Bill Bryden

William Campbell Rough Bryden (12 April 1942 – 5 January 2022) was a Scottish stage and film director and screenwriter.

Early life and career

He worked as a trainee with Scottish Television before becoming assistant director at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, in 1965. He then worked as a director at the Royal Court Theatre (1967–1971), the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (1972–1975), Associate Director at the National Theatre (1975–1985); and as a visiting director in Glasgow and New York. In 1990, he directed Leoš Janáček's ''The Cunning Little Vixen'', at the Royal Opera House. He was Head of Television Drama at BBC Scotland (1984-1993) and has also done other work for film and television, as screenwriter, director and executive producer.

Personal life and death

In 1970 he married the Hon. Deborah Morris, a potter, who was a daughter of IOC President Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin. They had two children, Dillon and Mary Kate. The couple divorced in 1988.

In the same year, he met actress Angela Douglas at a dinner party arranged by mutual friend Marsha Hunt. They lived together in west London and were married at City Hall, New York City, in February 2009.

National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C1316/11) with Bill Bryden in 2009 for its Legacy of the English Stage Company collection held by the British Library.National Life Stories, 'Bryden, Bill (1 of 6) National Life Stories Collection: The Legacy of the English Stage Company', The British Library Board, 2009
Retrieved 21 February 2018

Bryden died on 5 January 2022, at the age of 79.

Honours

Bryden was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993.

Work

Film director

*1983: ''Ill Fares the Land''
*1986: ''The Holy City''
*1987: ''Aria'' (segment)
*1992: ''Six Characters in Search of an Author''

Writer

*1975: '' Benny Lynch, Scenes from a Short Life : a Play'
Benny Lynch: Scenes from a Short Life : a Play
*1976: '' Willie Rough'', a BBC ''Play for Today''
*1977: ''Old Movies''
*1980: '' The Long Riders'' (film)
*1981: ''Civilians'', a playStevenson, Randall (1981), ''Scottish Theatre Company: First Days, First Nights'', in Murray, Glen (ed.), ''Cencrastus'' No. 7, Winter 1981–82, pp. 10–13

Theatre director

*1972: ''Kidnapped'' – Royal Lyceum
*1974: ''Romeo and Juliet'' - Old Vic
*1974: ''Spring Awakening'' – Old Vic
*1974: ''Romeo and Juliet'' – Old Vic
*1975: '' The Playboy of the Western World'' – Old Vic
*1976: ''Watch It Come Down'' – Old Vic then National Theatre
*1976: ''Il Campiello'' – National Theatre
*1976: ''Counting the Ways'' – National Theatre
*1977 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): '' The Passion'' – National Theatre
*1977: ''Old Movies'' – National Theatre
*1977: '' The Plough and the Stars'' – National Theatre
*1978 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): '' Lark Rise'' – National Theatre
*1978: ''American Buffalo'' – National Theatre
*1978 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): ''The World Turned Upside Down'' – National Theatre
*1978: ''The Long Voyage Home'' – National Theatre
*1978: ''Dispatches'' – National Theatre
*1979 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): '' Candleford'' – National Theatre
*1980: ''Hughie'' – National Theatre
*1980: '' The Iceman Cometh'' – National Theatre
*1980: ''The Nativity'' – National Theatre
*1980: ''The Crucible'' – National Theatre
*1981: ''Civilians'' (writer & director) - Scottish Theatre Company
*1982: ''Don Quixote'' - National Theatre
*1982: ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' – National Theatre
*1983: '' Glengarry Glen Ross'' – National Theatre (World Premiere) then Mermaid Theatre, London
*1983: ''Cinderella'' - National Theatre
*1984: ''Golden Boy'' - National Theatre
*1985: ''Doomsday'', presented with ''The Nativity'' and ''The Passion'', as the ''Mysteries'' from medieval '' Mystery plays'' in a version by Tony Harrison – National Theatre
*1989: ''A Life in the Theatre'' - Theatre Royal then Strand Theatre, London
*1989: ''Op Hoop Van Zegen'' - Ro Theatre Rotterdam, The Netherlands
*1990: ''The Ship'' (writer & director) Harland & Wolff Shed, Govan, Glasgow
*1994: '' A Month in the Country'' by Ivan Turgenev, starring Helen Mirren and John Hurt. Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and West End
*1994: ''The Big Picnic'' (writer & director) - Harland & Wolff, Govan, Glasgow
*1995: ''Son of Man'' - The Pit, RSC, London
*1996: ''Uncle Vanya'' - Minerva Theatre, Chichester then Albery Theare, London
*1999: ''The Mysteries - The Nativity'' - National Theatre
*1999: ''The Mysteries - The Passion'' - National Theatre
*1999: ''The Mysteries - Doomsday'' - National Theatre
*2001: ''The Good Hope'' – National Theatre
*2005: ''Romeo and Juliet'' – Birmingham Repertory Theatre
*2005: ''The Creeper'' – Theatre Royal Windsor

Opera director

*1988: ''Parsifal'' by Richard Wagner - Royal Opera House, London
*1990: ''The Cunning Little Vixen'' by Leoš Janáček - Royal Opera House, London
*2000: '' The Silver Tassie - English National Opera, London

Awards and nominations

*1985: Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Director, ''The Mysteries''.
*1985: London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Director for ''The Mysteries''
*1985: London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director for ''The Mysteries''

Further reading

*Craig, Cairns (1980), ''Fearful Selves: Character, Community and the Scottish Imagination'', in '' Cencrastus'' No. 4, Winter 1980-81, pp. 29 - 32,
*McArthur, Colin (1983), ''Tendencies in the New Scottish Cinema'', in Hearn, Sheils G. (ed.), '' Cencrastus'' No. 13, Summer 1983, pp. 33 – 35,

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryden, Bill
1942 births
2022 deaths
Theatre in Scotland
Scottish theatre directors
20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Laurence Olivier Award winners
People from Greenock
Shakespearean directors