1. Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies
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Peter Hall Biography (1930-)

Full name, Peter Reginald Frederick Hall; born November 22, 1930, in Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk, England; son of Reginald Edward Arthur (a stationmaster) and Grace (maiden name, Pamment) Hall; married Leslie Caron (a ballet dancer and actress), August 6, 1956 (divorced, 1965); married Jacqueline Taylor, 1965(divorced, 1981); married Maria Ewing (an opera singer), 1982 (divorced, 1990); married Nicola Frei, 1990; children: (first marriage) two; (second marriage) two; (third marriage) one; (fourth marriage) one. Addresses: Office: Peter Hall Company, Ltd., 18 Exeter St., London WC2E 7DU, England.

Nationality

British

Gender

Male

Occupation

Director, television host, writer, actor

Birth Details

November 22, 1930

Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk, United Kingdom

Famous Works

• CREDITS
• Stage Director
• The Letter, Theatre Royal, Windsor, England, 1953
• Blood Wedding, Arts Theatre, London, 1954
• The Immoralist, Arts Theatre, 1954
• The Lesson, Arts Theatre, 1954
• South, Arts Theatre, 1954
• Mourning Becomes Electra, Arts Theatre, 1955
• Waiting for Godot, Arts Theatre, 1955
• Burnt Flower-Bed, Arts Theatre, 1955
• Listen to the Wind, Arts Theatre, 1955
• Summertime, Apollo Theatre, London, 1955
• The Waltz of the Toreadors, Arts Theatre, 1955
• Gigi, New Theatre, London, 1956
• Love's Labour's Lost, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1956
• Camino Real, Phoenix Theatre, London, 1957
• The Moon and Sixpence, Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, 1957
• Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1957
• The Rope Dancers, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1957
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Comedy Theatre, London, 1958
• Twelfth Night, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1958
• Brouhaha, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1958
• Shadow of Heroes, Piccadilly Theatre, London, 1958
• Madame De, Arts Theatre, then Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959
• A Traveler without Luggage, Arts Theatre, then Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, both 1959
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959
• Coriolanus, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959
• The Wrong Side of the Park, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1959, then Cambridge Theatre, London, 1960
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1960
• Twelfth Night, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre,both 1960
• (With John Barton) Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1960
• The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1960
• The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1960
• The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1960
• The Duchess of Malfi, Aldwych Theatre, 1960
• The Hollow Crown, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1960, then AldwychTheatre, 1961, later Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, 1963
• Ondine, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1961
• Becket, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1961
• Romeo and Juliet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1961
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1961
• The Collection, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1961
• Troilus and Cressida, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal ShakespeareTheatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1961
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1963
• The War of the Roses (adapted from Shakespeare's Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III, and Richard III), Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1963 later revived, 1964
• A Cycle of Seven History Plays (includes Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, Henry V, Henry VI, Part I, EdwardIV, and Richard III), Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal ShakespeareTheatre, 1963, then Aldwych Theatre, 1964
• Eh?, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1964
• The Homecoming, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1965,then Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1967
• Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, thenAldwych Theatre, both 1965
• The Government Inspector, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1965
• Staircase, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1966
• Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1967
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1967
• A Delicate Balance, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1969
• Dutch Uncle, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both1969
• Landscape, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1969
• Silence, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then Aldwych Theatre, both 1969
• The Battle of Shrivings, Lyric Theatre, London, 1970
• Old Times, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1971, thenNew York City, 1971-1972
• Via Galactica, Uris Theatre, New York City, 1972
• All Over, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1972
• Alte Zeiten (Austrian production of Old Times), Burgtheatre, Vienna, Austria, 1972
• The Tempest, National Theatre Company, Old Vic Theatre, London, 1973
• John Gabriel Borkman, National Theatre Company, National Theatre,London, 1974
• Happy Days, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1974
• No Man's Land, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1975
• Hamlet, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1975
• Judgment, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1975
• Tamburlaine the Great, National Theatre Company, National Theatre,1977
• (With Alan Ayckbourn) Bedroom Farce, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1977
• Volpone, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1978
• The Country Wife, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1978
• The Cherry Orchard, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1978
• Macbeth, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1978
• Betrayal, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1978
• Amadeus, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1979
• (With Ayckbourn) Bedroom Farce, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New YorkCity, 1979
• Betrayal, Trafalgar Theatre, New York City, 1980
• Amadeus, Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 1980-1983
• Othello, National Theatre, 1980
• Family Voices, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, London, 1981
• Amadeus, National Theatre Company, Her Majesty's Theatre, London,1981
• The Oresteia, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, London, 1981
• The Importance of Being Earnest, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1982
• Other Places: Family Voices, Victoria Station, and a Kind of Alaska, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, London, 1982
• Jean Seberg, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1983
• Animal Farm, National Theatre Company, National Theatre, 1984
• Coriolanus, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, 1984
• Martine, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1985
• Yonadab, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, 1985
• The Oresteia, National Theatre Company, 1986
• The Petition, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, then Wyndham's Theatre, London, then John Golden Theatre, New York City, all 1986
• Coming into Land, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1987
• Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, 1987
• Entertaining Strangers, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, 1987
• The Winter's Tale, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, then Olivier Theatre, both 1988
• The Tempest, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, then Olivier Theatre, both 1988
• Cymbeline, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, then Olivier Theatre, both 1988
• Orpheus Descending, Peter Hall Company, Theatre Royal, Haymarket,London, 1988-1989, then Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, 1989
• Merchant of Venice, Peter Hall Company, Phoenix Theatre, 1989, then 46th Street Theatre, New York City, 1989-1990
• The Wild Duck, Peter Hall Company, Phoenix Theatre, 1990
• Born Again, Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, England, 1990
• The Homecoming, Peter Hall Company, Comedy Theatre, 1991
• Twelfth Night, Peter Hall Company, Playhouse Theatre, London, 1991
• The Rose Tattoo, Peter Hall Company, Playhouse Theatre, 1991
• Tartuffe, Peter Hall Company, Playhouse Theatre, 1991
• An Ideal Husband, Globe Theatre, London, 1992
• All's Well that Ends Well, Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1992
• Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York City, 1992
• Sienna Red, London, 1992
• The Gift of the Gorgon, Barbican Pit, London, then Wyndham's Theatre, both 1993
• Lysistrata, Old Vic Theatre, then Wyndham's Theatre, both 1993
• Separate Tables, Queens Theatre, London, 1993
• She Stoops to Conquer, Queens Theatre, 1993
• Piaf, Piccadilly Theatre, London, 1993
• An Absolute Turkey, Globe Theatre, 1993
• On Approval, Playhouse Theatre, 1994
• Hamlet, Gielgud Theatre, London, 1994
• The Master Builder, Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1995-1996
• Mind Millie for Me, Haymarket, 1996
• School for Wives, 1996
• The Oedipus Plays, Olivier Theatre, then Royal National Theatre, both 1996
• An Ideal Husband, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1996-1997
• Waiting for Godot, Old Vic Theatre, 1997
• A Streetcar Named Desire, National Theatre, 1997
• Waste, Old Vic Theatre, 1997
• The Seagull, Old Vic Theatre, 1997
• King Lear, Old Vic Theatre, 1997
• The Misanthrope, Piccadilly Theatre, 1998
• Filumena, Piccadilly Theatre, 1998
• Kafka's Dick, Piccadilly Theatre, 1998
• Major Barbara, Piccadilly Theatre, 1998
• Waiting for Godot, Piccadilly Theatre, 1998
• Lenny, Queens Theatre, 1999
• Measure for Measure, Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, 1999
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ahmanson Theatre, 1999
• Amadeus, Old Vic Theatre, 1999, then Music Box Theatre, 1999-2000
• (With son, Edward Hall) Tantalus, Centre for the Performing Arts,Denver, CO, 2000, then Barbican Centre, London, 2000-?
• Cuckoos, The Gate Theatre, London, 2000
• Troilus and Cressida, Theatre for a New Audience at American PlaceTheater/Main Stage, New York City, 2001
• Romeo and Juliet, Ahmanson Theatre Group, Los Angeles, 2001
• Japes, Theatre Royal, London, 2001
• The Royal Family, Theatre Royal, 2002
• Lady Windemere's Fan, Haymarket, 2002
• Also directed An Impresario from Smyrna, Arts Theatre.
• Major Tours
• The Gates of Summer, British cities, 1956
• King Lear, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1964
• The Comedy of Errors, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1964
• The Wild Duck, British cities, 1990
• (With son, Edward Hall) Tantalus, European cities.
• Operas
• Moses and Aaron, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 1965
• The Magic Flute, Royal Opera House, 1966
• The Knot Garden, Royal Opera House, 1970
• La Calista, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Glyndebourne, England, 1970
• Eugene Onegin, Royal Opera House, 1971
• Tristan and Isolde, Royal Opera House, 1971
• Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1972
• The Marriage of Figaro, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1973
• Don Giovanni, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1978
• Cosi Fan Tutte, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1978
• Fidelio, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1979
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1982
• Orfeo ed Euridice, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1982
• Macbeth, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, then Metropolitan Opera, NewYork City, 1982
• Der Ring des Nibelungen, Bayreuth, West Germany, 1983
• The Marriage of Figaro, Geneva, Switzerland, 1983
• Don Giovanni, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1984
• Cosi Fan Tutte, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1984
• L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1984
• Carmen, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1985, then Metropolitan OperaHouse, 1986
• Albert Herring, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1985-1986
• L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1986
• Simon Boccanegra, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1986
• Salome, Los Angeles, 1986
• The Marriage of Figaro, Chicago, IL, 1987
• La Traviata, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1987-1988
• Cosi Fan Tutte, Los Angeles, 1988
• Falstaff, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1988
• Salome, Royal Opera House, then Chicago, IL, both 1988
• Albert Herring, Royal Opera House, 1989
• The Marriage of Figaro, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1989
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1989
• New World, Houston, TX, 1989
• The Magic Flute, Los Angeles, 1992
• Carmen, Metropolitan Opera House, 1996
• Simon Boccanegra, Glyndenbourne Festival Opera, 1998
• Otello and Street Scene, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 2001, then Lyric Opera, Chicago, IL, 2002
• Film Director
• Work Is a Four Letter Word (also known as Work Is a 4-Letter Word), Universal, 1968
• Three into Two Won't Go, Universal, 1969
• Perfect Friday, Chevron, 1970
• The Homecoming, American Film Theatre Distributing, 1973
• Landscape, 1974
• (And producer) Akenfield, Angle Films, 1974
• She's Been Away, BBC Films, 1989
• (And producer) Delinquent, 1994
• Never Talk to Strangers (also known as Spiel mit dem Feuer), TriStar, 1995
• Also directed All Over; Old Times.
• Film Appearances
• Rudolf Hartmann, The Pedestrian, 1974
• Himself, Glyndebourne-A Celebration of Fifty Years, 1984
• She's Been Away, BBC Films, 1989
• (As Sir Peter Hall; archive footage) Himself (director), Shylock,1999
• Television Director
• Specials
• The War of the Roses, BBC, 1964
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, CBS, 1969
• (As Sir Peter Hall) Fidelio, Arts and Entertainment, 1985
• L'Incoronazione di Poppea, 1986
• Oresteia, Channel Four, 1986
• La Traviata, 1987
• "Carmen," Live from the Met, PBS, 1987
• The Marriage of Figaro, 1989
• Television Opera Director
• Specials
• The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland, 1973
• Le Nozze di Figaro, 1973
• Don Giovanni, 1977
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1981
• Orfeo ed Euridice, 1982
• Albert Herring, 1985
• Television Production Manager
• Specials
• ABC Presents a Royal Gala, ABC, 1988
• Television Director
• Movies
• Orpheus Descending (also known as Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending), TNT, 1991
• Jacob: A TNT Bible Story (also known as Jacob), TNT, 1994
• The Final Passage, BBC, 1996
• Miniseries
• The Camomile Lawn, Channel Four, 1992
• Television Appearances
• Specials
• Living Shakespeare: A Year with the RSC, Arts and Entertainment, 1992
• Miniseries
• Director (first British production of Waiting for Godot, 1955
• Changing Stages (documentary), BBC and PBS, 2000
• Movies
• Minister #2, Snow White, BBC, 2001
• Series
• Host, Aquarius, London Weekend Television, 1975-1977
• Episodic
• Sharp-dressed man, "All About Yves," The Lone Gunmen, Fox, 2001
• Maitre D', "The Grain," Special Unit 2, UPN, 2001
• Radio Director
• Family Voices, BBC, 1981
• RECORDINGS
• Contributor to albums, including Das Rheingold; Gotterdammerung; Purcell: Music for Westminster Abbey; Stravinksy: The Flood,Abraham and Isaac, Variations, Requiem, Canticles; and Wuorinen: A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky.
• WRITINGS
• Screenplays
• Delinquent, 1994
• Television Movies
• Orpheus Descending (also known as Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending), TNT, 1991
• Television Episodes
• Wrote "Playing God," Life Support, BBC1.
• Translations
• (With Inga-Stina Ewbank) Henrik Ibsen, John Gabriel Borkman: An English Version, Athlone Press (London, England), 1975
• (With Nicola Frei) Georges Feydeau, An Absolute Turkey, Globe Theatre, 1994
• Nonfiction
• (Author of foreword) David Addenbrooke, The Royal Shakespeare Company:The Peter Hall Years, afterword by Trevor Nunn, Kimber (London, England), 1974
• (Preparer with John Russell Brown) Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great, Parts I and II, R. Collins (London, England), 1976
• (Edited by John Goodwin) Peter Hall's Diaries: The Story of a DramaticBattle, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1983, Harper (New York City),1984
• Making an Exhibition of Myself, Sinclair-Stevenson (London, England), 1993
• Adapted Plays
• (With John Barton) The War of the Roses (from Shakespeare's Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III and Richard III), Royal Shakespeare Company, published by the British Broadcasting Corporation, 1970
• George Orwell's Animal Farm, with lyrics by Adrian Mitchell and music by Richard Peaslee, Methuen (London, England), 1985
• (With Inga-Stina Ewbank) The Wild Duck: An English Adaptation, 1990

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books

• Fay, Stephen, Power Play: The Life and Times of Peter Hall, Hodderand Stoughton (London, England), 1995
• Hall, Peter, Peter Hall's Diaries: The Story of a Dramatic Battle,edited by John Goodwin, Hamish Hamilton, 1983, Harper, 1984
• International Dictionary of Opera, St. James Press, 1993
• International Dictionary of Theatre, Volume 3: Actors, Directors, and Designers, St. James Press, 1996

Periodicals

• American Record Guide, March/April, 1996, p. 168; September/October, 1996, pp. 34-36
• MacLean's, January 29, 1996, p. 61
• New Statesman, September 20, 1996, p. 39; February 28, 1997, p. 8
• Stereo Review, April, 1996, p. 101
• Variety, May 6, 1996, p. 210; July 29, 1996, pp. 63-64; February 18, 1998, p. 63
• Wall Street Journal, November 18, 1996, p. A10