Sir Peter Hall
Sir Peter Hall is a distinguished director of plays, films, and operas, and marked his 50th year as a director in 2003. He made his debut at the Theatre Royal, Windsor in 1953 and ran the Arts Theatre, London from 1956-59 where his productions included the English language premiere of Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Peter Hall created the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960 and opened the RSC's first London home at the Aldwych Theatre, where his productions included the premiere of Anouilh's Becket (1962) and the opening of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (1965). Hall resigned as managing director of the company in 1968, but continued to direct plays for it. He succeeded Sir Laurence Olivier as managing director of the Royal National Theatre in 1973, spending fifteen years with the company and moving it into the new theaters on London's South Bank. From 1984-90 he was artistic director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In 1988 he launched the Peter Hall Company, which has mounted more than 40 productions in London, New York, Europe, and Australia, including a landmark season at the Old Vic. In 2003 the Peter Hall Company began a major collaboration with Theatre Royal Bath during which Hall directed a unique summer season of five plays, one of which, As You Like It, was presented at BAM in Spring 2005. Sir Peter Hall was knighted in 1977 for his services to British theater. He has been the recipient of many awards and nominations including two Tony Awards-for The Homecoming in 1967 and Amadeus in 1981-and an Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999.