Bill Bryden

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William Campbell Rough Bryden, CBE, born on 12 April 1942 in Greenock, is a Scottish stage and film director and screenwriter.

Biography[]

He has worked as a director at the Royal Court Theatre (1967–1971), the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (1972–1975), the National Theatre (1975–1985); and as a visiting director in Glasgow and New York. In 1990, he directed Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, at the Royal Opera House. He has also done work for film and television, as screenwriter, director and executive producer.

Personal life[]

He married Deborah Morris, a potter, in 1970 and they had two children. The couple divorced in 1988.

In 1988, he met actress Angela Douglas at a dinner party arranged by mutual friend Marsha Hunt.^[1] They have lived together in west London since, and were married at City Hall, New York City in February 2009.^{[citation needed]}

National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C1316/11) with Bill Bryden in 2009 for its Legacy of the English Stage Company collection held by the British Library.^[2]

Work[]

Film director[]

• 1983: Ill Fares the Land
• 1986: The Holy City
• 1987: Aria (segment)
• 1992: Six Characters in Search of an Author

Writer[]

• 1975: Benny Lynch, Scenes from a Short Life : a Play [1]
• 1976: Willie Rough, a BBC Play for Today
• 1977: Old Movies
• 1980: The Long Riders (film)
• 1981: Civilians, a play^[3]

Theatre director[]

Theatre programme for the 1990 production of The Ship

• 1972:Kidnapped – Royal Lyceum
• 1974: Spring Awakening – Old Vic
• 1974: Romeo and Juliet – Old Vic
• 1975: The Playboy of the Western World – Old Vic
• 1976: Watch It Come Down – Old Vic
• 1976: Il Campiello – National Theatre
• 1976: Counting the Ways – National Theatre
• 1977 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): – National Theatre
• 1977: Old Movies – National Theatre
• 1977: The Plough and the Stars – National Theatre
• 1978 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): Lark Rise – National Theatre
• 1978: American Buffalo – National Theatre
• 1978 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): The World Turned Upside Down – National Theatre
• 1978: The Long Voyage Home – National Theatre
• 1978: Dispatches – National Theatre
• 1979 (with Sebastian Graham Jones): Candleford – National Theatre
• 1980: Hughie – National Theatre
• 1980: The Iceman Cometh – National Theatre
• 1980: The Nativity – National Theatre
• 1980: The Crucible – National Theatre
• 1981: Civilians (writer & director) - Scottish Theatre Company
• 1982: A Midsummer Night's Dream – National Theatre
• 1983: Glengarry Glen Ross – National Theatre (World Premiere)
• 1985: Doomsday, presented with The Nativity and The Passion, as the Mysteries from medieval Mystery plays in a version by Tony Harrison – National Theatre
• 1990: The Ship (writer & director) Harland & Wolff Shed, Govan, Glasgow
• 1994: A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev, starring Helen Mirren and John Hurt. Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and West End
• 1994: The Big Picnic (writer & director) Harland & Wolff, Govan, Glasgow
• 2005: Romeo and Juliet – Birmingham Repertory Theatre
• 2005: The Creeper – Theatre Royal Windsor

Awards and nominations[]

• 1985: Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Director, The Mysteries.
• 1985: London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Director for The Mysteries
• 1985: London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director for The Mysteries

Further reading[]

• Craig, Cairns (1980), Fearful Selves: Character, Community and the Scottish Imagination, in Cencrastus No. 4, Winter 1980-81, pp. 29 - 32,ISSN 0264-0856
• McArthur, Colin (1983), Tendencies in the New Scottish Cinema, in Hearn, Sheils G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 13, Summer 1983, pp. 33 - 35, {issn|0264-0856}}

References[]

External links[]

• Bill Bryden at IMDb