Bob Carlton (23 June 1950 – 18 January 2018) was an English theatre director and writer. He is best known for creating and directing the jukebox musical '' Return to the Forbidden Planet'', which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in both 1989 and 1990 and has been produced in many different countries around the world. He has written several other plays and has directed episodes of the

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s '' Brookside'' and '' Emmerdale Farm''. He was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

, attended

King Henry VIII School, Coventry King Henry VIII School is a coeducational independent day school located in Coventry, England, comprising a senior school (ages 11–18) and associated preparatory school (ages 3–11). The senior school has approximately 800 pupils (120 in eac ...

England, read drama at the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 millio ...

and, after graduation, won an Arts Council Trainee Director's Bursary to the

Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building. Background Coventry was the fastest growing city in B ...

in his hometown of Coventry. He was later associate director at the Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster and

York Theatre Royal York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offer ...

before becoming artistic director of the Bubble Theatre Company in 1979. He held this post until 1984 and while there he created and first staged ''Return to the Forbidden Planet''. From 1997 to 2014 he was the artistic director of the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch. On 17 September 2014, it was announced that he was stepping down from the position to focus on his writing. It was announced on 19 January 2018 that he had died from cancer the previous day.

References

External links

www.filmreference.com biography
* 1950 births 2018 deaths English theatre directors People educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry Artists from Coventry {{Theat-bio-stub