Terry Hands
Encyclopedia
Terence David Hands is an English theatre director. He ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for 20 years during one of its most successful periods.
, Hampshire
, England
. He studied at Woking Grammar School, University of Birmingham
and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
. In 1964 he established the Liverpool Everyman
.
in 1966 to run the Company's touring group, Theatregoround. He become joint Artistic Director with Trevor Nunn
in 1978, and in 1986 chief executive.
In 1997 Hands became been director of Clwyd Theatr Cymru
which presents much of its work on tour in Wales and the rest of the UK. He was appointed C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2007 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to drama.
In October 2001 he resigned from his position as an advisory director of the RSC.
(1964–1967) and actress Ludmila Mikaël with whom he had a daughter, actress Marina Hands
. He also had two sons, Sebastian and Rupert Hands (the latter has performed in two Clwyd Theatr Cymru productions) with actress and dancer Julia Lintott. His current wife, director Emma Lucia.
RCS (Royal Shakespeare Theatre
and Aldwych Theatre
)
RSC at the Barbican Theatres and Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Chichester Festival
Clwyd Theatr Cymru
Early years
Hands was born at AldershotAldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He studied at Woking Grammar School, University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
. In 1964 he established the Liverpool Everyman
Everyman Theatre
The Everyman Theatre stands at the north end of Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Established in 1964 in a former cinema, it encouraged local talent and played a part in the development of new artistes and writers. The theatre was rebuilt between 1975 and 1977, and was closed again for...
.
Career
Hands joined the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
in 1966 to run the Company's touring group, Theatregoround. He become joint Artistic Director with Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
in 1978, and in 1986 chief executive.
In 1997 Hands became been director of Clwyd Theatr Cymru
Clwyd Theatr Cymru
Clwyd Theatr Cymru , known until 1998 as Theatr Clwyd, is a regional arts centre located 1 mile from Mold, Flintshire, in north-east Wales.The complex contains five auditoria:*The Anthony Hopkins Theatre ....
which presents much of its work on tour in Wales and the rest of the UK. He was appointed C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2007 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to drama.
In October 2001 he resigned from his position as an advisory director of the RSC.
Personal life
Hands was married to soprano Dame Josephine BarstowJosephine Barstow
Dame Josephine Clare Barstow DBE is an English soprano.-Education and early career:Josephine Barstow was born in Sheffield and educated at the University of Birmingham. She made her professional debut with the touring company Opera for All in 1964...
(1964–1967) and actress Ludmila Mikaël with whom he had a daughter, actress Marina Hands
Marina Hands
- Biography :Hands is the daughter of British director Terry Hands and French actress Ludmila Mikaël, and the granddaughter of painter Pierre Dmitrienko. She studied acting at the Cours Florent and the CNSAD in France, and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England...
. He also had two sons, Sebastian and Rupert Hands (the latter has performed in two Clwyd Theatr Cymru productions) with actress and dancer Julia Lintott. His current wife, director Emma Lucia.
Stage productions
Theatregoround - Touring RSC- 1966: The second shepherd's play
- 1966: The Proposal, Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
- 1967: The Criminals, José Triana
- 1967: The Dumb Waiter, Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold 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...
- 1967-1968: Under Milk WoodUnder Milk WoodUnder Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. A movie version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released during 1972....
, Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasDylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
RCS (Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
and Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
)
- 1968: The Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
- 1968: The Latent Heterosexual, Paddy ChayefskyPaddy ChayefskySidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....
- 1969: Bartholomew Fair, Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
- 1969: Pericles, Prince of TyrePericles, Prince of TyrePericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio...
- 1969: Women Beware WomenWomen Beware WomenWomen Beware Women is a Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton, and first published in 1657.-Date:The date of authorship of the play is deeply uncertain. Scholars have estimated its origin anywhere from 1612 to 1627; 1623–24 has been plausibly suggested...
, Thomas MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in... - 1970: Richard III
- 1971: The BalconyThe BalconyThe Balcony is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. Since Peter Zadek directed its first production at the Arts Theatre Club in London in 1957, the play has attracted many of the greatest directors of the 20th century, including Peter Brook, Erwin Piscator, Roger Blin, Giorgio Strehler, and...
, Jean GenetJean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing... - 1971: The Man of ModeThe Man of ModeThe 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"...
, George EtheregeGeorge EtheregeSir George Etherege was an English dramatist. He wrote the plays The Comical Revenge or, Love in a Tub in 1664, She Would if She Could in 1668, and The Man of Mode or, Sir Fopling Flutter in 1676.-Early life:George Etherege was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, around 1635, to George Etherege and... - 1971-1972: The Merchant of Venice (Also on UK tour)
- 1972: Murder in the Cathedral, T. S. EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
- 1973: Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
- 1973: Cries from Casement as His Bones are Brought to DublinCries from Casement as His Bones are Brought to DublinCries from Casement as His Bones are Brought to Dublin is a radio play written by David Rudkin that examines the life and controversial legacy of Irish nationalist and British diplomat Roger Casement...
, David RudkinDavid RudkinJames David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford... - 1974: The Actor, (RSC Australian Tour)
- 1974: The Bewitched, Peter BarnesPeter BarnesPeter Barnes was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination....
- 1975-1976: Henry IV parts 1 and 2
- 1975-1976: Henry V (Also International tour)
- 1975-1976: The Merry Wives of Windor
- 1977: Old World, Aleksei ArbuzovAleksei ArbuzovAleksei Nikolaevich Arbuzov was a Soviet playwright.Arbuzov was born in Moscow, but his family moved to Petrograd in 1914. Orphaned at the age of eleven, he found salvation in the theater, and at fourteen he began to work in the Mariinsky Theatre...
- 1977-1978: Henry VI Parts 1,2 and 3
- 1978: The Changeling, Thomas MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
and William RowleyWilliam RowleyWilliam Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626... - 1978-1979: Coriolanu (Also International Tour)
- 1979: Children of the Sun, Maxim GorkyMaxim GorkyAlexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
- 1979-1980: Twelfth Night
- 1980-81: As You Like It
- 1980-81: Richard II
- 1980-81: Richard III
- 1981: Troilus and Cressida
- 1982-1983: Arden of Faversham
- 1982-84: Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
RSC at the Barbican Theatres and Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
- 1982: PoppyPoppy (musical)Poppy is a musical comedy play about the Opium Wars. The play takes the form of a pantomime, complete with Dick Whittington , a pantomime dame, and two pantomime horses. The book and lyrics were written by Peter Nichols; the composer was Monty Norman.-Plot:The year is 1840...
, Peter NicholsPeter NicholsPeter Nichols FRSL is an English writer of stage plays, film and television.Born in Bristol, England, he was educated at Bristol Grammar School, and served his compulsory National Service as a clerk in Calcutta and later in the Combined Services Entertainments Unit in Singapore where he... - 1983-1984: Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond RostandEdmond RostandEdmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
(Also International tour) - 1985: Red Noses, Peter BarnesPeter BarnesPeter Barnes was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination....
- 1985-1986: The Winter's Tale
- 1987: The BalconyThe BalconyThe Balcony is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. Since Peter Zadek directed its first production at the Arts Theatre Club in London in 1957, the play has attracted many of the greatest directors of the 20th century, including Peter Brook, Erwin Piscator, Roger Blin, Giorgio Strehler, and...
, Jean GenetJean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing... - 1987-1988: Julius Caesar
- 1988: Carrie (musical)Carrie (musical)Carrie: The Musical is a musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. Adapted from Stephen King's novel Carrie, it focuses on an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother...
, Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books... - 1988: Scenes from a Marriage, Peter BarnesPeter BarnesPeter Barnes was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination....
- 1989: Romeo and Juliet
- 1989-1990: Coriolanus, co-directed with John Barton
- 1989-1990: Singer, Peter FlanneryPeter FlanneryPeter Flannery is a British playwright and screenwriter. He was educated at Bath Spa University and is best known for his work while a resident playwright at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
(At The Swan, and The Pit) - 1990-1991: Love's Labour's Lost
- 1990-1991: The Seagull, Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
- 1993: Tamburlaine the Great, Christopher MarloweChristopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
- 1995: The Merry Wives of Windsor (at The National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
)
Chichester Festival
- 1995: Hadrian VII, Chichester Festival Theatre
- 1995: The Visit, Chichester Festival Theatre
Clwyd Theatr Cymru
- 1997: Equus
- 1998: A Christmas Carol, Peter BarnesPeter BarnesPeter Barnes was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination....
- 1998: The Journey of Mary Kelly, Siân EvansSian EvansSiân Evans is a Welsh singer/songwriter from Caerphilly, United Kingdom, born October 9, 1973. She is also a member of the band Kosheen where she has found major success across Europe.-Career:...
- 1998: Table Manners
- 1998: Living Together
- 1998: Round And Round The Garden
- 1999: Twelfth Night
- 1999: Macbeth
- 2000: Under Milk Wood, Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasDylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
- 2001: King Lear
- 2001: Bedroom Farce
- 2001: The Rabbit, Meredydd Barker
- 2002: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom StoppardTom StoppardSir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
- 2002: Romeo and Juliet
- 2002: The Four Seasons, Arnold WeskerArnold WeskerSir Arnold Wesker is a prolific British dramatist known for his contributions to kitchen sink drama. He is the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings...
- 2002: Betrayal
- 2003: Blithe Spirit, Noel CowardNoël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
- 2003: The Crucible, Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
- 2004: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken KeseyKen KeseyKenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
- 2005: Brassed Off
- 2005: Troilus and Cressida
- 2005: Brassed Off (Revival)
- 2005: Night Must Fall
- 2006: A Chorus Of Disapproval
- 2006: Memory
- 2007: Arcadia
- 2007: Memory (Revival in New York)
- 2007: The Cherry Orchard
- 2008: Macbeth
- 2008: Memory (Revival in London and Wales tour)
- 2009: Noises Off
- 2009: Mary Stuart (featuring his daughter, Marina Hands as Mary)
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1978: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – Henry VIHenry VIHenry VI may refer to:* Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor .* Henry VI of Luxembourg, Count of Luxembourg, * Henry VI of England...
- 1982: Drama Desk Special Award – The Life and Adventures of Nicholas NicklebyThe Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play)The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an eight-hour stage play, presented over two performances, adapted from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name by David Edgar. Directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn, it opened on 5 June 1980 at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The music and lyrics...
- 1983: Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Classical Director – Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac (play)Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
- 1983: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac (play)Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
- 1993: Evening Standard AwardsEvening Standard AwardsThe Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre. Sponsored by the Evening Standard newspaper, they are announced in late November or early December...
for Best Director – Tamburlaine The GreatTamburlaine (play)Tamburlaine the Great is the name of a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor, Timur 'the lame'...
' - 1993: Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Director – Tamburlaine The Great
Further reading
- Trowbridge, Simon: The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Oxford: Editions Albert Creed (2010) ISBN 9780955983023