Jules Wright (25 February 1948 – 21 June 2015) was an Australian-born

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, a co-founder in 1981 of the Women's Playhouse Trust (WPT), the first resident woman director at the

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 West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, being at that time one of only six women to have directed on its main stage.

Early life

Wright was born Alexandra Vesty in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 25 February 1948. Adopted by a couple from

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, she studied educational psychology at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

Career

At the Theatre Royal at Stratford East,

Clare Venables Clare Rosamund Venables (17 March 1943 – 17 October 2003) was an English theatre director. She was artistic director of regional theatres in Lincoln, Stratford East (London), and Sheffield; she became Director of Education at the Royal Shakespe ...

gave Wright the opportunity to direct professionally. Subsequently, Wright became an

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actre ...

. At the

Wright directed Sarah Daniels’ ''Masterpieces'', a play dealing with pornography, which, in 1998, the National Theatre selected as a representative play of the 1980s in its NT2000 list of "One Hundred Plays of the Century" In 1984 Wright directed the WPT's opening production,

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; baptism, bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration (England), Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writ ...

's 1686 play '' The Lucky Chance''. The cast included

Harriet Walter Dame Harriet Mary Walter is an English actress. She has received an Olivier Award and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British E ...

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...

Pam Ferris Pamela Ferris (born 11 May 1948) is a British actress. She has starred in numerous British television series, including Connie (TV series), ''Connie'' (1985), ''The Darling Buds of May (TV series), The Darling Buds of May'' (1991–1993), ''W ...

Kathryn Pogson Kathryn Pogson (born 1954) is an English film and stage actress. She appeared in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film ''Brazil''. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1986 New York production of ''Aunt D ...

and

Denis Lawson Denis Stamper Lawson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Wedge Antilles in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy (1977–1983) and as John Jarndyce in the television miniseries ''Bleak House'' (2005), the l ...

. Design was by

Jenny Tiramani Jennifer Jane Tiramani (born 16 August 1954) is a British costume, stage and production designer. Since 2012 she has been principal of the School of Historical Dress in London. Early life Tiramani was born on 16 August 1954, the daughter of Fred ...

and music composed by Ilona Sekacz. In 1995 Wright worked again on a play by Behn, the first English woman professional playwright, when she directed '' The Rover'' for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

. Wright has been described as outspoken and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. She took the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

to court to challenge their funding cuts; she directed

Julie Covington Julie Covington (born 11 September 1946) is an English singer and actress, best known for recording the original version of " Don't Cry for Me Argentina", which she sang on the 1976 concept album '' Evita''. Early life Julie Covington was born ...

as Lady Macbeth in a controversial ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' at the

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, a production that largely exonerated Lady Macbeth from blame; her production of ''

The Revenger's Tragedy ''The Revenger's Tragedy'' is an English-language Jacobean revenge tragedy which was performed in 1606, and published in 1607 by George Eld. It was long attributed to Cyril Tourneur, but "The consensus candidate for authorship of ''The Reve ...

'' for the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) in 1991 was considered to be clinical in its dissection of the

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

portrayed in the play and how that misogyny distorts the play's characters. She also directed a

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

double bill—''Hot Fudge'' and ''Ice Cream''—for the STC in 1990. In the early 1990s, WPT acquired on a disused Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

and adopted the name and brand The Wapping Project. Wapping Hydraulic Power Station was converted by Shed54 architecture practice to became a gallery, performance space, and restaurant. Famous for the parties, events and installations that took place there, The Wapping Project sold the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in 2013 and currently works internationally as a 'nomadic' organisation. Jules Wright was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by Bristol University in 2012

Personal life

She married Josh Wright—whom she met at school in Adelaide—in 1967 and came with him to the UK in 1973., where he worked as an architect while Wright studied for a PhD at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

researching psychology, performance and place. Their marriage was dissolved, but they remarried in 2015, four days before her death from cancer. Wright trained as a

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

working with

anorexia Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

patients. She died in London on 21 June 2015. On 10 July 2015, Wright's life was one of those celebrated on BBC Radio 4's obituary programme ''Last Word''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Jules 1948 births 2015 deaths Australian theatre directors English theatre directors University of Adelaide alumni Alumni of the University of Bristol Australian emigrants to England People from Adelaide Deaths from breast cancer in England