Matthew Warchus

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Matthew Warchus
Pride 02 (15085757719).jpg
Warchus at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Born (1966-10-24) 24 October 1966 (age 54)
Rochester, Kent, England
Alma materBristol University
Occupation
Notable work
Simpatico
Pride
TitleArtistic Director of The Old Vic (2015–present)
Spouse(s)Lauren Ward
Children3
Awards

Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is a British director and dramatist.[1][2] He has been Artistic Director of London's Old Vic Theatre since September 2015.[3]

Personal life[]

Warchus is married to American actress Lauren Ward, who originated the role of Miss Honey in the Stratford-upon-Avon, London, and Broadway productions of Matilda the Musical. Ward and Warchus met when he directed her in the 2001 revival of Follies on Broadway. They have three children.

Career[]

Warchus attended Selby High School. He studied music and drama at Bristol University and has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West End. He won the Globe's Most Promising Newcomer Award for Much Ado About Nothing in the West End, the Evening Standard Best Director award, and Olivier Award nominations for Henry V and Volpone.[citation needed]

Productions include: Sejanus his Fall (Edinburgh), "Master Harold"...and the Boys (Bristol Old Vic), The Suicide, Coriolanus (National Youth Theatre), Life is a Dream, Plough and the Stars, True West (Donmar Warehouse), Henry V, The Devil is an Ass, Hamlet (RSC), Volpone (RNT), Troilus and Cressida (Opera North), Rake's Progress (Welsh National Opera), Falstaff (Opera North & ENO), and Art (West End & Broadway).

His 1997 productions of Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre and Falstaff at the English National Opera have been nominated for several Olivier awards including "Best Director". Hamlet was also seen at the Brooklyn Academy in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.[citation needed]

Warchus directed Yasmina Reza's plays, The Unexpected Man (RSC) and Life x 3 (National Theatre) in London and New York (at, respectively, the Promenade Theatre and Circle in the Square Theatre). In 1999, he completed his debut feature film – an adaptation of Sam Shepard's play Simpatico – which he co-wrote and directed, starring Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Albert Finney and Sharon Stone. In 2000 he directed Sam Shepard's True West starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly. In 2002 he directed Our House, at the Cambridge Theatre, a new musical written by Tim Firth featuring the music of Madness which won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

In 2007 he directed Lord of the Rings, the stage adaptation of Lord of the Rings, which played at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from May 2007 to July 2008. It was the most expensive stage production ever at the time of its debut. In 2008 he directed David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum and Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy of plays The Norman Conquests at London's Old Vic Theatre, and Boeing Boeing at New York's Broadhurst Theatre for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Director of a Play.

During the 2009 Broadway season, Warchus directed two productions. One was the critically lauded, 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Play transfer of his Old Vic production of The Norman Conquests, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Best Director. The other was the 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Yasmina Reza's smash hit God of Carnage for which Warchus won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.[4]

In 2010, Warchus directed the acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company musical production, Matilda The Musical, with book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin which transferred to the West End in October 2011 at the Cambridge Theatre, before opening at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway in March 2013. The musical has since gone on to tour the US, Australia and New Zealand, winning multiple awards with a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards including Best New Musical and Best Director for Warchus.[5]

Warchus's production of Ghost: The Musical, a stage adaptation of the Academy Award winning 1990 film Ghost, premiered at the Manchester Opera House in March 2011, and opened at the West End's Piccadilly Theatre in July 2011 and closed on 6 October 2012. The show transferred to Broadway beginning at the Lunt Fontanne Theater on 15 March 2012 and closed on 18 August 2012. Ghost The Musical was on tour in UK and USA in 2013 while also playing in Budapest. It opened in Korea in November 2013.

His film Pride was selected to be screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival,[6] where it won the Queer Palm award on 23 May 2014.

The Old Vic[]

In May 2014 Warchus was announced as the new Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre London,[7] succeeding Kevin Spacey.

His first season began in September 2015 directing a new play, Future Conditional by Tamsin Oglesby, starring Rob Brydon. In 2016 he also directed The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen starring Ralph Fiennes, The Caretaker by Harold Pinter starring Timothy Spall, Daniel Mays and George Mackay, and the world premiere of the new musical Groundhog Day with book by Danny Rubin and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.[8] The musical ran for 8 weeks from July to September 2016 before transferring to the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway from April to September 2017.

His second season saw him direct the 20th anniversary revival of 'Art' starring Rufus Sewell, Tim Key and Paul Ritter from December 2016 to February 2017 (followed by UK tours in 2018 and 2019). He also directed a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Jack Thorne starring Rhys Ifans as Scrooge for Christmas 2017, and returned for Christmas 2018 starring Stephen Tompkinson as Scrooge.

In 2019 he directed a revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter starring Andrew Scott, followed by Duncan Macmillan's Lungs starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith before a return of A Christmas Carol starring Paterson Joseph as Scrooge. His production of A Christmas Carol was also performed on Broadway over the 2019-20 festive season at the Lyceum Theatre starring Campbell Scott as Scrooge, with Andrea Martin and LaChanze.

In 2020, Warchus was planned to direct Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles starring Eileen Atkins and Timothée Chalamet in April to May 2020, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the production has been postponed with the rescheduled dates to be announced. Also his production of Lungs which was due to transfer with Claire Foy and Matt Smith reprising their roles to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York in March to April 2020 was also cancelled due to the pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic a series called Old Vic: in Camera began broadcasting performances from the empty auditorium of The Old Vic live to audiences around the world via Zoom, beginning with a social distanced version of Lungs with Claire Foy and Matt Smith returning. This was followed by a two new plays; Three Kings by Stephen Beresford starring Andrew Scott, Faith Healer by Brian Friel starring Michael Sheen, David Threlfall and Indira Varma followed by A Christmas Carol (which was due to return for a fourth consecutive season) starring Andrew Lincoln as Scrooge.

Awards and nominations[]

Awards

  • 2009 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Play - for God of Carnage
  • 2012 - Laurence Olivier Award - Best Director - for Matilda

Nominations

  • 1996 - Laurence Olivier Award - Best Director - for Volpone and Henry V
  • 1997 - Laurence Olivier Award - Best Director - for 'Art'
  • 1998 - Laurence Olivier Award - Best Director - for Hamlet
  • 1998 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Play - for 'Art'
  • 2000 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Play - for True West
  • 2008 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Play - for Boeing, Boeing
  • 2009 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Play - for The Norman Conquests
  • 2013 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Musical - for Matilda
  • 2014 - British Independent Film Awards - Best Director - for Pride
  • 2017 - Laurence Olivier Award - Best Director - for Groundhog Day
  • 2017 - Tony Award - Best Director of a Musical - for Groundhog Day

References[]

  1. ^ Profile of Matthew Warchus in The New York Times
  2. ^ "Matthew Warchus Biography (1966-)". filmreference.com.
  3. ^ The Old Vic's new artistic director Matthew Warchus on succeeding Kevin Spacey, Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard, London, 1 September 2015. Retrieved: 6 October 2016.
  4. ^ IBDb profile Archived 9 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Olivier Winner Bertie Carvel to Reprise Role as Evil Headmistress Miss Trunchbull in Matilda on Broadway". Broadway.com.
  6. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (22 April 2014). "Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2014 lineup unveiled". Screendaily. Screen International.
  7. ^ "Matthew Warchus to replace Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic". The Stage. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Groundhog Day musical: Tim Minchin to write lyrics with Matilda collaborators also attached". independent.co.uk. The Independent. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.

External links[]

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