Theatre
Chronology
1916
Brutus
in ]ulius Caesar (Shakespeare). Production by All Saints Choir
School, Marylebone.
1922
Katharine
in The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare). Production by All Saints
Choir School at Stratford Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon.
1924
Pupil
at Elsie Fogerty's Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic
Art.
1925
Lennox
in Macbeth (Shakespeare). Norman V. Norman and Beatrice Wilson's
production at the St Christopher Theatre, Letchworth.
Walk-on part
as policeman in The Ghost Train, also ASM at Brighton Hippodrome.
Series of
parts including Flavius in Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) with the
Lena Ashwell Players at the Century Theatre, Notting Hill Gate,
London.
Walk-on part
as First Serving Man, also ASM, in Henry VIII (Shakespeare) with
Sybil Thorndike and Lewis Casson at Empire Theatre, London.
1926
The
Minstrel in The Marvellous History of St Bernard (Barry Jackson's
version of a French mystery play) with the Birmingham Repertory
Company at Kingsway Theatre, London.
Minor part
in The Barber and The Cow, Birmingham Repertory Company's summer
season at Clacton.
Richard Coaker
in The Farmer's Wife (Eden Phillpotts) Birmingham Repertory Company's
provincial tour.
1927 Series
of parts with the Birmingham Repertory Company under Barry Jackson
in Birmingham including Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer
(Goldsmith), title role in Uncle Vanya (Chekhov), Monsieur Parolles
in All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare).
1928
(Jan-May)
Series of parts with the Birmingham Repertory Company at the Royal
Court Theatre, London including the Young Man in The Adding Machine
(Elmer Rice), Malcolm in Macbeth (Shakespeare, modem dress), title
role in Harold (Tennyson), The Lord in The Taming of The Shrew
(Shakespeare).
June - GeraId
Arnwood in Bird In Hand (Drinkwater) produced by Barry Jackson
with Jill Esmond at Royalty Theatre, London.
Dec. - Stanhope
in Journey’s End (R. C. Sheriff) Stage Society production
at Apollo Theatre, London.
1929
Title
role in Beau Geste (adapted from P. C. Wren's book by Basil Dean)
directed by Basil Dean at Her Majesty's Theatre, London.
March - Prince
Pao in The Circle of Chalk (adapted from the ancient Chinese )
directed by Basil Dean with Anna May Wong.
April - Paris
Bound with Herbert Marshall and Edna Best at the Lyric Theatre,
London.
June - The
Stranger Within with Olga Lindo at the Garrick Theatre, London.
Oct. - Murder
on the Second Floor (Frank Vosper) at the Eltinge Theatre, New
York.
Dec. - Jerry
Warrender in The Last Enemy (Frank Harvey) directed by Tom Walls
with Athene Seyler at the Fortune Theatre, London.
1930
Victor
Prynne in Private Lives (Noel Coward) directed by Noel Coward
with Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, at the Phoenix Theatre,
London.
1931
Private
Lives with Noel Coward, Gertrude Lawrence and Jill Esmond at Times
Square Theatre, New York.
1933
Stevan
Beringer in The Rats of Norway (Keith Winter) directed by Raymond
Massey with Raymond Massey and Gladys Cooper at the Playhouse
Theatre, London.
Julian in
The Green Bay Tree directed by Jed Harris at the Cort Theatre,
New York.
1934
Richard
Kurt in Biography (S. N. Behrman) directed by Noel Coward with
Ina Claire at the Globe Theatre, London.
June - Bothwell
in Queen of Scots (Gordon Daviot) directed by John Gielgud with
Glen Byam Shaw and Campbell Gullan at the New Theatre, London.
Oct. - Tony
Cavendish in Theatre Royal (Edna Ferber and George Kaufman) directed
by Noel Coward with Marie Tempest at the Lyric Theatre, London.
1935
(Mar.)
Peter Hammond in The Ringmaster (Keith Winter) directed by Raymond
Massey with Cathleen Nesbitt and Nigel Patrick at the Shaftesbury
Theatre, London.
May - Richard
Harben in Golden Arrow (Sylvia Thompson and Victor Cunard) presented
and directed by Laurence Olivier with Cecil Parker and Greer Garson
at the Whitehall Theatre, London.
1935
Oct.
- Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare) directed by John Gielgud
with Peggy Ashcroft, and John Gielgud as Mercutio at the New Theatre,
London. Later switched roles with Gielgud
1936
May
- Bob Patch in Bees on the Boatdeck (J. B. Priestley) presented
by Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson with Kay Hammond, Rene
Ray, Raymond Huntley and Ralph Richardson at the Lyric Theatre,
London.
1937
Old
Vic Season
Jan. - Title role in Hamlet (Shakespeare) directed by Tyrone Guthrie
with MichaeI Redgrave. Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare)
directed by Tyrone Guthrie with Jill Esmond. Title role in Henry
V (Shakespeare) directed by Tyrone Guthrie.
June - Title
role in Hamlet directed by Tyrone Guthrie with Vivien Leigh as
Ophelia at Kronborg Castle, Elsinore, Denmark.
1937-38
Second
Old Vic Season
Title role
in Macbeth (Shakespeare) directed by Michael Saint-Denis with
Judith Anderson.
Feb. - Iago
in Othello (Shakespeare) directed by Tyrone Guthrie with Ralph
Richardson.
Mar. - Vivaldi
in the King of Nowhere (James Bridie) directed by Tyrone Guthrie.
Apr. - Title
role In Coriolanus (Shakespeare) directed by Lewis Casson with
Sybil Thorndike.
1939
Gaylord
Easterbrook in No Time For Comedy (S. N. Behrman) with Katharine
Cornell at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York.
1940
Romeo
in Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare) directed by Laurence Olivier
with Vivien Leigh as Juliet, New York after by-outs in San Francisco
and Chicago.
1944
Appointed
Co-director of the old Vic with Ralph Richardson and John Burrell.
At New Theatre, London, Sergius in Arms and The Man (Shaw). The
Button Moulder in Peer Gynt (Ibsen). Title role in Richard III
(Shakespeare) directed by John Burrell.
1945
Directed
The Skin of Our Teeth (Thornton Wilder) with Vivien Leigh at the
Phoenix Theatre, London.
Second Old
Vic Season at the New Theatre, London.
Jan. - Astrov
in Uncle Vanya (Chekhov). Hotspur in Henry IV, Part One.
Sept. - Justice
Shallow in Henry IV, Part Two.
Oct. - Double
Bill: Title role in Oedipus (Sophocles, translated by W. B. Yeats)
and Mr Puff in The Critic (Sheridan). Arms and The Man, Peer Gynt
and Richard III - Tour of Belgium, Holland, Germany and France
playing to army audiences.
1946 Henry
IV, Parts One and Two, Oedipus, The Critic, and Uncle Vanya at
the Century Theatre, New York, with Old Vic Company.
Sept. - Title
role in King Lear (Shakespeare) directed by Laurence Olivier at
New Theatre, London with Alec Guinness and Old Vic Company.
1947
Received
Knighthood 'for services to stage and films'.
Presented and directed Born Yesterday (Garson Kanin) with Hartley
Power and Yolande Donlan at the Garrick Theatre, London.
1948
(Mar.-Sept.)
Tour of Australia and New Zealand with Old Vic Company: Sir Peter
Teazle in The School for Scandal (Sheridan) directed by Laurence
Olivier with Vivien Leigh.
Mr Antrobus
in The Skin of Our Teeth (Thornton Wilder) directed by Laurence
Olivier with Vivien Leigh.
Title role
in Richard III (Shakespeare) directed by John BurreIl.
1949
Old
Vic Season at the New Theatre London: Sir Peter Teazle in The
School for Scandal (Sheridan) directed by Laurence Olivier with
Vivien Leigh.
Chorus in
Antigone (Anouilh) directed by Laurence Olivier with Vivien Leigh.
Directed The
Proposal (Chekhov) as curtain-raiser to Antigone.
Title role
in Richard III (Shakespeare) directed by John Burrell.
Oct. - Directed
A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee WiIliams) with Vivien Leigh,
Boner Colleano, and Bernard Braden at the Aldwych Theatre, London.
Presented
Daphne Laureola (James Bridie) with Edith Evans at Wyndham's Theatre,
London.
1950
Actor-Manager
at the St James's Theatre, London: The Duke of Altair in Venus
Observed (Christopher Fry) directed by Laurence Olivier with Rachel
Kempson, Heather Stannard and Denholm EIliot.
Also presented
Fading Mansion (Anouilh adapted by Donagh MacDonagh), Captain
Carvallo (Dennis Cannan), Top Of The Ladder (Tyrone Guthrie) with
John Mills, and The Consul (opera by Menotti).
1951
Festival
of Britain Productions in association with the Arts Council:
May - Caesar
in Caesar and Cleopatra (Shaw) directed by Michael Benthall with
Vivien Leigh.
Antony in
Antony and CIeopatra (Shakespeare) directed by Michael Benthall
with Vivien Leigh.
Oct. - Presented
Orson Welles in Othello (Shakespeare) directed by Orson Welles
at the St James's Theatre, London.
Dec. - Caesar
and Cleopatra and Antony and Cleopatra at the Ziegfeld Theatre,
New York.
1952
Presented
Peter Finch in The Happy Time (adapted by Samuel Taylor from Robert
Fontaine’s novel)at the St James's Theatre, London.
Venus Observed
at the New Century Theatre, New York.
1953
Aug
- Presented Anastasia (Marcelle Maurette)
directed by John Counsell at the St James's Theatre, London.
Nov. - The
Prince in The Sleeping Prince (Terence Rattigan) directed by Laurence
Olivier at the Phoenix Theatre, London.
1954
Presented Waiting for Gillian (adapted by Ronald Millar from Nigel
Balchin's novel) directed
by Michael Macowan with Frank Lawton, John McCallum and Googie
Withers at the St James's Theatre, London.
Presented
Meet A Body (Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliatt) directed by Henry
Kendall with Brian Reece and Patrick Cargill at the Duke of York's
Theatre, London.
1955
Season
at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon :
Apr. - Malvolio
in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare) directed by John Gielgud with Vivien
Leigh.
June - Title
role in Macbeth (Shakespeare) directed by Glen Byam Shaw with
Vivien Leigh.
Aug. - Title
role in Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare) directed by Peter Brook
with Vivien Leigh
1956
Presented
Double Image (Roger MacDougall and Ted Allan) with Richard Attenborough
at the Savoy Theatre, London.
Presented
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (Ray Lawler) directed by Laurence
Olivier with Ray Lawler and Madge Ryan at the New Theatre, London.
1957
Archie
Rice in The Entertainer (John Osborne) directed byTony Richardson
with Brenda de Banzie and Joan PIowright at the Royal Court Theatre,
London.
June - Titus
Andronicus: tour to Paris, Venice, Belgrade, Zagreb, Vienna and
Warsaw, and finally at the Stoll Theatre, London.
Sept. - The Entertainer transferred to the Palace Theatre, London.
1958 The
Entertainer at the Royale Theatre, New York.
1959 Title
role in Coriolanus (Shakespeare) directed by Peter Hall at Shakespeare
Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon,
1960
Apr.
- Berenger in Rhinoceros (Ionesco) directed by Orson Welles at
the Royal Court Theatre, London.
Oct. - Becket
in Becket (Anouilh) directed by Peter Glenville with Anthony Quinn
as King Henry at St James's Theatre, New York. later took over
role of Henry when Quinn left the cast.
1961
Appointed
Director of Chichester Festival Theatre. Directed The Chances
(John Fletcher).
Prologue and Bassanes in The Broken Heart (John Ford) directed
by Laurence Olivier.
Astrov in
Uncle Vanya (Chekhov) directed by Laurence OIivier.
Dec. - Fred
Midway in Semi-Detached (David Turner) directed by Sir Tony Richardson
at the Saville Theatre, London.
1963
Appointed
Director of the National Theatre.
Oct. - Directed Hamlet (Shakespeare) with Peter O'Toole, Rosemary
Harris, Michael Redgrave and Max Adrian. Inaugural Production
of the National Theatre at the Old Vic.
Astrov in
Uncle Vanya (Chekhov) directed by Laurence Olivier at the National
(Old Vic).
Captain Brazen
in The Recruiting Officer (Farquhar) directed by William Gaskill
at the National Theatre (Old Vic).
1964
(Apr.)
Title role in Othello (Shakespeare) directed by John Dexter with
Maggie Smith and Frank Finlay at the National Theatre (Old Vic).
Solness in
The Master Builder (Ibsen) directed by Peter Wood with Joan Plowright
at the National Theatre (Old Vic).
1965
Directed
The Crucible (Arthur Miller) with Colin Blakeley and Joyce Redman
at the National Theatre (Old Vic).
Tattle in Love for Love (Congreve) directed by Peter Wood and
title role in Othello - National Theatre tour to Berlin and Moscow.
Oct. - Tattle
in Love for Love, with ]John Stride and Geraldine McEwan at the
National Theatre (Old Vic).
1967
Feb.
- Edgar in The Dance Of Death (Strindberg) directed by Glen Byam
Shaw with Geraldine McEwan at the National Theatre (Old Vie).
Plucheux in
A Flea in Her Ear (Feydeau) at the National Theatre (Old Vic).
Directed Three
Sisters (ChekhoV) with Joan Plowright at the National Theatre
(Old Vic).
The Dance
of Death, Love for Love, and A Flea in Her Ear - Canadian Tour
with National Theatre Company.
1968
Directed
Love's Labour Lost (Shakespeare) at National Theatre (Old Vic).
Co-directed with Donald MacKechnie The Advertisement. (Natalia
Ginzburg) with Joan Plowright at the National (Old Vic).
1970
Created
Baron OIivier in the Birthday Honours List.
Apr. - Shylock
in The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare) directed by Jonathan Miller
with Joan Plowright. at the National Theatre (Old Vic).
1971
June
- Directed Amphitryon 38 (Giraudoux) with Christopher Plummer,
Geraldine McEwan and National Theatre Company at the New Theatre,
London.
Dec. - James
Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night (Eugene O'Neill) directed
by Michael Blakemore with Constance Cummings and National Theatre
Company at the New Theatre, London.
1972
Long
Day's Journey Into Night at the National Theatre (Old Vic). |
