Robert Tanitch is a British playwright, author, biographer, lecturer, theatre and film critic. The first professional production of one of his plays was while he was still at Oxford University.

Career

His comedies include ''Call It Love?'', with musical numbers by

Sandy Wilson Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953). Biography Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire, England, and was educated at Harrow ...

, which was staged at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...

, London and in Vienna in 1960; ''Came the Knight'', directed by

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is an English theatre director and lyricist. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has dir ...

at 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 ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, circa 1963; and ''Highly Confidential'', which starred

Hermione Gingold Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character. Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and ea ...

at the

Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, London, Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and const ...

, London, in 1969. He has also written material for two West End revues. He has been

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

Theatre's education projects director and has lectured on Shakespeare and run seminars in England, Australia, Indonesia and Kenya. Tanitch has written and directed the cassette series, ''Shakespeare Interviews''. He devised a Shakespearean revue, ''Shakespeare in Love'' (directed by David Giles) which was performed in London and Dallas in order to raise money to rebuild

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. Like the original, it is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Southwark, Lon ...

in Southwark, London. He has written and directed several revue sketches for YouTube, some starring

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West (20 October 1934 – 12 November 2024) was an English actor with a long and varied career across theatre, film, and television. He began acting in repertory theatres in the 1950s before making his London stage debut in 19 ...

and

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...

Bibliography

* ''A Pictorial Companion to Shakespeare's Plays'', Robert Muller (1982) * ''Ralph Richardson, A Tribute'', Evans Brothers (1982) * ''Olivier'', Thames & Hudson (1985) * ''Leonard Rossiter'', Robert Royce (1985) * ''Ashcroft'', Hutchinson (1987) * ''Gielgud'', Harrap (1988) * ''Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Career Illustrated'', Ebury Press (1988) * ''Guinness'', Harrap (1989) ; Applause Theatre Book Publishers (1989) * ''John Mills'', Collins & Brown Ltd (1993) * ''Brando'', Cassell Illustrated (1994) * ''Clint Eastwood'', Cassell Illustrated (1995) * ''The Unknown James Dean'', Batsford (1997) * ''Oscar Wilde on Stage and Screen'', Methuen (1999) * ''Blockbusters!'' Batsford (2000) * ''Brando'' pdatedCassell Illustrated (2004) * ''Eastwood'' pdatedCassell Illustrated (2005) * ''London Stage in the 20th Century'', Haus Publishing (2007) * ''London Stage in the Nineteenth Century'', Carnegie (2010)

References

External links

Robert Tanitch website
*Revue sketches on YouTube, including ''Why Don't You Try One of These?

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanitch, Robert Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British theatre critics English biographers Alumni of the University of Oxford