Bill Alexander (director)

William "Bill" Alexander Paterson (born in Hunstanton, 23 February 1948)[1] is an award-winning British theatre director.

Alexander has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre between 1992 and 2002. His production of The Snowman is performed in London's West End every year.

Father William Paterson. Mother Rosemary Paterson (née McCormack). Married to Juliet Alexander (née Juliet Harmer). They have two daughters, Jess and Lola, and two grandchildren, Vinny and Thea.

Education

Early career

In 1974 Alexander worked at the Bristol Old Vic as a trainee director. There he directed:

In 1975 he joined The Royal Court Theatre as an assistant director. His production of Class Enemy by Nigel Williams won the Binky Beaumont Award for Best New Director.

The Royal Shakespeare Company

In his first year (1977) Alexander worked as assistant to Trevor Nunn and John Barton. His initial work for the company was in the two studio theatres: The Warehouse in London (primarily devoted to new plays) and The Other Place in Stratford (dedicated to a mixture of new plays and the re-discovery of classics by performing them on a small scale). Over his 14 years at the RSC Alexander did many productions in both of these theatres, and also at The Pit (which replaced The Warehouse when the RSC moved to the Barbican).

Studio productions include:

Alexander's first production on the RSC main stage was Richard III (with Antony Sher as Richard) in 1984. Subsequent productions include:

Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Alexander left the RSC to become Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1992. Representative productions there include:

Freelance career

Since leaving the Rep Alexander's freelance work has included:

References

  1. ↑ Ian Herbert, ed. (1981). "ALEXANDER, Bill". Who's Who in the Theatre 1. Gale Research Company. p. 10. ISSN 0083-9833.
  2. ↑ Trowbridge, Simon (2010). The Company : a biographical dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company (2nd ed.,rev., updated, and expanded. ed.). Oxford: Editions Albert Creed. ISBN 978-0955983023.

External links