Michael Bogdanov (Born December 15, 1938), Is an English Theatre Director

Michael Bogdanov (born December 15, 1938), is an English theatre director.

Since the 1970s, Michael Bogdanov has established himself as one of Britain's leading theatre directors, from new works to modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare.

Born in London of Russian and Welsh parents, Bogdanov was educated at the John Lyon School in Harrow on the Hill, England, at Trinity College, Dublin, and in Germany and France. He trained at the BBC in the 1960s and produced, wrote and directed for television in the UK and Ireland. He was a producer and director at Irish broadcaster RTE from 1966 to 1969.

He has directed eight productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including The Taming of the Shrew for which he received a Director of the Year award in 1979. From 1980 to 1988, he was associate director of the Royal National Theatre where he directed about 15 productions. These included, in 1980, Howard Brenton’s The Romans In Britain, which is remembered for the controversy caused by one scene in which two male actors simulated anal rape. Morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse brought a private prosecution against Bogdanov, claiming he was “procuring an act of gross indecency” in staging the rape scene. However, 15 months later when it came to court, Whitehouse’s solicitor dramatically abandoned the prosecution, saying: "I cannot continue to try an honourable man".[citation needed]

During the 1980s, Bogdanov also worked internationally, directing Hamlet at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Romeo and Juliet at the Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, and Measure for Measure at Stratford, Ontario. His opera credits included the world premiere of Stockhausen`s Montag Aus Licht at La Scala, Milan. At the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg(Germany’s equivalent of the Royal National Theatre), he adapted and directed Goethe`s Reineke Fuchs. From 1989 to 1992, he was chief executive of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus.

In 1986, Bogdanov and actor Michael Pennington together founded the English Shakespeare Company. As joint artistic director, he directed the company's inaugural productions of The Henrys and, in 1987, the seven-play history cycle of The Wars of the Roses, which toured worldwide. This ambitious programme earned him the 1990Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director. In 1990 he directed the English Shakespeare Company’s international productions of Coriolanus, The Winter's Tale, Macbeth and The Tempest.

He continued to direct productions around the world in the 1990s, including a revival of the musical Hair at the Old Vic in London in 1993, his own version of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf for both the Royal National Theatre of Denmark in 1994 and the English Shakespeare Company in London in 1997, Peer Gynt for the Residenz Theatre in Munich in 1995, Goethe's Faust for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Antony and Cleopatra and As You Like It for the English Theatre Company in 1998, Timon of Athens for the Shakespeare Repertory Theater in Chicago in 1999, and Macbeth for the Residenz Theater in Munich, again in 1999.

From 2002 to 2004, Bogdanov took charge of productions at the Ludlow Castle Open Air Theatre as part of the annual Ludlow Festival. With an ensemble of mainly Welsh players, he produced both Welsh and English performances of Shakespeare.

His essays on Shakespeare were published in a book, The Director’s Cut, in 2003, followed by a second volume in 2005.

In 2003, he was involved in setting up the Wales Theatre Company, based in Swansea and Cardiff, taking on the position of artistic director. He has directed productions of both Shakespeare and new works, including Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, The Merchant of Venice and Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood. In 2005, he directed the critically acclaimed musical, Amazing Grace, at Swansea Grand Theatre and the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, and the dual Welsh and English production of Hamlet at Cardiff's New Theatre, which was commissioned by the Arts Council of Wales.

Michael has also directed two musicals for Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Fiddler on the Roof and West Side Story

In 2006 Bogdanov brought his production of Mal Pope's musical Amazing Grace from the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff to sell out performances at the Wales Millennium Centre, with every show ending in a standing ovation. The first Welsh musical on the National Stage of Wales. Judith Isherwood, the Centre's Chief Executive celebrated the show's success in a recent article in the Times.

Isherwood notes. “A new musical, Amazing Grace, was presented by the Wales Theatre Company — Welsh writers, and a very Welsh story about a revivalist preacher. It had a huge response. I’ve had letters from people saying how emotional they felt about seeing Welsh history re-created on their national stage.”. The show was described by the critic Michael Kelligan as being the 'First Great Welsh Musical' (Theatre In Wales website).

Uit: wikipedia