Paul Groothuis
Encyclopedia
Paul Groothuis is an award-winning sound designer who has had a long and prolific career on the London
stage. Groothuis was born in Holland and moved to the UK in 1979 to study Stage Management at the Central School of Speech and Drama
. He joined the National Theatre
on the South Bank
in 1984 and has designed sound for more than 120 productions at the NT. Some of his recent productions are Her Naked Skin
, Rafta, Rafta...
, The Man of Mode
, The Life of Galileo, The Royal Hunt of the Sun
, Once in a Lifetime
, His Dark Materials
, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
and Stuff Happens
. He has also designed sound for musicals at the NT, including Sunday in the Park with George
, Sweeney Todd
, A Little Night Music
, Lady in the Dark
and Guys and Dolls. In 1999, he won Live! Magazine Sound Designer of the Year Award for his work on Oklahoma!
and Oh, What a Lovely War!
.
Groothuis has been visiting lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. He is also a sound consultant for the Kingston Theatre.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
stage. Groothuis was born in Holland and moved to the UK in 1979 to study Stage Management at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
. He joined the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
on the South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
in 1984 and has designed sound for more than 120 productions at the NT. Some of his recent productions are Her Naked Skin
Her Naked Skin
Her Naked Skin is a 2008 play by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. It is notable as the first play by a female writer to be produced on the main stage at the Royal National Theatre, where it premiered on 24 July 2008. The premiere was directed by Howard Davies. In an interview, the National's director...
, Rafta, Rafta...
Rafta, Rafta...
Rafta, Rafta... is a comedy by British Pakistani playwright Ayub Khan-Din adapted from the 1963 Bill Naughton play, All in Good Time. The play is set in the working-class English town of Bolton, and examines a story of marital difficulties within an immigrant Indian family. Eeshwar Dutt is a...
, The Man of Mode
The Man of Mode
The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter is a Restoration comedy by George Etherege, written in 1676 and first performed March 2 of the same year. Gibbons argues that the play "offers the comedy of manners in its most concentrated form"...
, The Life of Galileo, The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that portrays the destruction of the Inca empire by conquistador Francisco Pizarro.-Premiere:...
, Once in a Lifetime
Once in a Lifetime (play)
Once in a Lifetime is a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.-Plot:The satirical comedy focuses on the effect talking pictures have on the entertainment industry...
, His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife , and The Amber Spyglass...
, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
and Stuff Happens
Stuff Happens
Stuff Happens is a play by David Hare, written in response to the Iraq War. Hare describes it as "a history play" that deals with recent history.The title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld's response to widespread looting in Baghdad:...
. He has also designed sound for musicals at the NT, including Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
, Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as then antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls and he was later introduced as an antihero in the broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its film adaptation...
, A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
, Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis...
and Guys and Dolls. In 1999, he won Live! Magazine Sound Designer of the Year Award for his work on Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
and Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War!
Oh, What a Lovely War! is an epic musical originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, The Long Long Trail in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963...
.
Groothuis has been visiting lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. He is also a sound consultant for the Kingston Theatre.