Simon Godwinis artistic director of theShakespeare Theatre CompanyinWashington, D.C.He was previously associate director of London'sNational Theatre,associate director of theRoyal Court Theatre,and associate director atBristol Old Vic.
Early life and education
editGodwin was educated atAnna Scher Theatre School,[1]an independent stage school inIslingtonin north London.
He attended theSt Catharine's College, Cambridgeat theUniversity of Cambridge,where he studied English.[2]In 2005, he began a two-year post graduate program at theLondon International School of Performing Arts(LISPA), where he studied physical theatre and devising.
Career
editSimon began directing at Cambridge, and after graduating he began producing classical work includingRomeo and Juliet[3]for theCambridge Arts Theatreand theMarlowe Society.Godwin was then assistant director toDominic DromgooleandTim Supple.He then founded Stray Dogs Theatre Company producingInkle and Yarico,as well asEurydiceat theBACbefore it transferred to theWhitehall Theatrein theWest End,[4][5]which made it one of the youngest companies ever to have work staged in London's West End. This was followed byAll's Well That Ends Wellfor a national tour.
In 2001 Simon became associate director at the Royal and Derngate Theatres in Northampton where he worked as the deputy to the artistic director,Rupert Gooldand directed seven main stage shows, includingThe Seagull,Habeas Corpus,Relatively Speakingand withSalisbury Playhouse,andQuartermaine's TermsbySimon Gray.
In 2008 he joined Tom Morris, as the associate director ofThe Bristol Old Vic,where he directedThe Little Mermaid,Krapp's Last Tape/A Kind of Alaska,Faith HealerandFar Away.
At theTabard Theatrehis production ofThe CountrybyMartin Crimpwas well received, and in 2008 he became part of theRoyal CourtInternational Residency. At theAlmeida Theatrein 2009 he directedAll The Little Things We CrushedbyJoel Horwood,followed by a critically acclaimed national tour ofThe Winter's Talefor Schtanhaus and Nuffield Theatre Southampton, in association with Headlong.
In 2009 Simon became associate director of the Royal Court. While there Simon directed seven world premieres, includingRoutes, If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep,NSFW,The Witness,Goodbye to All That,The Acid Test,andWanderlust,for which he was longlisted forEvening Standard AwardsBest Newcomer in 2010.[6]
Godwin subsequently joinedBristol Old Vicas associate director, directing productions ofFar Away(Caryl Churchill) andFaith Healer(Brian Friel). The latter was subsequently remounted in 2012 as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.[7]
In 2012 Simon was awarded the inaugural Evening Standard/Burberry Award for an Emerging Director.[8]
In 2013 Simon made his debut at the National Theatre withStrange InterludewithAnne Marie Dufffollowed byMan andSupermanwithRalph Fiennes.WhenRufus Norrisbecame the new artistic director of the National Theatre in 2015, he invited Simon to become part of his team of permanent Associates.[9]
Simon has also enjoyed a long-standing relationship with theRoyal Shakespeare Company.In 2014 he directedThe TwoGentlemen of Veronafollowed in 2016 by an acclaimedHamlet,which toured toThe Kennedy CenterinWashington D.C.[10][11]HisTimon of Athens,starringKathryn Hunteras Timon opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company in December 2018.[12]
His production ofAntony and CleopatrawithRalph FiennesandSophie Okonedoopened at the National Theatre,[13]London in September 2018. In May 2019, Simon made his Tokyo debut, directing a Japanese cast inHamletfor Theatre Cocoon.[14]
In September 2018, Simon was appointed artistic director of theShakespeare Theatre CompanyWashington D.C. effective 1 August 2019.[15][16]He made his directorial debut with the company in February 2020 with a remounted production ofTimon of AthenswithKathryn Hunterreprising her role.[17]
In August 2019, he directedHansardin the Lyttelton Theatre at the National Theatre.[18]Hansardwas the debut play by writerSimon Woods[19]and was broadcast in October 2019 byNational Theatre Live.[20]
In August 2020, he directedRomeo and Julietat the National Theatre, withJosh O'ConnorandJessie Buckleyplaying the title roles.[21]The performance was adapted for filming in 2021—the National Theatre's first such venture.[22]
In July 2022, his production for the National Theatre of 'Much Ado About Nothing' opened in the Lyttelton Theatre starring Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan.[citation needed]
Work
editGodwin's directing career includes:
References
edit- ^Gemma Kappala-Ramsamy and Kate Kellaway (1 January 2012)."Stage picks for 2012: Katherine Kelly, Simon Godwin and Claire Calvert – Simon Godwin".The Guardian.Retrieved16 July2018.
- ^Simon Godwin Backgroundhttp://www.thewinterstale.co.uk/cast/creativeteam/director/director.html
- ^Romeo and Juliethttp://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/marlowe/showarchive/romeo/index.htm
- ^EurydiceArchived13 December 2010 at theWayback Machine
- ^Billington, Michael(14 July 1999)."Eurydice".The Guardian.Retrieved2 June2016.
- ^Evening Standard Awards"London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2010: The Long-list | Theatre".Archived fromthe originalon 30 December 2010.Retrieved18 February2011.
- ^"2007 Hong Kong Arts Festival".Archived fromthe originalon 4 July 2007.Retrieved25 March2012.
- ^Playbill report ofLondon Evening Standardawards, 25 November 2012."London Evening Standard Theatre Awards Honor Nicholas Hytner, Simon Russell Beale, Judi Dench and More - Playbill.com".Archived fromthe originalon 5 January 2013.Retrieved29 November2012.
- ^Theatre, National (14 December 2015)."Who's Who".The National Theatre.Retrieved4 September2018.
- ^ab"Simon Godwin 2016 production | Hamlet | Royal Shakespeare Company".www.rsc.org.uk.Retrieved16 June2019.
- ^Billington, Michael (23 March 2016)."Hamlet review – Paapa Essiedu is a graffiti prince in RSC's bright tragedy".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved16 June2019.
- ^"RSC Website - Timon of Athens".
- ^Theatre, National (8 June 2018)."Antony & Cleopatra".The National Theatre.
- ^"Japan Times - Simon Godwin Interview".30 April 2019.
- ^"Meet Simon Goodwin".Shakespeare Theatre Company.Retrieved5 September2018.
- ^Pressley, Nelson (6 September 2018)."Shakespeare Theatre Company names U.K.'s Simon Godwin to succeed Kahn".The Washington Post.No. 6 September 2018.Retrieved6 September2018.
- ^"Timon of Athens".
- ^"National Theatre Website - Hansard".13 March 2019.
- ^Hemming, Sarah (5 September 2019)."Hansard explores privilege, power and pain at the National Theatre, London".Financial Times.Retrieved29 April2020.
- ^"National Theatre Live Website - Hansard".
- ^"Whats On Stage - National theatre News 2020".15 November 2019.
- ^Akbar, Arifa (5 April 2021)National Theatre's first film is an ingenious triumph.The Guardianreview. Accessed 19 July 2022