View source for Deborah Warner

{{Short description|British theatre director (born 1959)}}
{{use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Deborah Warner
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}}
| image       = Deborah Warner .jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1959|05|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Oxfordshire]], England
| occupation  = [[Theatre director]]
| alma_mater    = [[Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]]
| yearsactive = 1980–present
}}

'''Deborah Warner''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE}} (born 12 May 1959) is a British [[Theatre director|director]] of theatre and [[opera]], known for her interpretations of the [[List of works by William Shakespeare|works of Shakespeare]], [[Bertolt Brecht]], [[Benjamin Britten]], and [[Henrik Ibsen]], and for her collaborations with Irish actress [[Fiona Shaw]].

==Early life and education==
Warner was born on 12 May 1959 in [[Oxford]], England, to [[antiquarian]]s [[Roger Harold Metford Warner]] and Ruth Ernestine Hurcombe.<ref name=filmref>{{cite web | title=Deborah Warner Biography | url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/15/Deborah-Warner.html | work=Film Reference | year=2008 | access-date=2008-12-05}}</ref><ref name=encyc>{{cite web |title=Warner, Deborah (1959–) |website=Encyclopedia.com |date=12 May 1959 |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/warner-deborah-1959 |access-date=24 November 2024}}</ref>

After attending [[Sidcot School]] and [[St Clare's, Oxford]], she studied Stage Management at [[Central School of Speech and Drama]].<ref name=Bedell>[https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-disturbing-the-picnic-deborah-warner-the-director-who-shocked-glyndebourne-is-bold-emotional-but-no-iconoclast-says-geraldine-bedell-1414397.html "Profile: Disturbing the picnic: Deborah Warner: The director who shocked Glyndebourne is bold, emotional but no iconoclast, says Geraldine Bedell"] by [[Geraldine Bedell]], ''[[The Independent]]'', 17 July 1994</ref><ref name=encyc/>

In 1980 she founded the KICK theatre company when she was 21.<ref>{{cite web|title=Deborah Warner| url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Deborah_Warner/186611#fullBio | work=Hollywood.com |year=2008|access-date=2008-12-04}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Deborah Warner's production of Handel's Messiah for the ENO.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Warner's [[English National Opera|ENO]] production of Handel's ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' ([[London Coliseum]], 2009)]]
Warner has since the 1980s worked in close creative partnership with the actor [[Fiona Shaw]], developing a wide range of projects that have been seen throughout Europe and the United States. ''[[The Sunday Times]]''{{'}} critic John Peter wrote of their vision of ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' that "Warner and Shaw are not being either fashionable or reactionary ... They are making theatre that is an adventure, a journey of the mind, a discovery of other ages, other countries, other people, other minds."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/deborah-warner-tvkc3fzz0kc|title=Deborah Warner|last=Nightingale|first=Benedict|newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]]|date=18 April 2005|access-date=28 January 2019|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Warner has also enjoyed long-term collaborations with the designers {{ill|Jean Kalman|de}}, [[Hildegard Bechtler]], {{ill|Chloé Obolensky|de}}, Tom Pye, the composer {{ill|Mel Mercier|de}} and the [[Choreography|choreographer]] [[Kim Brandstrup]].

Although the majority of her work has focused on major classics of spoken [[drama]] and [[opera]], she has also experimented with the performance of [[poetry]] (''[[The Waste Land]]'', ''Readings'') and the staging of [[oratorio]]s (''[[St John Passion]]'', ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]''), as well as [[Installation art|installations]] (''The St Pancras and Angel projects, Peace Camp''). She has made relatively few excursions into new work ([[Jeanette Winterson]]'s ''The Powerbook'' (2002), [[Tansy Davies]]' 2015 opera ''Between Worlds'' and ''[[The Testament of Mary (play)|The Testament of Mary]]'' being exceptions) or [[comedy]] (''[[The School for Scandal]]''), and although she has made much creative use of video on stage, she has directed little for film and television.

Her first creations for Kick, a company that she started and managed, were deeply influenced by the example of [[Peter Brook]] and his belief that the performer must always be at the centre of the event. "I'm not sure I would have been in any way conscious of the potency of theatre if I hadn't seen his work", she said in an interview with ''Vogue'' in July 1994. Other figures important in her formative years include [[Peter Stein (director)|Peter Stein]], who commissioned her production of ''[[Coriolanus]]'' at the [[Salzburg Festival]], and Nicholas Payne and Anthony Whitworth-Jones who commissioned her first essays in [[opera]], at [[Opera North]] and [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne]] respectively.

Although she has refused to subscribe to a programmatic [[feminism]] or a [[political ideology]], her work has often explored issues of gender, notably in her ground-breaking casting of [[Fiona Shaw]] as Shakespeare's Richard II. She was also the first woman director to be given sole charge of a production in the main house of the [[Royal Shakespeare Theatre]].

===Theatre===
In 1987 Warner joined the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], where she directed ''[[Titus Andronicus]]'' and where she also began her long-time collaboration with [[Fiona Shaw]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Warner and Shaw have collaborated on many plays, including ''[[Electra (Sophocles)|Electra]]'' (RSC); ''[[The Good Person of Sezuan]]'' (1989, [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]]); ''[[Hedda Gabler]]'' (1991, The [[Abbey Theatre]] and [[BBC Two|BBC2]]); the controversial ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'', with Shaw in the title role, also at the National Theatre (1995) and televised by BBC2; ''Footfalls'', whose radical staging so enraged the [[Samuel Beckett|Beckett]] estate that the production was pulled during its run; ''The PowerBook'', at the National Theatre, a dramatisation of [[Jeanette Winterson]]'s novel; ''Medea'' (2000–2001, Queen's Theatre and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]); and [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'', in which Shaw played the small part of [[Porcia (wife of Brutus)|Portia]]. The production starred [[Ralph Fiennes]] and [[Simon Russell Beale]]; first staged at the [[Barbican Centre]], it later toured Europe.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Shaw and Warner toured the world with [[T. S. Eliot]]'s ''[[The Waste Land]]'', which began in [[Wilton's Music Hall]] in London's [[East End of London|East End]]{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}. Her work began to focus on the link of drama to places, a theme which was expanded upon in her Angel Project.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In 2007, following negotiations with the Beckett estate, Warner directed Shaw in ''[[Happy Days (play)|Happy Days]]'' at the National Theatre, which toured internationally including at the ancient amphitheatre at [[Epidaurus]] in Greece and [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]] in New York, followed in 2009 by ''[[Mother Courage and Her Children]]'' (with Shaw in the title role) at the Olivier Theatre at the National.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

She returned to the Barbican Centre in 2011 to direct ''[[The School for Scandal]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

===Opera and classical music===
Warner has also worked extensively in field of opera and classical music, including a production of ''[[The Diary of One Who Disappeared]]'' by [[Leoš Janáček|Janáček]] starring [[Ian Bostridge]]; a staging of the ''[[St John Passion]]'' at [[English National Opera]]; a controversial staging of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' at [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne]];<ref name=Bedell /><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/opera--a-catalogue-of-unspeakable-acts-in-deborah-warners-staging-don-giovannis-sexual-conquests-only-just-stop-short-of-sacrilege-no-wonder-it-upset-a-few-of-the-glyndebourne-faithful-edward-seckerson-heard-the-catcalls-1413368.html "A catalogue of unspeakable acts: In Deborah Warner's staging, Don Giovanni's sexual conquests only just stop short of sacrilege. No wonder it upset a few of the Glyndebourne faithful. Edward Seckerson heard the catcalls"] by [[Edward Seckerson]], ''[[The Independent]]'', 12 July 1994</ref> ''[[Wozzeck]]'' for [[Opera North]]; ''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]'' and [[Tansy Davies]]' ''Between Worlds'' at English National Opera; and [[Henry Purcell]]'s ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'' with [[Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)|Les Arts Florissants]] in [[Vienna]], [[Paris]], and [[Amsterdam]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Other notable productions include opening the 2015/15 season at [[La Scala]], Milan, with ''[[Fidelio]]'' conducted by [[Daniel Barenboim]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York in the 2013/2014 season.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

She frequently collaborates with Canadian set designer [[Michael Levine (set designer)|Michael Levine]].<ref>Bach Track: [https://bachtrack.com/de_DE/opera-listing/teatro-real/billy-budd/31-january-2017/20-00 "''Billy Budd'' in Madrid"], retrieved 1 November 2016 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129064119/https://bachtrack.com/de_DE/opera-listing/teatro-real/billy-budd/31-january-2017/20-00 |date=29 January 2019 }}</ref>

===Film===
Warner directed the 1999 film ''[[The Last September (film)|The Last September]]'', starring [[Michael Gambon]] and [[Maggie Smith]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

==Recognition and awards==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=November 2024}}

===Awards===
* 1988 [[Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director]] – ''[[Titus Andronicus]]''
* 1992 [[Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director of a Play]] – ''[[Hedda Gabler]]''
* 1992 Chevalier of the [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}
* 2006 Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (CBE), "for services to drama"<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=58014 |date=17 June 2006 |page=8 |supp=y }}</ref>

===Nominations===
* 1997 [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play]] – ''[[The Waste Land]]''
* 2003 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]''
* 2003 [[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play]] – ''Medea''
* 2008 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – ''[[Happy Days (play)|Happy Days]]''

== Plays and operas ==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=November 2024}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Work
!Place
|-
|1980
|{{nowrap|''[[The Good Person of Szechwan]]''}}
|Kick Theatre Company: Oxford
|-
|1981
|''[[Woyzeck]]''
|Kick Theatre Company: [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|Edinburgh Fringe]]
|-
|1982
|''Woyzeck''
|Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
|-
|1983
|''[[The Tempest]]''
|Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
|-
|1984
|''[[Measure for Measure]]''
|Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe
|-
|1984
|''The Tempest''
|[[Contact Theatre]], Manchester
|-
|1985
|''Measure for Measure''
|Kick Theatre Company: [[Glasgow Mayfest]]; Hemel Hempstead; British Council tour, [[Israel Festival]]; Bridge Lane Theatre, London; Wells-next-the Sea
|-
|1985
|''[[King Lear]]''
|Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe; [[Almeida Theatre]], London; [[British Council]] tour, Yugoslavia and Egypt
|-
|1986
|''[[Coriolanus]]''
|Kick Theatre Company: Edinburgh Fringe; [[Almeida Theatre]], London
|-
|1987
|''[[Titus Andronicus]]''
|[[Royal Shakespeare Company]]: The Swan, [[Stratford-upon-Avon|Stratford]]
|-
|1987
|''The Tempest''
|[[British Council]] tour, Bangladesh
|-
|1988
|''[[King John (play)|King John]]''
|Royal Shakespeare Company: The Other Place, Stratford
|-
|1988
|''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]''
|Royal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, [[Barbican Centre]], London
|-
|1988
|''Titus Andronicus''
|Royal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London
|-
|1989
|''Titus Andronicus''
|Royal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London; Madrid; [[Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord|Bouffes du Nord]], Paris; Copenhagen; [[Aarhus]]
|-
|1989
|''King John''
|Royal Shakespeare Company: The Pit, Barbican Centre, London
|-
|1989
|''The Good Person of Szechwan''
|[[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]], London
|-
|1990
|''King Lear''
|National Theatre, London: Tokyo; Nottingham; Cardiff; Leeds; Belfast; [[Deutsches Schauspielhaus|Schauspielhaus, Hamburg]]; [[Teatro Lirico (Milan)|Teatro Lirico, Milan]]; [[Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe|Odéon, Paris]]; [[Cork Opera House]]; [[Cairo Opera House]]
|-
|1991
|''King Lear''
|National Theatre, London; [[National Theatre (Prague)]]; [[National Theatre Bucharest]]; Schauspielhaus, Leipzig; Edinburgh
|-
|1991
|''[[Hedda Gabler]]''
|[[Abbey Theatre]], Dublin and [[Playhouse Theatre]], London
|-
|1991
|''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]''
|Royal Shakespeare Company / [[Thelma Holt]]: MC 93 Bobigny, Paris; Derry; Tramway, Glasgow; Bradford
|-
|1993
|[[Wozzeck]]
|[[Opera North]]; Leeds; Manchester; Nottingham; Hull; Sheffield 
|-
|1993
|[[Coriolanus]]
|[[Salzburg Festival]]: [[Felsenreitschule]]
|-
|1993
|''Hedda Gabler''
|[[BBC]]
|-
|1994
|''[[Don Giovanni]]''
|[[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne]]
|-
|1994
|[[Footfalls]]
|[[Garrick Theatre]], London
|-
|1994
|[[Coriolanus]]
|Salzburg Festival: Felsenreitschule
|-
|1995
|''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]''
|National Theatre, London
|-
|1995
|''[[The Waste Land]]''
|Kunsten Festival, Brussels; [[Dublin Theatre Festival]]
|-
|1995
|''Don Giovanni''
|Glyndebourne
|-
|1995
|The [[St Pancras railway station|St Pancras]] Project
|St Pancras Chambers, London
|-
|1996
|''Richard II''
|[[MC93 Bobigny]] and Pernel Insel, Salzburg Festival
|-
|1996
|''The Waste Land''
|[[École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts]], Paris; Gooderham and Worts Factory, Toronto; Rialto Cinema, Montreal; Liberty Theatre, New York
|-
|1996
|[[Wozzeck]]
|Opera North: Leeds, Manchester; Nottingham; Hull; and Sheffield
|-
|1997
|''Richard II''
|Film
|-
|1997
|''The Waste Land''
|[[Liberty Theatre]], New York; [[Everyman Palace Theatre]], Cork; [[Wilton's Music Hall]], London
|-
|1997
|[[Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher|Jeanne d'Arc au Bucher]]
|[[The Proms|BBC Proms]] at [[Royal Albert Hall]], London
|-
|1997
|''[[The Turn of the Screw (opera)|The Turn of the Screw]]''
|[[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera]]: Barbican Centre, London
|-
|1997
|''Une Maison de Poupée''
|[[Théâtre de l'Odéon]], Paris
|-
|1998
|''The Waste Land''
|Wilton's Music Hall, London; MC93 Bobigny, Paris; Royalty Theatre, Adelaide; Brighton Festival
|-
|1998
|''The Turn of the Screw''
|Royal Opera: MC 93 Bobigny, Paris
|-
|1999 
|[[The Last September (film)|The Last September]]
|Film
|-
|1999 
|''[[The Diary of One Who Disappeared]]''
|[[English National Opera]]: Coliseum, London; Dublin Theatre Festival; MC 93 Bobigny, Paris 
|-
|1999 
|The Angel Project
|[[London International Festival of Theatre]]
|-
|1999 
|''The Diary of One Who Disappeared''
|English National Opera: National Theatre, London
|-
|2000
|The Angel Project
|[[Perth International Arts Festival]]
|-
|2000
|''The Waste Land''
|His Majesty's Theatre, Perth
|-
|2000
|''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]''
|Abbey Theatre, Dublin
|-
|2000
|[[St John Passion]]
|English National Opera; London Coliseum
|-
|2000
|''The Diary of One Who Disappeared''
|English National Opera: Stadsschouwburg, Holland Festival; Musiktheater, Munich
|-
|2001
|''The Waste Land''
|[[Bergen International Festival]]
|-
|2001
|''Medea''
|Queen's Theatre, London
|-
|2001
|''The Diary of One Who Disappeared''
|English National Opera: Lincoln Center, New York
|-
|2001
|''[[Fidelio]]''
|Glyndebourne: BBC Proms, Woking; Norwich; Milton Keynes; Plymouth; Oxford; Stoke-on-Trent
|-
|2002
|The Power Book
|National Theatre, London
|-
|2002
|''Fidelio''
|[[Théâtre du Châtelet|Théâtre du Chatelet]], Paris
|-
|2002
|''The Turn of the Screw''
|Royal Opera House, London
|-
|2002
|''Medea''
|Abbey Theatre and Extremetaste: Brooklyn Academy of Music; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Wilbur Theatre, Boston; Kennedy Center, Washington DC; Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley
|-
|2003
|''Medea''
|Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York; Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris
|-
|2003
|The Angel Project
|Lincoln Center Festival, New York
|-
|2003
|The Power Book
|National Theatre: Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris; RomaEuropa, Rome
|-
|2004
|Small Wonder
|Charleston Festival
|-
|2004
|[[The Rape of Lucretia]]
|[[Bavarian State Opera|Bayerische Staatsoper]], Munich
|-
|2005
|[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]
|Barbican Theatre, London; Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris; Teatro Espanol, Madrid; Luxembourg
|-
|2005
|Readings
|Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris
|-
|2006
|''[[Dido and Aeneas]]''
|[[Wiener Festwochen]], Vienna
|-
|2006
|''[[La voix humaine]]''
|Opera North: Leeds; Salford; Nottingham; Sadler's Wells, London; Newcastle
|-
|2006
|Readings
|Sala Umberto, RomaEuropa Festival
|-
|2007
|[[Happy Days (play)|Happy Days]]
|National Theatre, London: Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Théâtre de Chaillot, Paris; Epidavros; Abbey Theatre, Dublin; Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
|-
|2007
|''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]''
|English National Opera: London Coliseum 
|-
|2007
|Readings
|[[Holland Festival]], Amsterdam
|-
|2008
|''Dido and Aeneas''
|[[Opéra-Comique|Opéra Comique]], Paris
|-
|2009
|[[Mother Courage and Her Children]]
|National Theatre, London
|-
|2009
|''The Waste Land''
|[[Wilton's Music Hall]], London
|-
|2009
|''Death in Venice''
|[[La Monnaie]], Brussels
|-
|2009
|''Dido and Aeneas''
|[[Vienna Festival|Wiener Festwochen]], Vienna and [[Dutch National Opera|Netherlands Opera]], Amsterdam
|-
|2009
|[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]
|English National Opera: London Coliseum
|-
|2010
|''The Waste Land''
|Madrid Festival
|-
|2011
|''Death in Venice''
|[[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], Milan
|-
|2011
|[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]
|English National Opera: London Coliseum
|-
|2011
|''[[The School for Scandal]]''
|Barbican Theatre
|-
|2012
|''Dido and Aeneas''
|Opéra Comique, Paris
|-
|2012
|''[[La traviata]]''
|[[Vienna Festival|Wiener Festwochen]], Vienna
|-
|2012
|[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]
|[[Opéra National de Lyon|Opéra de Lyon]]
|-
|2012
|Peace Camp
|[[2012 Summer Olympics|London 2012]] Cultural Olympics, UK: Cuckmere Haven, Sussex; Godrevy, Cornwall; Camaes, Anglesey; White Park Bay, Co Antrim; Mussenden Temple, Co Londonderry; Valtos, Isle of Lewis; Fort Diddes, Aberdeenshire; Dusntanburgh, Northumberland
|-
|2013
|''[[The Testament of Mary (play)|The Testament of Mary]]''
|[[Walter Kerr Theatre]], New York
|-
|2013
|[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]
|[[Metropolitan Opera]], New York
|-
|2014
|''The Testament of Mary''
|Barbican Theatre, London
|-
|2014
|''Fidelio''
|Teatro alla Scala, Milan
|-
|2015
|Between Worlds
|English National Opera: Barbican Theatre, London
|-
|2016
|''The Tempest'' (''Der Sturm'')
|[[Salzburg Festival]]: Perner Insel
|-
|2016
|''King Lear''
|[[The Old Vic]], London
|-
|2017
|''[[Billy Budd (opera)|Billy Budd]]''
|[[Teatro Real]], Madrid
|-
|2017
|''The Testament of Mary''
|Comédie-Francaise: Odéon, Paris
|-
|2017
|[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]
|Metropolitan Opera, New York
|-
|2018
|''Billy Budd''
|[[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma|Teatro Costanzi]], Rome
|-
|2018
|''Fidelio''
|Teatro alla Scala, Milan
|-
|2018
|''La Traviata''
|Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris
|-
|2023
|''[[Peter Grimes]]''
|[[Opéra national de Paris]], Paris
|-
|2023
|''Wozzeck''
|[[The Royal Opera House]], London
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{IMDb name|912444}}

{{Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director}} 
{{OlivierAward Director 1976–2000}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Deborah}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:English theatre directors]]
[[Category:British women theatre directors]]
[[Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners]]
[[Category:British opera directors]]
[[Category:People from Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:People educated at Sidcot School]]
[[Category:People educated at St. Clare's, Oxford]]
[[Category:Female opera directors]]
[[Category:Shakespearean directors]]