Nicholas Hytner - Biography

Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (born 7 May 1956) is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.

Biography

Hytner was born in Manchester to a Jewish family, the son of barrister, Benet Hytner, QC, and his wife, Joyce. He attended Manchester Grammar School and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In the early 1980s he worked at Exeter University's Northcotte Theatre, and in the theatre department. He later became an Associate Director at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, where he worked between 1985 and 1989. Hytner first found himself working regularly at the National Theatre in London between 1989 and 1997.

Hytner's directorial work for theatre includes The Country Wife, Edward II, Don Carlos, Ghetto, Miss Saigon, Orpheus Descending, a 2-part adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Alan Bennett's The History Boys, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (1992), Southwark Fair and The Alchemist, Measure for Measure (1987), The Tempest (1988) and King Lear (1990), The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar (1992), The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh (1997), The Winter's Tale (2001), Mother Clap's Molly House by Mark Ravenhill (2001), Henry V (play) (2003) and England People Very Nice (2009).

Hytner has also directed movies, such as The Crucible, The Madness of King George, The Object of My Affection and Center Stage. Openly gay, Hytner strove to avoid stereotypical gay characters in The Object of My Affection. The film was later criticized by some gay critics as a "commercial whitewash."

Hytner is also a successful opera director with his production of Xerxes winning the Laurence Olivier Opera Award in 1985. Xerxes and his production of The Magic Flute are both still in the English National Opera repertory. He has also directed opera for Kent Opera, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Paris Opéra, Théâtre du Châtelet, Grand Théâtre de Genève and Bavarian State Opera.

Hytner was knighted in the 2010 New Years Honours List for services to drama.

The National Theatre

Hytner was appointed director of the National Theatre in London in April 2003.

Hytner's film version of the play The History Boys was released in 2006. In 2009 Hytner directed the controversial play on immigration, England People Very Nice by Richard Bean. The play debuted in the Olivier Theatre of the National as part of the Travelex £10 tickets scheme.

Trivia

Hytner made his television debut as a contestant on Junior Criss Cross Quiz in the programme's final season on Granada TV, in 1967.

Work

Screen

• The Madness of King George (1994)
• The Crucible (1996)
• The Object of My Affection (1998)
• Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1998)
• Center Stage (2000)
• The History Boys (2006)

Theatre

• Miss Saigon (11 April 1991 – 28 January 2001)
• Carousel (24 March 1994 – 15 January 1995)
• Twelfth Night (16 July 1998 – 30 August 1998)
• Sweet Smell of Success (14 March 2002 – 15 June 2002)
• The History Boys (23 April 2006 – 1 October 2006)
• England People Very Nice (11 February 2009 - 9 August 2009)
• One Man, Two Guvnors (May 2011- )

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External links