Val May
| Val May | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Valentine Gilbert Delabere May 1 July 1927 Bath, Somerset |
| Died | 6 April 2012 (aged 84) Guildford |
| Occupation | Theatre director |
Valentine Gilbert Delabere "Val" May, CBE (1 July 1927 – 6 April 2012) was an English theatre director and artistic director. He led the Bristol Old Vic from 1961 to 1975, and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre from 1975 to 1992.
Val May was born in Bath, Somerset. His father, Claude Jocelyn Delabere May, was a doctor, and his mother, whose maiden name was Olive Gilbert, was a descendent of W.S. Gilbert. Through his paternal grandmother, he was third cousin to Richard Body MP. The family moved to Guildford while May was a child. He attended Cranleigh School and Peterhouse, Cambridge before studying at the London Old Vic Theatre School under Michel Saint-Denis. His national service was in the Royal Navy.
Val May's first professional engagement was in 1950, when he directed Jean Cocteau's The Typewriter at the Watergate Theatre in London. He spent three years at the Dundee Repertory Theatre as assistant to the artistic director and became artistic director of the Ipswich Theatre in 1953. From 1957 to 1961 he was artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse. May directed the London Old Vic's production of Richard II in 1959. Also in 1959, the Nottingham company's production of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's comedy Celebration was transferred to London's Duchess Theatre.
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