Terry Hands

Terry Hands
Born	Terence David Hands 9 January 1941 Aldershot, England
Occupation	Theatre director
Spouse(s)	Josephine Barstow (1964-1967; divorced) Ludmila Mikaël (1974-1980; divorced); 1 child Emma Lucia (present)

Terence David "Terry" Hands (born 9 January 1941) is an English theatre director. He founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods. He also saved Clwyd Theatr Cymru from closure before turning it into the most successful theatre in Wales during his seventeen years as Artistic Director there. Terry Hands has received several Olivier, Tony and Moliere nominations for directing and lighting.^[1] He is one of Britain’s most respected theatre directors with an international reputation.^[2]

Early years

Hands was born at Aldershot, Hampshire, England. He studied at Woking Grammar School, University of Birmingham before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art leaving with the gold medal for acting in 1964. He then established the Liverpool Everyman where he directed numerous productions, including a prominent production of Murder in the Cathedral.

Career

Hands joined the Royal Shakespeare Company two years later in 1966 to run the Company's touring group, Theatregoround. He became joint Artistic Director with Trevor Nunn in 1978, and in 1986 sole chief executive. As Director Emeritus and Artistic Director he directed more productions during his 25 years there than any other director in the Company’s history. These included the entire History Cycle with Alan Howard, Much Ado and Cyrano with Derek Jacobi, Singer and Tamburlaine with Tony Sher, Loves Labours Lost with Ralph Fiennes, The Seagull with Simon Russell Beale, Winter’s Tale with Jeremy Irons, Othello with Ben Kingsley and David Suchet and the award winning musical Poppy.^[3]

In 1997, Hands became Artistic Director of Clwyd Theatr Cymru, which presents much of its work on tour in Wales and the rest of the UK, saving the theatre from closure. He was appointed CBE in the 2007 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama. In October 2001 he resigned from his position as an advisory director of the RSC. .

In 2015 Hands left his post as Artistic Director of Clwyd Theatr Cymru after seventeen years in the post, having turned the theatre into the most successful in Wales.

His international directing credits include productions in Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, London, New York, Oslo, Paris, Tokyo, Vienna and Zurich. From 1975 to 1980 he was consultant-director of the Comédie-Française and is a Chevalier of Arts and Letters. Opera directing credits include Otello with Placido Domingo (Paris Opera) and Parsifal (Royal Opera House).^[4]

Personal life

Hands was married to soprano Dame Josephine Barstow (1964–1967) and actress Ludmila Mikaël with whom he has a daughter, actress Marina Hands. He has two sons with his former partner, Julia Lintott. In 2002 he married director, Emma Lucia.

Stage productions

Theatregoround - Touring RSC

• 1966: The second shepherd's play
• 1966: The Proposal, Anton Chekhov
• 1967: The Criminals, José Triana
• 1967: The Dumb Waiter, Harold Pinter
• 1967-1968: Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas

RSC (Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Aldwych Theatre)

1968: The Merry Wives of Windsor 1968: The Latent Heterosexual, Paddy Chayefsky 1969: Bartholomew Fair, Ben Jonson 1969: Pericles, Prince of Tyre 1969: Women Beware Women, Thomas Middleton 1970: Richard III 1971: The Balcony, Jean Genet 1971: The Man of Mode, George Etherege 1971-1972: The Merchant of Venice (Also on UK tour) 1972: Murder in the Cathedral, T. S. Eliot 1973: Romeo and Juliet 1973: Cries from Casement as His Bones are Brought to Dublin, David Rudkin 1974: The Actor, (RSC Australian Tour) 1974: The Bewitched, Peter Barnes 1975-1976: Henry IV parts 1 and 2

1975-1976: Henry V (Also International tour) 1975-1976: The Merry Wives of Windor 1977: Old World, Aleksei Arbuzov 1977-1978: Henry VI Parts 1,2 and 3 1978: The Changeling, Thomas Middleton and William Rowley 1978-1979: Coriolanu (Also International Tour) 1979: Children of the Sun, Maxim Gorky 1979-1980: Twelfth Night 1980-81: As You Like It 1980-81: Richard II 1980-81: Richard III 1981: Troilus and Cressida 1982-1983: Arden of Faversham 1982-84: Much Ado About Nothing

RSC at the Barbican Theatres and Royal Shakespeare Theatre

1982: Poppy, Peter Nichols 1983-1984: Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand (Also International tour) 1985: Red Noses, Peter Barnes 1985-1986: The Winter's Tale 1987: The Balcony, Jean Genet 1987-1988: Julius Caesar 1988: Carrie (musical), Stephen King 1988: Scenes from a Marriage, Peter Barnes

1989: Romeo and Juliet 1989-1990: Coriolanus, co-directed with John Barton 1989-1990: Singer, Peter Flannery (At The Swan, and The Pit) 1990-1991: Love's Labour's Lost 1990-1991: The Seagull, Anton Chekhov 1993: Tamburlaine the Great, Christopher Marlowe 1995: The Merry Wives of Windsor (at The National Theatre)

Chichester Festival

• 1995: Hadrian VII, Chichester Festival Theatre
• 1995: The Visit, Chichester Festival Theatre

Clwyd Theatr Cymru

1997: Equus 1998: A Christmas Carol, Peter Barnes 1998: The Journey of Mary Kelly, Siân Evans 1998: Table Manners 1998: Living Together 1998: Round And Round The Garden 1999: Twelfth Night 1999: Macbeth 2000: Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas 2001: King Lear 2001: Bedroom Farce 2001: The Rabbit, Meredydd Barker 2002: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard 2002: Romeo and Juliet 2002: The Four Seasons, Arnold Wesker 2002: Betrayal 2003: Blithe Spirit, Noël Coward 2003: The Crucible, Arthur Miller 2004: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey 2005: Brassed Off 2005: Troilus and Cressida

2005: Brassed Off (Revival) 2005: Night Must Fall 2006: A Chorus Of Disapproval 2006: Memory 2007: Arcadia 2007: Memory (Revival in New York) 2007: The Cherry Orchard 2008: Macbeth 2008: Memory (Revival in London and Wales tour) 2009: Noises Off 2009: Mary Stuart (featuring his daughter, Marina Hands as Mary) 2009: Pygmalion 2010: Arden of Faversham 2010: A Small Family Business 2010: Blackthorn 2011: The Taming of the Shrew 2012: As You Like It 2012: Boeing Boeing 2013: The Winslow Boy 2014: Under Milk Wood 2015: Hamlet

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1978: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – Henry VI
• 1983: Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Classical Director – Cyrano de Bergerac
• 1983: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – Cyrano de Bergerac
• 1993: Evening Standard Awards for Best Director – Tamburlaine The Great'
• 1993: Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Director – Tamburlaine The Great

Nominations

• 1985: Tony Award for Best Director of a Play - Much Ado About Nothing
• 1985: Tony Award for Best Lighting Design - Much Ado About Nothing
• 1985: Tony Award for Best Lighting Design - Cyrano De Bergerac^[5]

Further reading

• Trowbridge, Simon: The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Oxford: Editions Albert Creed (2010) ISBN 978-0-9559830-2-3

References

1. "Who's Who in the Cast". playbillvault. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
2. Green, Michael. "Mold Clwyd Theatr Cymru to stage Hamlet as artistic director's swan song". wikipedia. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
3. "Terry Hands". Clwyd Theatr Cymru. Retrieved 31/5/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
4. "Terry Hands". Clwyd Theatr Cymru. Retrieved 31/5/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
5. "Terry Hands". Playbillvault. Retrieved 31/5/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links

• Terry Hands at the Internet Broadway Database
• Terry Hands at the Internet Movie Database
• The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the RSC: Online database
• biography on filmreference.com