Peter Hall (theatre director)
| Sir Peter Hall | |
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Detail from a portrait of Sir Peter Hall by his daughter Jennifer Caron Hall.
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| Born |
Peter Reginald Frederick Hall 22 November 1930 Bury St Edmunds, West Suffolk, England |
| Occupation | Director |
| Years active | 1953–2011 |
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Sir Peter Hall CBE (born 22 November 1930) is the pre-eminent British theatre director of his generation. In 1955 he introduced London audiences to the work of Samuel Beckett with the UK premiere of Waiting for Godot. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company (1960–68) and went on to build an international reputation in theatre, opera, film and television. He was Director of the National Theatre (1973–88) and Artistic Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (1984-1990). He formed The Peter Hall Company (1998-2011) and became founding director of The Rose Theatre, Kingston in 2003. Throughout his career, he has been a vociferous champion of public funding for the arts.
Peter Reginald Frederick Hall was born in Suffolk at Bury St Edmunds, the only son of Grace Florence (née Pamment) and Reginald Edward Arthur Hall. His father was a stationmaster and the family lived for some time at Great Shelford Station. He won a scholarship to The Perse School in Cambridge. Before taking up a further scholarship to read English at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, Hall did his National Service in Germany at The RAF Headquarters for Education in Bückerberg. Whilst studying at Cambridge he produced and acted in a number of plays, directing five in his final year and a further three for The Marlowe Society Summer Festival. He served on the University Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC) committee before graduating in 1953. In the same year, Hall staged his first professional play, The Letter by W. Somerset Maugham, at The Theatre Royal Windsor.
1954 to 1955 saw Hall as the Director of the Oxford Playhouse where he directed several notable young actors including Ronnie Barker and Billie Whitelaw. Eileen Atkins and Maggie Smith were also part of the company as acting Assistants Stage Managers.
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