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Glen Byam Shaw

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Glen Byam Shaw
CBE
Shaw in his early years as an actor
Born
Glencairn Alexander Byam Shaw

13 December 1904
London, England
Died29 April 1986(1986-04-29)(aged 81)
NationalityEnglish
EducationWestminster School
OccupationActor
Years active1923–1981
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1940–1945
RankMajor
UnitRoyal Scots
Battles/warsSecond World War

Glencairn Alexander"Glen"Byam Shaw,CBE(13 December 1904 – 29 April 1986) was an English actor and theatre director, known for his dramatic productions in the 1950s and his operatic productions in the 1960s and later.

In the 1920s and 1930s Byam Shaw was a successful actor, both in romantic leads and in character parts. He worked frequently with his old friendJohn Gielgud.After working as co-director with Gielgud at the end of the 1930s, he preferred to direct rather than act. He served in the armed forces during the Second World War, and then took leading directorial posts at theOld Vic,theShakespeare Memorial TheatreandSadler's Wells(later known as the English National Opera).

Life and career[edit]

Early years[edit]

Byam Shaw was born in London, the youngest of five siblings (four sons and one daughter) born to artistJohn Byam Liston Shawand his wife, Caroline Evelyn Eunice Pyke-Nott (1870–1959), also an artist.[1]He was educated atWestminster School,where his contemporaries included his elder brother, James Byam Shaw, later a well-known art historian, andJohn Gielgud,who became a lifelong friend and professional colleague.[1]

The actorMichael Denison,biographer of Byam Shaw in theOxford Dictionary of National Biographywrites that Byam Shaw made his professional stage debut in August 1923 with no prior training.[1]Denison speculates that Byam Shaw's cousin, actress May Ward, a close friend of DameEllen Terry,"may have been enough to make him take the plunge".[1]The Timessaid of him, "Tall, gentle, and graceful in movement, he was valuable in any cast, particularly in classics and in the Russian plays."[2]

Byam Shaw's first appearance was atTorquayin the west of England, in C. K. Munro's comedyAt Mrs. Beam's.In 1925 he made his London debut, playing Yasha inJ.B. Fagan's production ofThe Cherry Orchard,in a cast that includedAlan Napieras Gaiev,O.B. Clarenceas Firs and Gielgud as the young student Trofimov.[3]Over the next few years Byam Shaw appeared in three more plays by Chekhov,[1]and in plays by Strindberg[4]and Ibsen.[5]He made his New York debut in November 1927 asPelham HumphreyinAnd So To Bed.[6]

ActressConstance Collierwas impressed by Byam Shaw and used her influence to gain him roles. Among those to whom she introduced him wasIvor Novello,then a leading figure in London theatre. She directed them both in the playDown Hillin 1926.[7]This drew him into contact with the poetSiegfried Sassoon,a friend of Collier; he and Byam Shaw became close.[8]Their friendship lasted for the rest of Sassoon's life, although they ceased to be partners quite quickly; Sassoon became involved withStephen Tennantand Byam Shaw fell in love with actressAngela Baddeley.[9]They married in 1929. The marriage, which lasted until her death in 1976, was, Denison writes, "a supremely happy one, both domestically and professionally"; the couple had a son and a daughter.[1]

1930s and Second World War[edit]

Byam Shaw and Baddeley toured together in South Africa in 1931, in a repertory of three plays.[6]The following year, Byam Shaw appeared at the Lyceum inMax Reinhardt's mime play The Miracle, withLady Diana Cooperas the Madonna,Tilly Loschas the nun andLeonid Massineas the Spielmann.[10]In 1933, Byam Shaw took over from Gielgud asRichard IIin the long-running playRichard of Bordeauxby 'Gordon Daviot' (Josephine Tey); the following year he played Darnley in another historical play by the same author,Queen of Scots,oppositeGwen Ffrangcon-DaviesandLaurence Olivier,directed by Gielgud.[11]

Byam Shaw continued to work with Gielgud, playing Laertes to hisHamletin 1934, and Benvolio in the celebrated 1935New Theatreproduction ofRomeo and JulietwithPeggy Ashcroftas Juliet,Edith Evansas the Nurse and Gielgud and Olivier alternating the roles of Romeo and Mercutio.[1]During that New season, Gielgud invited Byam Shaw to join him in directingRichard IIfor theOxford University Dramatic Society.Denison, who was in the cast, describes Byam Shaw as "stimulating, firm, and courteous to his undergraduate cast". Byam Shaw enjoyed the experience of directing, and never having especially enjoyed acting he turned gladly to direction.[1]

Gielgud engaged Byam Shaw to directDodie Smith'sDear Octopusin 1938 with a cast including Gielgud,Marie Tempest,Kate Cutlerand Baddeley.[12]Byam Shaw concluded his acting career in the late 1930s in roles including D'Arcy in a dramatisation ofPride and Prejudice,character parts inThe Merchant of VeniceandRichard II,and Sir Benjamin Backbite inThe School for Scandal.After appearing inMichel Saint-Denis's short season at thePhoenix Theatrein 1938, his final role was Horatio to Gielgud's Hamlet, both in London and atElsinore Castle.[6]

As theSecond World Warloomed, Byam Shaw joined the emergency reserve of officers. On 3 January 1940, he was commissioned into theRoyal Scotsas asecond lieutenant.[13]He served in Burma from 1942 and was wounded. He ended his military service in 1945 as a major, making training films in India.[1]While in Burma Byam Shaw conceived a production ofAntony and Cleopatradressed in the costumes of Shakespeare's time, rather than those of Ancient Rome and Egypt. On his return to civilian life, he directed it at thePiccadilly Theatrein 1946, withGodfrey TearleandEdith Evans.The Manchester Guardiancalled his production "a very adroit and finished piece of work."[14]

Old Vic and Stratford[edit]

Between 1947 and 1951 Byam Shaw was the director of the Old Vic Theatre School, part of the Old Vic Theatre run byMichel Saint-Deniswhich also included theYoung Vicrun byGeorge Devine.Denison writes "Despite much success in all fields the three partners fell foul of the Vic governors and of the theatre's top-heavy and largely hostile administration". The same board had earlier dismissedRalph Richardsonand Laurence Olivier as heads of the Old Vic company,[15]and now lost another leading team when Saint-Denis, Devine and Byan Shaw resigned in 1951.[1]

From 1952 to 1959 Byam Shaw was director of theShakespeare Memorial TheatreinStratford-upon-Avon,first as co-director withAnthony Quayle,and in sole charge from 1956 to 1959. He was appointedCBEin 1954.[1]He directed 14 plays at Stratford; Denison singles outAntony and CleopatrawithMichael Redgraveand Ashcroft,Macbethwith Olivier andVivien Leigh,As You Like Itwith Ashcroft,OthellowithHarry AndrewsandEmlyn Williams,andKing LearwithCharles LaughtonandAlbert Finney.Before the 1950s, Stratford seasons had been widely regarded as worthy but unexciting.[1]Under Quayle and Byam Shaw Stratford became one of the principal centres of British theatre, attracting the leading directors such as Gielgud,Peter HallandPeter Brook.[1]In 1959, he handed over to Hall, whom he had chosen as his successor.[1]

Opera[edit]

In 1962, despite describing himself as tone deaf, Byam Shaw accepted the post of director of productions atSadler's Wells Opera.He worked closely with the company's managing director,Norman Tucker,and musical director,Colin Davis.Tucker's successor,Lord Harewood,recalled "a series of striking productions, includingThe Rake's Progress,Così fan tutte,Der FreischützandA Masked Ball... a notable elegant and wittyDie Fledermaus,Hansel and Gretel... andGluck'sOrpheus."[16]

Byam Shaw's most celebrated opera productions were in collaboration with the conductorReginald Goodall,firstThe Mastersingers,the company's last major production atSadler's Wells Theatre,and, after its move to theLondon Coliseumin 1968, the four operas ofWagner'sRingcycle, in which Byam Shaw's co-director was his former assistant John Blatchley. Byam Shaw's last collaboration with Goodall wasTristan and Isoldein 1981.[16]

He was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire(CBE) in the1954 New Year Honoursin recognition of his work as director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.[17]He received an honorary DLitt from theUniversity of Birminghamin 1959.

Death[edit]

Glen Byam Shaw died inGoring-on-Thamesat the age of 81, survived by his children and extended family.[18]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghijklmnDenison, Michael. "Shaw, Glencairn Alexander Byam (1904–1986)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40205.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  2. ^Obituary for Glen Byam Shaw,The Times,1 May 1986.
  3. ^Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith– "The Cherry Orchard",The Times,26 May 1925, p. 14
  4. ^"The Theatres",The Times,13 June 1927, p. 12
  5. ^"The Theatres",The Times,1 November 1928, p. 12
  6. ^abcGaye, pp. 1171–73
  7. ^"Queen's Theatre – 'Down Hill',"The Times,17 June 1926, p. 12
  8. ^Roberts, pp. 198–200
  9. ^Roberts, p. 223
  10. ^"The Miracle",The Times,5 January 1935, p. 10, and "The Miracle",The Manchester Guardian,11 April 1932, p. 16
  11. ^"The Theatres – New Play by Gordon Daviot",The Times,31 May 1934, p. 12
  12. ^Brown, Ivor. "Dear Octopus",The Manchester Guardian,18 September 1938, p. 13
  13. ^"No. 34783".The London Gazette(Supplement). 30 January 1940. p. 650.
  14. ^"Anthony and Cleopatra",The Manchester Guardian,3 December 1946, p. 3
  15. ^Obituary for Ralph Richardson,The Guardian,11 October 1983, p. 11
  16. ^abHarewood, Lord."Obituary of Mr Glen Byam Shaw",The Times,7 May 1986
  17. ^"No. 40053".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 December 1953. pp. 10–12.
  18. ^Wilson, Scott.Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons,3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 2118). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Sources[edit]

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