Tyrone Guthrie | |
|---|---|
 Guthrie in 1947 | |
| 4thChancellor of the Queen's University Belfast | |
| In office 1963–1970 | |
| Preceded by | 1st Viscount Alanbrooke |
| Succeeded by | Lord Ashby of Brandon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Tyrone Guthrie (1900-07-02)2 July 1900 Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England |
| Died | 15 May 1971(1971-05-15) (aged 70) Newbliss, County Monaghan, Ireland |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | Oxford University |
| Occupation | Theatrical director |
Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of theStratford Festival of Canada, theGuthrie Theater inMinneapolis,Minnesota, and theTyrone Guthrie Centre at his family's ancestral home,Annaghmakerrig, nearNewbliss inCounty Monaghan, Ireland. He is famous for his original approach to Shakespearean and modern drama.
Guthrie was born on 2 July 1900 inTunbridge Wells,Kent, England,[1] the son of Dr. Thomas Clement Guthrie (a grandson of theScottish preacherThomas Guthrie) and Norah Power.[2] His mother was the daughter of SirWilliam James Tyrone Power,Commissary-General-in-chief of theBritish Army from 1863 to 1869 and Martha, daughter of Dr. John Moorhead of Annaghmakerrig House and hisPhiladelphia-born wife, Susan (née Allibone) Humphreys.[3]
His great-grandfather wasIrish actorTyrone Power and he was a second cousin of famed film actorTyrone Power. Guthrie's sister, Susan Margaret, married his close university friend, fellow Anglo-IrishmanHubert Butler. Tyrone Guthrie received a degree in history atOxford University, where he was active in student theatre, and worked for a season at the newly establishedOxford Playhouse.[4]
In 1924 Guthrie joined theBBC as a broadcaster and began to produceplays for radio. This led to a year directing for the stage with the Scottish National Players, before returning to the BBC to become one of the first writers to create plays designed for radio performance. From 1929 to 1933, he directed at various theatres, including theCambridge Festival Theatre in 1929[5] and a production ofPirandello'sSix Characters in Search of an Author at theWestminster Theatre in 1932. His work in London at theOld Vic and theSadler’s Wells theatres earned him acknowledgment as a significant director.[6]
During 1933–34, and again from 1936 to 1945, he was director of the Shakespeare Repertory Company.[7] While inMontreal, Guthrie produced theRomance of Canada series of radio plays for recalling epic moments in Canadian history. The series was broadcast on theCanadian National Railway radio network.Hubert Butler translated the text for Guthrie's 1934 production ofAnton Chekhov'sCherry Orchard, for perhaps its first English-language production.[citation needed] In the late 1930s, he worked in London and appeared in the first two motion pictures produced byCharles Laughton's independent film production company,Mayflower Pictures. The films wereVessel of Wrath andSt. Martin's Lane, both released in 1938.[8]
In the 1940s Guthrie began to directoperas, to critical acclaim, including a realisticCarmen atSadler's Wells and theMetropolitan Opera in New York. He also returned to Scotland where, withJames Bridie in 1948, he staged the first modern adaptation, byRobert Kemp, ofSir David Lyndsay's grand-scale medieval comedyAne Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis for the SecondEdinburgh International Festival; a landmark event in the modern revival of Scottish theatre. It was staged in the city'sGeneral Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland onthe Mound, specially adapted for the occasion.[9] He directed the play again in Edinburgh in 1959.[10]
In 1952, he was invited to help launch theStratford Festival of Canada.[11] Intrigued with the idea of starting a Shakespeare theatre in a remote Canadian location, he enlistedTanya Moiseiwitsch to further develop his thrust stage design, successfully improvised in Edinburgh, and actorsAlec Guinness andIrene Worth to star in the inaugural production ofRichard III. All performances in the first seasons took place in a large tent on the banks of the Avon River. He remained as Artistic Director for three seasons, and his work at Stratford had a strong influence in the development ofCanadian theatre.[12][13][14]
Guthrie producedGilbert and Sullivan'sH.M.S. Pinafore in 1960 andThe Pirates of Penzance in 1961, which were televised in Canada and also brought to thePhoenix Theatre in New York and on tour in the US. In 1962, as soon as the Gilbert and Sullivan copyrights expired, he brought these productions to Britain; they soon played atHer Majesty's Theatre and were broadcast by the BBC. They were among the firstSavoy opera productions in Britain not authorized by theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company.[15]
In 1963, he founded theGuthrie Theater inMinneapolis, Minnesota, designed byRalph Rapson. He published a small invitation in 1959 in the drama page ofThe New York Times soliciting communities' interest and involvement in a resident theater. From that beginning, theTwin Cities was chosen and the Guthrie Theater was established, with construction being completed in 1963.[16] Guthrie served as Artistic Director until 1966, and continued to direct at the theater he founded until 1969, two years before his death.[citation needed]
In the prologue to his biography, James Forsyth wrote, "Anti-Broadway, anti-West End, anti everything implied in the term 'Legitimate Theatre', he ended up with a legitimate claim to the title of 'most important, British-born theatre director of his time'".[17]Sir Peter Hall wrote, "Among the great originators in British Theatre...Guthrie was a towering figure in every sense. He blazed a trail for the subsidised theatre of the sixties. He showed how to run a company and administer a theatre. And he was a brilliant and at times great director..."[18] Guthrie wrote two major books about the creation of effective drama:Theatre Prospect (1932)[19] andA Life in the Theatre (1959).[20]
Guthrie's autobiography,A Life in the Theatre, was adapted into a stage play,Guthrie on Guthrie by Margaret Dale. It was produced at the Stratford Festival in 1989, and again at theGlenn Gould Studio in 1998 for recording as an audiobook. Both productions featuredColin Fox as Guthrie.[21][22]
He was Chancellor ofQueen's University Belfast (1963–70).[23] On 15 September 2010, a blue plaque in his memory was unveiled at the BBC in Belfast by the Ulster History Circle.
In 1931, Guthrie married Judith Bretherton, who survived him by only a year. He wasknighted in 1961, and died a decade later at his home, Annaghmakerrig, inNewbliss,County Monaghan, Ireland, on 15 May 1971,[1] aged 70, from a heart attack. His body was buried in the graveyard of Aghabog Church of Ireland, in Newbliss.[24]
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chancellor ofQueen's University Belfast 1963–1970 | Succeeded by |