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Colin George

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Colin George(20 September 1929 – 15 October 2016) was a Welsh actor and director, who was the founding Artistic Director of theCrucible TheatreinSheffield(1971).

Colin George was also a member of theRoyal Shakespeare Companyduring the years 1994–1999, in plays such asPeer Gynt,Coriolanus,Measure for Measure,The Merchant of VeniceandThe Tempestand a stage musical adaptation of the French filmLes Enfants du Paradis.Television work has includedThe Doctorsin 2005.

George also directed many plays includingAntony and CleopatraandA Man For All Seasons,Richard III,Autumn Crocus,The Merchant of Venice,The ChairsandThe Persians,The Boy FriendandThe HeiressandThe Stirrings in Sheffield on Saturday Night.

He died on 15 October 2016 at the age of 87.[1][2]

Early life

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Colin George (20 September 1929 – 15 October 2016) was born inPembroke Dock,Wales.His father was a Congregational minister from a coalmining family in the Rhondda Valley; his mother was the star ofTenby’s local amateur operatic society. George was interested in acting from a young age, inspired by his hero,Sir Laurence Olivier,and encouraged by his mother and her brother, Harold. George went to boarding school inCaterham,Surrey, and in 1949 – after completing two years’ national service – he went up toUniversity College Oxfordto read English. At university he was heavily involved in amateur dramatics, writing, directing and acting in numerous shows and reviews.

Early career (1952–1962)

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After completing his degree in 1952, George teamed up his with friend,Paul Almond,and a group of aspiring actors fromCambridge University—among themJohn Barton,Toby RobertsonandPeter Hall—to create the Oxford and Cambridge Players (this later became the Elizabethan Theatre Company). George toured England with the company for three years, acting and directing in numerous Shakespeare plays. His roles included Petruchio, Romeo, Cassius, Bassanio and Henry V, the latter being performed at theOld Vicand recorded in a live performance for the BBC in 1953.

In 1955, the Company disbanded and George acted in a number of theatres, including one season at the Coventry Rep, before joining theBirmingham Repin April 1956, the same day as another young actor,Albert Finney.In 1958, George joined theNottingham Playhouseas Assistant Director toVal May,where he was a driving force in bringing work by new playwrights to the theatre, includingArnold Wesker,John OsborneandHarold Pinter.George also directed outside Nottingham, in 1961 taking productions of ‘A Man for All Seasons’ and ‘Macbeth’ withJohn Nevillein both lead roles to theManoel Theatrein Malta. He also worked in London, creating the role of Jack Lucas inKeith Waterhouse&Willis Hall’s ‘Celebration’ at theDuchess Theatre(1961), and directingPaul Danemanin ‘Richard III’ at the Old Vic (1962).

Sheffield (1962–1974)

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In 1962 George was appointed Assistant Director of theSheffield Playhouse,rising to Artistic Director in 1965. Under George’s tenure the Playhouse moved to performing in true repertoire, introduced new and controversial playwrights to Sheffield audiences, and created a children’s theatre company, Theatre Vanguard, which took plays and improvisation into schools across Sheffield. George’s championing of children’s theatre led to his appointment as one of the original members of the Arts Council Panel for Young People’s Theatre.

In August 1966 it was announced that the Sheffield Playhouse would get a new theatre, and George was a leading force in the creation of what was to become theCrucible Theatre.He worked closely with the theatre directorSir Tyrone Guthrieand designerTanya Moiseiwitschto create a radical thrust stage auditorium. The controversial design aroused fierce opposition from Sheffield’s conservative quarters and the so-called ‘Three Knights’:Sir Bernard Miles,Sir Laurence Olivier&Sir John Clements.But it also galvanised a new generation of actors, directors, designers and playwrights who launched a passionate defence of the thrust stage, among themMichael Elliott,Peter Cheeseman,Keith Waterhouse,David Campton,David RudkinandAlan Ayckbourn.George served as the Crucible’s Artistic Director from its opening in November 1971 to July 1974.

During this period, George also directed productions outside Sheffield. He was Artistic Director of theLudlowFestival (1964–66), and directed productions abroad, including ‘Romeo & Juliet’ at theBoško Buha Theatre,Belgrade (April 1969), ‘Vatzlav’ at theFestival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario(April 1970), ‘The Hostage’at theNAC, Ottawa(January 1971), ‘Playboy of the Western World’ at theAbbey Theatre,Dublin (April 1971) and ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ at theWarsaw Palace of Culture(June 1973).[3]

Australia and Hong Kong (1975–1992)

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One month after leaving the Crucible, in August 1974 George appeared in ten episodes ofCoronation Streetas Jimmy Graham, Rita Littlewood’s love interest. The story of a married man having an affair with one of the show’s stars stirred up so much interest in the press that he was one of the first actors in England to be harassed by Corrie fans who were outraged by his on-screen behaviour.

In 1975, George took up the post of Head of Drama at theUniversity of New EnglandinArmidale,New South Wales, and the following year was offered the artistic directorship of theAdelaide State Theatre Company,which he ran from 1976–80.[4]While atAdelaide,George directed some of the rising generation of Australian actors, among themJudy Davis,Colin Friels,Mel GibsonandMichael Siberry,as well as a production of ‘Oedipus’ (1978) designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch.

After a short spell as Artistic Director of theLeicester Haymarket Theatre(1980–81), George joined the Anglo-Chinese Chung Ying Theatre Company inHong Kongas an actor, later taking over as Artistic Director. In 1985 he was appointed Head of Drama at the newHong Kong Academy for Performing Arts,where he spent eight years and was influential in the development of many of the current generation of Hong Kong actors and directors. While at the Academy, George toured his Chinese-language production of Euripides’ ‘The Bacchae’ to Beijing and Shanghai.

Later years (1993–2016)

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In 1993 George returned to England to resume his career as an actor and the following year joined theRoyal Shakespeare Company,where he spent two seasons (1994–1996 and 1997–1999). His roles included Aragon inThe Merchant of Veniceand Alonso inThe Tempest,as well as understudying the leads in both plays, and Angelo inMeasure for Measure.His other productions included ‘Peer Gynt’ at theYoung VicandSimon Callow's production ofLes Enfants du Paradisat theBarbican.

After leaving the RSC, George toured a number of shows around the country, most of which premiered at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe,includingMe and Shakespeare,Image of an Actor,The Black Monk,Lying for a Living,Shakespeare’s Londonand in 1999 withMy Son—Will!at Venue 40 TheQuaker Meeting House, Edinburgh.

George also acted in touring shows, playing the roles of Polonius and the Gravedigger inHamletwith theOxford Stage Companyin 1996 and Underwood inAlan Bennett'sThe Lady and the Vanat the Birmingham Rep in 2000–01. In 2002, he was awarded a Joseph Rowntree Fellowship to write and tour a show about the life ofGeorge Fox,founder of theQuakers.George also had a number of television and film roles (see section below).

In 2011 George was invited by the Artistic Director of the Crucible Theatre,Daniel Evans,to join the company for the 40th anniversary production ofOthello,in which he played the roles of Brabantio and Gratiano. This production was to be his last professional role performed on the stage he had created.

FollowingOthello,George produced the first draft of a book about his experience of designing and building the Crucible Theatre, before his death on 15 October 2016 at the age of 87. In 2020 his son, Tedd, edited the manuscript into a book –Stirring Up Sheffield: An insider's account of the battle to build the Crucible Theatre– which was published byWordville Pressin November 2021,[5]and won the Society for Theatre Research's 2022 Theatre Book Prize.[6]

TV and film

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Publications

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Personal life

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Colin George was married three times. His wives were Patricia Voysey (1956–1967), Dorothy Vernon (1967–1990) and Sue George (1992–2016). He had one child from his first marriage (Gwendolyn) and three children from his second (Caroline, Lucy & Tedd).

George became a Quaker while in Australia in the late 1970s. His involvement with the Quakers in Hong Kong led to him volunteering in the Vietnamese refugee camps, where he ran a drama club for children there, as he had with the Pegasus Theatre Club at the Sheffield Playhouse in the early 1960s. It was through the Quakers that George met his third wife, Sue, whom he married in 1992.

References

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  1. ^"COLIN GEORGE".tenby-today.co.uk.21 October 2016.Retrieved1 November2016.
  2. ^Allen, Paul (31 October 2016)."Colin George obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved1 November2016.
  3. ^"Theatricalia".Theatricalia.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-09-13.
  4. ^"Adelaide AZ".Adelaide AZ.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-09-14.
  5. ^George, Colin (2021).Stirring Up Sheffield.UK: Wordville Press. pp. 1–400.ISBN978-1-8384036-2-1.
  6. ^Brown, Laura (9 June 2022)."Story of battle to build Sheffield's Crucible Theatre wins Theatre Book Prize 2022".The Bookseller.
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