Trevor Nunn was born on 14 January 1940 in Ipswich, England, to Dorothy May Piper and Robert Alexander Nunn, a cabinetmaker.[2] As a small boy, Trevor loved reading but his parents had little money for books. However, an aunt had more books, including the complete works of Shakespeare which he read whenever the family visited her. In the end, his aunt gave it to him.[3]
He was educated at Northgate Grammar School, Ipswich, and Downing College, Cambridge.[4] At Northgate, he had an inspiring English teacher, Peter Hewett, who also directed the school plays. Hewett encouraged him to sit the scholarship exam in Cambridge in the hope of studying under F. R. Leavis at Downing. Hewett also persuaded the headmaster to help with the cost of Nunn staying in Cambridge to take the exam. Nunn's father could not afford it and the headmaster had refused at first so Nunn was close to giving up.[3] At Downing, Nunn began his stage career and first met contemporaries Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.[4] In 1962, he directed Macbeth for The Marlowe Society and he directed that year's Footlights.[5] He also won a director's scholarship, becoming a trainee director at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.[4]
Career
In 1964, Nunn joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and in 1968 he was appointed its artistic director, a position he held until 1986 (latterly with Terry Hands from 1978).[4]
Nunn's first wife, Janet Suzman, appeared in many of his productions, such as the 1974 televised version of his Antony and Cleopatra.[6] Nunn directed the RSC production of Macbeth starring Ian McKellen in the title role and Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth in 1976.[7] Nunn staged the action of the drama with not only the paying audience, but also the audience of all of the actors in the production not in the ongoing scene—they sat on wooden crates just beyond the main playing space.[8]
Nunn became a leading figure in theatrical circles, and was responsible for many significant productions, such as the RSC's version of Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, co-directed with John Caird,[4] and a 1976 musical adaptation of the Shakespeare play The Comedy of Errors.[9][10]
A director of musicals in the non-subsidised sector, Nunn directed Cats (1981),[11] formerly the longest running musical in Broadway's history, and the first English production of Les Misérables in 1985, also with John Caird, which ran in London until the summer of 2019.[4][12] Nunn also directed the little-known 1986 Webber–Rice musical Cricket, at Windsor Castle.[13] Besides Cats and Les Misérables, Nunn's other musical credits include Starlight Express[14] and Sunset Boulevard.[15] In September 1997, he became the Royal National Theatre's artistic director,[4] a position he retained until 2003.
He directed We Happy Few, a play by his third wife Imogen Stubbs, in 2004.[22] Stubbs often appears in his productions, including the 1996 Twelfth Night film. Nunn directed a modern production of Shakespeare's Hamlet in 2004, which starred Ben Whishaw in the title role, and Imogen Stubbs as Gertrude, and was staged at The Old Vic theatre in London.[23]
In 2008, he returned to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry (the theatre where he started his career) to direct Joanna Murray-Smith's adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Scenes from a Marriage, starring Imogen Stubbs and Iain Glen.[26] Nunn's musical adaptation of Gone with the Wind opened at the New London Theatre in April 2008 and, after poor reviews, closed on 14 June 2008 after 79 performances.[27] In December 2008, he directed a revival of A Little Night Music at the Menier Chocolate Factory, which transferred to the West End at the Garrick Theatre in 2009.[28] The production transferred to Broadway, opening in November 2009, with Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desiree Armfeldt and Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt. Other members of the original London cast also transferred with the production. The production closed in January 2011 after 425 performances.[29]
In 2010, Nunn directed a revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Aspects of Love from July to September 2010 at the Menier Chocolate Factory[30] and the play Birdsong, which opened in September 2010 at the Comedy Theatre, based on the Sebastian Faulks novel of the same title.[31]
For Christmas 2018, Nunn directed a revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Menier Chocolate Factory, before transferring to the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End for a limited season in spring 2019. The production starred Andy Nyman as Tevye and Judy Kuhn as Golde.
Nunn has directed opera at Glyndebourne. He re-staged his Glyndebourne production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for television in 1993,[4] and was highly praised.[38][39]
Nunn has been married three times and has five children. He was married to actress Janet Suzman from 17 October 1969 until their divorce in 1986. They have one son, Joshua.[41][42] From 1986 until their 1991 divorce, he was married to Sharon Lee-Hill, with whom he has two children, Laurie and Amy.[43][44][45]
In 1994, he married actress Imogen Stubbs with whom he has two children, Ellie and Jesse.[46] In April 2011 Stubbs announced their separation.[45]
In 1998, Nunn was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party.[49] In 2002, he was knighted.[44]
In 2014, Nunn told The Telegraph that Shakespeare was his religion. "Shakespeare has more wisdom and insight about our lives, about how to live and how not to live, how to forgive and how to understand our fellow creatures, than any religious tract. One hundred times more than the Bible. I'm sorry to say that. But over and over again in the plays there is an understanding of the human condition that doesn't exist in religious books."[50]
Sources: Internet Broadway Database,[51] Tony Awards Database (broadwayworld.com),[57] Drama Desk History,[58] Olivier Awards: Past Nominees and Winners[59]
^"2017 Summit Highlights Photo". 2017. Academy Awards Council member and Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Trevor Nunn, presents the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award to critically-acclaimed Irish novelist John Banville.
^"2019 Summit Highlights Photo". 2019. Theatrical director Sir Trevor Nunn presents the Golden Plate Award to award-winning novelist and screenwriter Ian McEwan at the Banquet of the Golden Plate gala ceremonies during the International Achievement Summit.
