Declan Donnellan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Declan Martin Donnellan (1953-08-04)4 August 1953 (age 71) Manchester,Lancashire, England |
| Education | St Benedict's School, Ealing |
| Alma mater | Queens' College, Cambridge |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1981–present |
Declan Michael Martin DonnellanOBE (born 4 August 1953)[1] is an English film/stage director and author. He co-founded theCheek by Jowl theatre company withNick Ormerod in 1981. In addition to his Cheek by Jowl productions, Donnellan has made theatre, opera and ballet with a variety of companies across the world. In 1992, he received an honorary degree from theUniversity of Warwick and in 2004 he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his work in France.[2] In 2010, he was made an honorary fellow ofGoldsmiths' College,University of London. Donnellan was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2017 Birthday Honours for services to theatre.[3]
Donnellan[4] was born inManchester and grew up inEaling, London. He was educated atSt Benedict's School, Ealing andQueens' College, Cambridge, where he read English and Law. After leaving Cambridge, he was called to the Bar atMiddle Temple in 1978.
He foundedCheek by Jowl withNick Ormerod in 1981.[5] Since 2006 the company has been part of theBarbican's International Theatre Program (BITE) resulting in co-productions ofThe Changeling (2006),Cymbeline (2007) andTroilus and Cressida (2008).[5][6][7] He has directed plays at theRoyal Shakespeare Company, theEnglish National Opera,the Old Vic and theBolshoi Ballet, among others.
For theRoyal Shakespeare Company he has directedThe School for Scandal,King Lear (Academy 2002) and an adaptation ofGreat Expectations (2005) withNick Ormerod. The cast of Great Expectations includedGwendoline Christie andSian Phillips.[8] He has also directedLe Cid for the Avignon Festival,Falstaff for theSalzburg Festival and the ballet ofRomeo and Juliet for theBolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Other work in Russia includesThe Winter's Tale for theMaly Drama Theatre ofSaint Petersburg.[9]
In 1989, Donnellan was made Associate Director of theRoyal National Theatre in London where his productions have includedFuenteovejuna, The Mandate andSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1993)[10] The cast of Sweeny Todd includedAlun Armstrong,Adrian Lester andJulia McKenzie.[11] In 1993 Donnellan directed both parts ofAngels in America, after having previously directed the play’s first part Millennium Approaches at the National’s Cottesloe Theatre in 1991. In 1993 the play’s second part, Perestroika, received its London debut at the National Theatre and was played in repertory with Millennium Approaches, starringDaniel Craig andJason Isaacs.[12]
In 2000 he formed a company of actors in Moscow, under the auspices of The Chekhov Festival, whose productions includeBoris Godunov,Twelfth Night andThree Sisters. He wrote a play,Lady Betty, which was performed by Cheek by Jowl in 1989. He has also adaptedDon't Fool with Love byAlfred de Musset,Antigone bySophocles,The Mandate byNikolai Erdman andMasquerade byMikhail Lermontov. First published in Russian in 2001, Donnellan's book,The Actor and the Target, was published in English in 2002 (reprinted 2005), and has since appeared in 15 languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, German, Romanian and Mandarin.[13]
He directed the 1992 shortThe Big Fish which starredFiona Shaw. He directed the 2012 filmBel Ami, an adaption of theMaupassant novel; the film starredRobert Patinson,Uma Thurman,Kristin Scott Thomas,Christina Ricci andColm Meaney.[14]
Donnellan has won awards in London, Paris, New York and Moscow, includingLaurence Olivier Awards for:
In February 2004 he was made a Chevalier del'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his work in France, and in 2009 he shared the Charlemagne award withCraig Venter andArchbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2014, Donnellan directed the stage play ofShakespeare in Love (play) at theNoël Coward Theatre.[16] The play was adapted for stage byLee Hall (playwright) from the screenplay byTom Stoppard andMarc Norman and produced byDisney Theatrical Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions.[16] The production was designed by Donnellan’s co-Artistic Director ofCheek by Jowl theatre company,Nick Ormerod. The original cast includedDavid Oakes asChristopher Marlowe, Paul Chahidi asPhilip Henslowe andAnna Carteret asElizabeth I. From January 2015, the cast included Eve Ponsonby as Viola de Lesseps, Orlando James asWilliam Shakespeare andSuzanne Burden asElizabeth I of England.Peter Moreton, who played Antigonus and the Old Shepherd in Cheek by Jowl’sThe Winter’s Tale in 2015, playedRichard Burbage in Shakespeare in Love, and Ryan Donaldson, who played Autolycus in the Cheek by Jowl’s The Winter’s Tale, playedEdward Alleyn. Eve Ponsonby, Orlando James, Suzanne Burden and Peter Moreton had all previously worked withCheek by Jowl inTis Pity She’s a Whore. Eve Ponsonby played Annabella and Orlando James played her brother Giovanni in the 2014 revival. Suzanne Burden played Hippolita in 2011-2012, alongside Peter Moreton, who played the Cardinal and the Doctor.
In 2016, Donnellan won the Golden Lion of Venice for lifetime achievement in theatre at the Venice Biennale.[17]
In 2024, Donnellan released his follow up toThe Actor and the Target,The Actor and the Space.[18]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |