennedy Centre) * ''Anna Karenina'' ** Best Touring Show TMA/Martini, 1993 ** Outstanding Theatrical Event, Time Out awards, 1992 ** Best Foreign Theatre Company, Diario Clarín, Buenos Aires, 1992 * ''Sister My Sister'' ** Best Feature, Turin Film Festival, 1995 ** Public Prize; Best New Director; Youth Prize : Valladolid Film Festival, 1994 * ''Alive and Kicking'' ** Opening Film, Locarno Film Festival, 1996 ** Most Popular Film, Hamptons Film Festival, 1996 ** Audience Award Best Film, London Film Festival, 1997 ** Grand Prix, Luchon Film Festival, 1999 * ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' ** Best Dance Production, Southbank Awards, 2012 ** Best Dance Production Nominee, Olivier Awards, 2012

References

External links

*
Nancy Meckler
at Unfinished Histories {{DEFAULTSORT:Meckler, Nancy Living people American women film directors Women theatre directors American emigrants to the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people)