Michael Codron | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Victor Codron[1] (1930-06-08)8 June 1930 (age 95) London, England |
| Alma mater | Worcester College,Oxford,South East England[2] |
| Occupations | film and theatre producer |
| Known for | Works byHarold Pinter,Christopher Hampton,David Hare,Simon Gray andTom Stoppard |
| Awards | Tony,Drama Desk,Evening Standard, andLaurence Olivier Awards |
Sir Michael Victor CodronCBE (born 8 June 1930[3]) is a British theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work ofHarold Pinter,Christopher Hampton,David Hare,Simon Gray andTom Stoppard. He has been honoured with aLaurence Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement, and is a stakeholder and director of theAldwych Theatre in theWest End, London.[4]
Codron was born in London, and studied atWorcester College, Oxford.
According to the American scholar and critic, John Nathan, Codron is possibly "most famous for the risk he took on a then virtually unknown playwright calledHarold Pinter, who had a play calledThe Birthday Party.[5] Codron has said that it was his Jewishness that helped him recognise the play's and Pinter's worth."[5]
The Birthday Party had its première at theArts Theatre, inCambridge, England, on 28 April 1958, where the play was "warmly received" on its pre-London tour, inOxford andWolverhampton, where it also met with a "positive reception" as "the most enthralling experience the Grand Theatre has given us in many months."[6][7]
On 19 May 1958, the production moved to the Lyric Opera House,Hammersmith (now theLyric Hammersmith),[8] for its début in London, where it was a commercial and mostly critical failure, instigating "bewildered hysteria" and closing after only eight performances.[6][9][10] The weekend after it had already closed,Harold Hobson's belated rave review, "The Screw Turns Again", appeared inThe Sunday Times,[11] rescuing its critical reputation and enabling it to become one of the classics of the modern stage.[9][12][13]
His career of producing Broadway productions began in April 1963, when he staged a short run of Charles Dyer'sRattle of a Simple Man. Codron followed this withPoor Bitos (1964). He also producedJoe Orton's first playEntertaining Mr. Sloane (1964) at the New Arts Theatre in London.[14][15]Nat Cohen invested in many of his productions.[16]
Codron's revival ofThe Clandestine Marriage left critics confused, as many thought the title was "The Candelstein Marriage". In the 1960s, Codron produced several controversial works, including Joe Orton'sLoot andFrank Marcus'sThe Killing of Sister George.[4]
For his next project, Codron took a more comedic turn withChristopher Hampton'sThe Philanthropist, running at theRoyal Court and Mayfair Theatres in London.[17][18][19] It premiered on Broadway at theEthel Barrymore Theatre on 15 May 1971, garnering Codron aTony Award nomination for Best Play.[20][21][22]David Merrick became lead producer for the Broadway transfer, with Codron gaining a "Produced in association with" credit.[14]
Codron next staged the original London production ofSimon Gray'sButley. It was first performed at theCriterion Theatre in London beginning on 14 July 1971, produced by Codron and directed by Harold Pinter, withAlan Bates as Ben Butley. Codron re-staged the show in 1972 in a Broadway production directed byJames Hammerstein at theMorosco Theatre, where it ran for 14 previews and 135 performances, being nominated for the Tony for Best Play.[23] Bates won theEvening Standard Theatre Award andTony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances on the West End and Broadway, respectively. The play was later adapted intoa 1974 film of the same name, which also starred Bates in the title role.
The producer looked to Broadway for his next venture,The Norman Conquests, a trilogy of plays written byAlan Ayckbourn in 1973. Each of the plays depicts the same six characters over the same weekend in a different part of a house.Table Manners is set in the dining room,Living Together in the living room, andRound and Round the Garden in the garden. The plays originally premiered in Scarborough, before playing the Globe and Apollo Theatres from 1974 until 1976. It opened on Broadway on 7 December 1975 for 69 performances at theMorosco Theatre, directed by Eric Thompson and featuringRichard Benjamin,Ken Howard,Barry Nelson,Estelle Parsons,Paula Prentiss, andCarole Shelley.[14] For this, Codron received threeDrama Desk Awards.[24]
In 1980, he producedVictoria Wood's play,Good Fun. Wood, keen to trade on her previous stage successTalent, was commissioned to write another play by Codron. According to Wood, "I wrote one calledPals, which he said was 'very enjoyable'. This is a euphemism for wincing, so it went in the bin. I then wrote another calledGood Fun." The play premiered in April 1980 atSheffield'sCrucible Theatre. It was directed byDavid Leland.[25][26]
After The Crucible's second version, the plan was to transfer the play to the West End. Though this never happened, it was performed at the King's Head Theatre inIslington. Wood said she heard a man at the interval saying, "It's a bit witty witty isn't it?" Wood's view of the play was this: "[T]here was an awful lot wrong with it but there were some lovely performances and the audiences enjoyed it."
AfterGood Fun Wood concentrated on television comedy and her career as a stand up comic. Though she did write two more plays, "which to save bothering Michael Codron, I called 'very enjoyable' and put straight in the bin."[26]
In the latter half of his career, Codron mainly focused on transferring shows he produced in England to New York City, and in the process won several awards. Among them wereOtherwise Engaged (1977 Tony nomination),Night and Day (1980 Drama Desk nomination),The Dresser (1982 Tony nomination),Noises Off (1984 Tony nomination),The Real Thing (1984 Tony and Drama Desk Awards),Benefactors (1986 Tony and Drama Desk nominations), andCopenhagen (2000 Tony and Drama Desk Awards).[24] He also producedPatrick Marber'sDealer's Choice (1995) in the West End.
In 2003/2004, Codron presented a production ofMichael Frayn'sDemocracy at theNational Theatre. Following this, he produced the play at theWyndham's Theatre in the West End, from 15 April 2004 to 9 October 2004, withMichael Blakemore as director.[27][28]
Codron's next project, in association with theManhattan Theatre Club, was the playLosing Louis, which he produced in the West End at theHampstead Theatre (and laterTrafalgar Studios) in January 2006, before opening on Broadway at theBiltmore Theatre in September 2006. It was directed byJerry Zaks and written bySimon Mendes da Costa.[29]
At the2010 Laurence Olivier Awards ceremony, held on 21 March 2010 at theGrosvenor House Hotel,[30] Codron was the recipient of the award for Outstanding Achievement, for being "one of the West End's most influential producers" and "discovering Harold Pinter."[31]
Codron wasknighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the theatre.[32]
From 1983 to 1996, Codron and partnerDavid Sutton owned theVaudeville Theatre inWestminster, London.[33] He is anEsquire and was appointed to theOrder of the British Empire in August 1989. From 1992 to 1993, Codron was aCameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre atOxford University.[34]
He currently serves on the board of trustees forOxford School of Drama,[35][36][37] and on theOxford University Dramatic Society, funding productions inOxford, England. Codron served as the director of theHampstead Theatre and Theatre Mutual Insurance Co., and currently runs theAldwych Theatre in the West End theatre district.[4]
He produced the filmClockwise (1986)[38][39] and was the Associate Producer forRe:Joyce! – A Celebration of the Work of Joyce Grenfell in 1991.
His parents were Isaac "Haco" Codron and Lily Morgenstern,[1] who regularly attended out-of-town tryouts of Codron's plays inBrighton. "They became part of the dreaded Brighton opinion that we all used to worry about", says Codron. "They would go every week to see a play at the Theatre Royal and ring me the following day with their views. My father always thought the plays were too far-fetched."[5]
In his autobiography,Putting it On: The West End Theatre of Michael Codron (Duckworth, 2010), written with help fromAlan Strachan,[40][41] Codron confirmed that he ishomosexual. For twenty-five years, his partner wasDavid Sutton.[42]
Codron has stated that his "single flash of anger" is aimed at critics and bloggers who review productions duringpreviews. "It's almost invariably reactionary responses. They're the modern equivalent of the lot that used to boo the plays in the 50s and 60s. I think they're ghastly."[4] He has also expressed his dislike of musical theatre ("Musicals weren't really my thing"), turning down a request to produceBlood Brothers.[4]
Philip, The Philanthropist, Royal Court Theatre, then May Fair Theatre, both London, 1970 later Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1971
