Jonathan Holmes (theatre director)
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Holmes is a UK theatre director and writer. He attended Wath Comprehensive School, The University of Birmingham (where he emerged with a first-class degree) and completed a Ph.D at The Shakespeare Institute
. He is a cousin of army officer William Thomas Forshaw
and film director Cy Endfield
.
For six years he taught Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London
, leaving as a Senior Lecturer in 2007. During his time there he wrote two books: Merely Players (about the rhetoric of classical acting) and Refiguring Mimesis (with Adrian Streete, about aesthetics). He also set up a new degree programme in Drama and English.
During this first career he became an expert in the work of John Donne
, and organised the first live performance for four centuries of several of Donne’s songs at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2005http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article520308.ece. Performers included Dame Emma Kirkby
, Carolyn Sampson and The Sixteen
. The event sold out, and the proceeds were donated to the charity Peace Direct
. In 2011 he also wrote and directed Into Thy Hands
, a biographical play on Donne.
In 2007 he wrote, directed and produced the play Fallujahhttp://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article1749480.ece, starring Harriet Walter
, Imogen Stubbs
and Irène Jacob
. It ran in a specially tailored space on Brick Lane
with a score by Nitin Sawhney
and design by the conceptual artist Lucy Orta
. At the time it was the only significant account of the sieges of Fallujah
, and is composed entirely of verbatim testimony. In 2008 he collaborated with the choir and period instrument orchestra The Sixteen
and actors Alan Howard
and Virginia McKenna
in a series of concerts at the South Bank Centre
.
He has also written and directed two short films, starring Rebecca Lenkiewicz
, Elliot Cowan
and Julian Ovenden
, and is nearing completion on a feature documentary, Perpetual Peacehttp://www.youtube.com/results.php?search_query=Perpetual+Peace. This last includes interviews with peacemakers around the world and features contributions by Harold Pinter
, John Berger
, Karen Armstrong
, George Monbiot
, Tony Benn
and Noreena Hertz
, among others.
In 2008 he set up The Jericho House, a movable performance venue specialising in cross-media collaborations around the theme of hospitality. The Jericho House is groundbreaking in its use of sound and music, leading Holmes to set up a partnership with The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience examining the effect of sound on the brain.
In 2009 Jericho produced a critically acclaimed site-specific testimony play about the neglect of New Orleans after the hurricane. It was called simply 'Katrina’, and the run sold out completely.
In 2010 Holmes began a campaign for continuing state support for the arts with an event called ‘What’s the point of art?’, attended by many influential people from the creative industries. The resulting public debate led to all three main parties committing to maintaining arts funding at 2009 levels at the next spending round.
He lives in north London.
Shakespeare Institute
The Shakespeare Institute is a centre for postgraduate study dedicated to the study of William Shakespeare and the literature of the English Renaissance. It is part of the University of Birmingham, and is located in Stratford-upon-Avon....
. He is a cousin of army officer William Thomas Forshaw
William Thomas Forshaw
Major William Thomas Forshaw VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. In civilian life Forshaw was a teacher at The Manchester Grammar School.Forshaw was...
and film director Cy Endfield
Cy Endfield
Cyril Raker Endfield was an American screenwriter, film director, theatre director, author, magician and inventor, based in Britain from 1953.- Biography :...
.
For six years he taught Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
, leaving as a Senior Lecturer in 2007. During his time there he wrote two books: Merely Players (about the rhetoric of classical acting) and Refiguring Mimesis (with Adrian Streete, about aesthetics). He also set up a new degree programme in Drama and English.
During this first career he became an expert in the work of John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, and organised the first live performance for four centuries of several of Donne’s songs at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2005http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article520308.ece. Performers included Dame Emma Kirkby
Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...
, Carolyn Sampson and The Sixteen
The Sixteen
The Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
. The event sold out, and the proceeds were donated to the charity Peace Direct
Peace Direct
Peace Direct is a charity based in London, England which supports grassroots peacebuilders in areas of conflict. Peace Direct focuses on supporting grassroots peacebuilders who are local to the conflict and have a clear vision of what needs to be achieved. Peace Direct funds this work, promotes it...
. In 2011 he also wrote and directed Into Thy Hands
Into Thy Hands
Into Thy Hands is a 2011 play by Jonathan Holmes on the life of John Donne and in particular his actions during 1611 and his relationships with those involved in translating the King James Version...
, a biographical play on Donne.
In 2007 he wrote, directed and produced the play Fallujahhttp://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article1749480.ece, starring Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
, Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs, Lady Nunn is an English actress and playwright.-Early life:Imogen Stubbs was born in Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on an elderly river barge on the Thames...
and Irène Jacob
Irène Jacob
Irène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
. It ran in a specially tailored space on Brick Lane
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...
with a score by Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney is an Indian-British musician, producer and composer. His critically acclaimed work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics and spirituality...
and design by the conceptual artist Lucy Orta
Lucy Orta
Lucy Orta is a British contemporary visual artist living and working between London and Paris where she resides since 1991. She was born in 1966 in Sutton Coldfield, Great Britain....
. At the time it was the only significant account of the sieges of Fallujah
Fallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
, and is composed entirely of verbatim testimony. In 2008 he collaborated with the choir and period instrument orchestra The Sixteen
The Sixteen
The Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
and actors Alan Howard
Alan Howard
Alan MacKenzie Howard, CBE, is an English actor known for his roles on stage, television and film.He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1983, and played leading roles at the Royal National Theatre between 1992 and 2000.-Personal life:Howard is the only son of the actor...
and Virginia McKenna
Virginia McKenna
Virginia A. McKenna OBE is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner.-Early career:McKenna trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama then worked on stage in London's West End theatres before making her motion picture debut in 1952...
in a series of concerts at the South Bank Centre
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, UK, on the South Bank of the River Thames between County Hall and Waterloo Bridge. It comprises three main buildings , and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracts more than three million visitors annually...
.
He has also written and directed two short films, starring Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a British playwright. She attended Plymouth High School for Girls, then progressed to a BA in Film and English at the University of Kent from 1985 to 1989 and then to a BA Acting Course at the Central School of Speech and Drama from 1996 to 1999.-Career:As a writer, her plays...
, Elliot Cowan
Elliot Cowan
Elliot Cowan is an English actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in Ultimate Force, Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen and Ptolemy in the 2004 film Alexander.-Background:...
and Julian Ovenden
Julian Ovenden
Julian Ovenden is an English stage, television and film actor and singer. He is one of three children of Canon John Ovenden, chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II....
, and is nearing completion on a feature documentary, Perpetual Peacehttp://www.youtube.com/results.php?search_query=Perpetual+Peace. This last includes interviews with peacemakers around the world and features contributions by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, John Berger
John Berger
John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...
, Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong FRSL , is a British author and commentator who is the author of twelve books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic nun, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and mystical faith...
, George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
, Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
and Noreena Hertz
Noreena Hertz
Professor Noreena Hertz is an English economist, author and campaigner.In her 2002 book The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and The Death of Democracy, Hertz warned that unregulated markets, corporate greed, and over-powerful financial institutions would have serious global consequences that...
, among others.
In 2008 he set up The Jericho House, a movable performance venue specialising in cross-media collaborations around the theme of hospitality. The Jericho House is groundbreaking in its use of sound and music, leading Holmes to set up a partnership with The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience examining the effect of sound on the brain.
In 2009 Jericho produced a critically acclaimed site-specific testimony play about the neglect of New Orleans after the hurricane. It was called simply 'Katrina’, and the run sold out completely.
In 2010 Holmes began a campaign for continuing state support for the arts with an event called ‘What’s the point of art?’, attended by many influential people from the creative industries. The resulting public debate led to all three main parties committing to maintaining arts funding at 2009 levels at the next spending round.
He lives in north London.