Frank Dunlop | |
|---|---|
 Dunlop in 2011 byAllan Warren | |
| Born | (1927-02-15)15 February 1927 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 4 January 2026(2026-01-04) (aged 98) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Theatre director |
| Years active | 1954–2026 |
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Frank DunlopCBE (15 February 1927 – 4 January 2026) was a British theatre director.
Dunlop was born inLeeds, England, on 15 February 1927,[1][2] to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons. He was educated atBeauchamp College, read English atUniversity College London where he was a lifelong Fellow, and studied withMichel Saint-Denis at theOld Vic theatre school in London.[3]
Dunlop founded and directed his own young theatre company,The Piccolo Theatre in Manchester (1954), and directedThe Enchanted at theBristol Old Vic in 1955 where, a year later, he became its resident director, writing and stagingLes Frere Jacques. He made his West End debut at theAdelphi Theatre in 1960 with a production ofThe Bishop's Bonfire.
He took over the helm at theNottingham Playhouse from 1961–1964, including the inaugural season of the newly built theatre in 1963, and then directed several plays in London, Oklahoma and Edinburgh. In 1966 he foundedThe Pop Theatre Company at theEdinburgh Festival, with productions ofThe Winter's Tale (also seen in Venice and London) andThe Trojan Women.
Dunlop also produced the theatrical production ofOblomov, based on the novel by Russian writerIvan Goncharov. The play opened at London'sLyric Theatre on 6 October 1964, and starredSpike Milligan as Oblomov, andJoan Greenwood as his wife Olga. The play ran for a record-breaking five weeks at the Lyric, before being retitledSon of Oblomov and moved to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End, with Dunlop once again the producer.[4]
In 1967, he joined theNational Theatre as Associate Director, and worked as Administrative Director from 1968 to 1971, where he directedHome and Beauty (1968)The White Devil (1969) andThe Captain of Köpenick starringPaul Scofield (1971).
While at the National, then located at the Old Vic, he took a crucial career step with the creation ofThe Young Vic in 1969. His productions for them includedThe Taming of the Shrew (1970);The Comedy of Errors (1971); Genet'sThe Maids,Deathwatch andThe Alchemist (1972); an acclaimed revival of Rattigan'sFrench Without Tears, and his own playScapino (1974); andMacbeth (1975). The original,high camp production ofBible One:Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, starringGary Bond, was created by him with the Young Vic company at the Edinburgh Festival in 1972, and transferred to the Round House in November 1972.
During the 1970s Dunlop divided his time between London and New York, continuing to oversee the Young Vic while concurrently directing the Brooklyn Academy of Music Theater Company from 1976 to 1978.[5] For the RSC in 1974 he directed a revival ofWilliam Gillette'sSherlock Holmes, starringJohn Wood, at theAldwych Theatre in London, which then enjoyed a long run in New York; where he again directedScapino, starringJim Dale, also seen in Los Angeles, Australia and Norway.
Dunlop's other New York successes includedHabeas Corpus (1975) andThe Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1978), During this period he founded and for two years ran theBAM Theatre Company, directing for themThe New York Idea,Three Sisters,The Devil's Disciple,The Play's the Thing andJulius Caesar.
Back in England he directedAntony and Cleopatra starring iconic French actressDelphine Seyrig as Cleopatra for the Young Vic Theater (1976),Rookery Nook for theBirmingham Rep and theTheatre Royal Haymarket (1979), and returning to New York the following year he directedCamelot starringRichard Burton.
Dunlop was director of theEdinburgh International Festival for eight years from 1984−1991.[6] He inherited a deficit of £175,000, and said that he would not have taken on the job had he known about it. He had a difficult relationship withEdinburgh District Council, whose radicalLabour administration railed against the Festival's "ingrained elitism".[7]
Dunlop made improvements to the representation ofScottish drama in the Festival programme. He revivedSir David Lyndsay'sAne Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis,Sydney Goodsir Smith'sThe Wallace, andJames Bridie'sHoly Isle. He also directedFriedrich Schiller'sMaria Stuart and a dramatisation ofRobert Louis Stevenson'sTreasure Island.[8]
Dunlop received an Honorary Doctorate fromHeriot-Watt University in 1989.[9]
In 2001, Dunlop directed the world premiere of Ed Dixon'sScenery at Guild Hall, starring Emmy and Obie winner Marilyn Sokol and two-time Tony nominee Clive Revill. The production was produced by Steven Sendor. He has staged opera, includingCarmen at theRoyal Albert Hall, and in the summer of 2004 Jim Dale and William Atherton starred in the premiere of his adaptation ofKathrine Kressman Taylor's shortepistolary novelAddress Unknown at the Promenade Theatre on Broadway, again working with Steven Sendor as his producer. In 2007 Dunlop directed longtime friendRosemary Harris inÉric-Emmanuel Schmitt's one-act playOscar and the Pink Lady at San Diego'sOld Globe Theatre.[10]
National Life Stories conducted an interview (C1173/20) with Dunlop on his memories of Richard Negri in 2007 for its An Oral History of Theatre Design collection held by the British Library.[11]
Dunlop was appointedCBE in 1977[12] and received theChevalier of the Order of Arts and Literature presented to him by the French government in 1987.[13]
Dunlop died in Manhattan on 4 January 2026, at the age of 98.[5][14][15]
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