Phyllida Lloyd

Last updated

Phyllida Lloyd
CBE
Phyllida Lloyd.jpg
Born
Phyllida Christian Lloyd [1]

(1957-06-17) 17 June 1957 (age 67)
Nempnett Thrubwell, [2] Somerset, England [3]
Occupation(s)Film and theatre director
Years active1997–present
Notable work Mamma Mia

Phyllida Christian Lloyd, CBE (born 17 June 1957) is an English film and theatre director and producer. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre, and opera director for Opera North and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. [7] Her adaptation of three Shakespeare plays (Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest) received acclaim from critics, with The Guardian calling it "one of the most important theatrical events of the past 20 years". [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

She is best known for directing Mamma Mia! (2008) and The Iron Lady (2011). Films she has directed have won 2 Academy Awards, [15] and have won and been nominated for numerous other awards. She has been nominated for a BAFTA Award, [16] a European Film Award, [17] 2 Tony Awards.

Life and career

Lloyd was born and raised in Nempnett Thrubwell, Somerset, south of Bristol. [18] After graduating from the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at Birmingham University in 1979 (BA, English), she spent five years working in BBC Television Drama. In 1985 she was awarded an Arts Council of Great Britain bursary to be Trainee Director at the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich. The following year she was appointed Associate Director at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, then in 1989 Associate Director of the Bristol Old Vic, where her production of The Comedy of Errors was a success. [19]

She moved on to the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester where she directed The Winter's Tale , The School for Scandal , Medea , and an acclaimed production of Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka. [20] In 1991 she made her debut at the Royal Shakespeare Company with a well-received production of a little-known play by Thomas Shadwell, The Virtuoso. Although she followed this in 1992 with a successful production of the rarely seen Artists and Admirers by Alexander Ostrovsky, she has, as of 2007, never returned to the RSC.

Also in 1992 came her first commercial success: her Royal Court Theatre production of John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation transferred to the West End. In 1994 she made her debut at Royal National Theatre with a production of Pericles which divided the critics. [21] There was general praise, however, for her productions of Hysteria by Terry Johnson at the Royal Court and Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera at the Donmar Warehouse.

By this time, Lloyd's work had come to the attention of Nicholas Payne, then running Opera North. For her debut as an opera director he steered her to what was, at least in the UK, an obscurity – L'Etoile by Chabrier. The production was a great success, setting Lloyd on a significant and award-winning career as an opera director. Productions since then include La Boheme , Gloriana, Cherubini's Medea , Albert Herring and Peter Grimes for Opera North; Dialogues of the Carmelites for English National Opera/Welsh National Opera; Verdi's Macbeth (for the Bastille Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden); the premiere of Poul Ruders' opera The Handmaid's Tale (from the novel by Margaret Atwood); and a controversial Ring cycle for ENO. For Gloriana A Film She received an International Emmy and a FIPA d'Or . Her productions have won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 1991 (Gloriana) 2000 (The Carmelites) and 2007 (Peter Grimes).

In spite of the mixed reception accorded to her first production at the National Theatre, Lloyd nonetheless returned to direct productions of The Way of the World , Pericles , What the Butler Saw , The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Duchess of Malfi , which were well received. She directed an award-winning production of Boston Marriage at London's Donmar Warehouse in 2001. Other recent work includes Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart newly adapted by poet Peter Oswald, which ran at the Donmar Warehouse, London, and was transferred to the Apollo Theatre, London, and then to the Broadway in spring 2009.

In 1999, Lloyd was offered the chance to direct the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! , which became a hit, not only in the West End and on Broadway, but worldwide. She directed the 2008 cinematic adaptation, which marked her feature debut. By the end of 2008, the film had been certified as the biggest grossing film at the UK box office ever. [22] It was also certified as the UK's biggest-selling DVD. [23] She was nominated as Best Director of a Play in the 2009 Tony Awards for her production of Mary Stuart . In 2013 Lloyd directed Cush Jumbo in a one-woman show about Josephine Baker at the Bush Theatre and subsequently at Joe's Pub in New York. Between 2012 and 2017 she directed the Donmar Warehouse Trilogy in London and New York. Harriet Walter played Brutus in Julius Caesar, the title role in Henry IV and Prospero in The Tempest in a single day. Susannah Clapp in The Guardian described the Trilogy as "one of the most important theatrical events of the last twenty years". [8]

Lloyd directed The Iron Lady , a biopic of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with Meryl Streep as Thatcher. The film entered production in January 2011 and was released in December of that year. Meryl Streep won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Thatcher. [15] [24] Lloyd's film Herself written by Clare Dunne and Malcolm Campbell and starring Clare Dunne premiered at The 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Filmography

YearTitleNotesRef.
2000GlorianaTV movie
2008 Mamma Mia! [25] [26]
2011 The Iron Lady [15] [17] [27]
2020 Herself Also executive producer [28] [29]

Honours

Oxford University named Phyllida Lloyd the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre in 2006, [30] [31] [32] the same year she was awarded an honorary degree by Bristol University. [33] She was named one of the 101 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain by The Independent newspaper in 2008; [34] and in 2010 was ranked 22nd (dropping from 7th the previous year) in the same list. [35] Lloyd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours. [36] DLitt, Honorary Degree, 2009 Birmingham University. [37]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultNotes
2021 Tony Award Best Direction of a Musical Tina - The Tina Turner MusicalNominated [38] [39]
2012 European Film Awards Audience Award The Iron Lady Nominated [17]
2009 British Academy Film Awards Outstanding British Film Mamma Mia! Nominated [16]
2009 Tony Award Best Direction of a Play Mary StuartNominated [40] [41]

Actions

On 16 August 2018, Lloyd condemned the destruction of the Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza five days earlier. [42] [43]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meryl Streep</span> American actress (born 1949)

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 34 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight.

<i>Mamma Mia!</i> (musical) 1999 musical based on the songs of ABBA

Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The musical's title is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia". Ulvaeus and Andersson were involved in the development of the show from the beginning, while singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad was involved financially in the production and also appeared at many of the premieres around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Thompson</span> British actress (born 1962)

Sophie Thompson is a British actress. She has worked in film, television and theatre and she won the 1999 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the London revival of Into the Woods. She has been nominated for the Olivier Award five other times for Wildest Dreams (1994), Company (1996), Clybourne Park (2011) Guys and Dolls (2016) and Present Laughter (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Clune</span> British actress and writer

Jacqueline Clune is a British actress and writer. She became established through her Edinburgh Fringe one-woman cabaret shows and her 1995 Karen Carpenter tribute act before graduating to mainstream acting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Johnson (playwright)</span> British playwright

Catherine Johnson is a British playwright, producing works for stage and television. She is best known for her book for the ABBA-inspired musical Mamma Mia! and screenplay for the musical's film adaptation. The film became the highest-grossing British picture of all time in the UK, and the biggest selling UK DVD of all time in January 2009. She also co-wrote the 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Walter</span> British actress (born 1950)

Dame Harriet Mary Walter is a British actress. She has performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and received an Olivier Award, and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Grandage</span> British theatre director (born 1962)

Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently artistic director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2005 he was artistic director of Sheffield Theatres.

<i>Mamma Mia!</i> (film) 2008 film by Phyllida Lloyd

Mamma Mia! is a 2008 jukebox musical romantic comedy film directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Catherine Johnson, based on her book from the 1999 musical of the same name. The film is based on the songs of pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson. The film features an ensemble cast, including Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, and Julie Walters. The plot follows a young bride-to-be who invites three men to her upcoming wedding, with the possibility that any of them could be her father. The film was an international co-production between Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and was co-produced by Playtone and Littlestar Productions.

Bríd Brennan is an Irish actress who is known for her film, TV and theatre work. She originated the role of Agnes in the Brian Friel play Dancing at Lughnasa, for which she won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She is also a three-time Olivier Award nominee; for Rutherford and Son (1995), The Little Foxes (2002) and The Ferryman (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josie Rourke</span> English theatre and film director

Josie Rourke is an English theatre and film director. She is a Vice-President of the London Library and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut with the Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated historical drama Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.

Simon Dormandy is an English theatre director, teacher and actor. As an actor, he worked with Cheek by Jowl and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), as well as at The Donmar Warehouse, The Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre and The Royal Exchange, amongst many others. He is perhaps best known on screen for his performances in Little Dorrit (film) and Vanity Fair. Between 1997 and 2012, he taught drama at Eton College, Berkshire, and held the posts of Director of Drama, Head of Theatre Studies and Deputy Head of English. He worked as a freelance theatre director until 2019 and has been Head of Academic Drama at St Paul's School, London since 2020. His directing credits include Julius Caesar at the Bristol Old Vic and Much Ado About Nothing at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, and his own adaptations of A Passage to India and the Coen Brothers' film The Hudsucker Proxy.

Hugh Vanstone is one of the UK’s foremost lighting designers. He has lit more than 160 productions, working in all spheres of live performance lighting, as well as exhibitions and architectural projects. His career has taken him all over the world and his work has been recognised with many awards, including a Tony Award for his lighting of Matilda the Musical, and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design in 1999, 2001, and 2004.

Gary Bernard Stewart Yershon is an English composer. His works include music for theatre, radio, television, film, and dance. He is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Anthony Ward is a British theatre designer specializing in set and costume design. He studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cush Jumbo</span> British actress and writer (born 1985)

Cush Jumbo is a British actress and writer. She is best known for her leading role as attorney Lucca Quinn in the CBS drama series The Good Wife (2015–2016) and the Paramount Plus spin-off series The Good Fight (2017–2021) and most recently June Lenker in the Apple TV+ series Criminal Record (2024).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Ridley</span>

Malcolm Ridley is an actor and writer.

Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and starring in the Sky One television series The Café. Terry took up the role of artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe in April 2018.

Judith Sarah Jarman Craymer is an English creator and producer of musical theatre who has also worked in the film, television and music industries. She is the founder of Littlestar Services Ltd. Craymer worked on Mamma Mia!, which has been seen by more than 65 million people worldwide. Ten years after the film adaptation grossed more than $600 million around the world, Craymer produced an all-new original movie musical based on the songs of ABBA, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Since opening in July 2018 the film has become the most successful live musical movie sequel of all time grossing just less than $400 million. Craymer was nominated for the "Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film" at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards for the film version of Mamma Mia! She has been dubbed "the greatest showbiz impresario" of the first decade of the 21st century and has consequently been entered in Debrett's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Dunne (Irish actress)</span> Irish actress (born 1988)

Clare Dunne is an Irish actress, born in Dublin. She has appeared in stage roles with the Abbey Theatre and the National Theatre. Dunne is known for the distinctive mark under her left eye, which is a birthmark.

<i>Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again</i> 2018 film by Ol Parker

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a 2018 jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is the sequel and prequel to the 2008 film Mamma Mia!, which in turn is based on the 1999 eponymous musical using the music of ABBA. The film features an ensemble cast, including Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Andy García, Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Cher, Meryl Streep, Alexa Davies, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine, and Hugh Skinner. Both a prequel and a sequel, the plot is set after the events of the previous film, and is intersected with flashbacks to Donna's youth in 1979, with some scenes from the two time periods mirroring each other.

References

  1. ↑ "Phyllida Lloyd: Prime mover" . The Independent. 31 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Phyllida Christian Lloyd | Graduation". University of Bristol. 14 July 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  3. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
  4. ↑ Mermelstein, David (30 July 2008). "Phyllida Lloyd". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Phyllida Lloyd: a director who's determined to put women centre stage". the Guardian. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  6. ↑ Bunbury, Stephanie (25 June 2021). "From Meryl Streep to a homeless mum: Phyllida Lloyd builds a new order". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Phyllida Lloyd". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Shakespeare Trilogy review – Phyllida Lloyd's searing triumph". the Guardian. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "The All-Female Shakespeare Production Turning the Theater World Upside Down". Vanity Fair. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Shakespeare Trilogy review – Donmar's phenomenal all-female triumph". the Guardian. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  11. ↑ "Julius Caesar – review". the Guardian. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Henry IV review – Harriet Walter's kingly power". the Guardian. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Brantley, Ben (12 November 2015). "Review: 'Henry IV,' Donmar Warehouse's All-Female Version". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  14. ↑ Wolf, Matt (11 December 2012). "'Julius Caesar' Flexes Its Female Muscle". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 "Academy Awards Database Search | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  16. 1 2 "2009 Film Outstanding British Film | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 "The Iron Lady". europeanfilmawards.eu. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  18. ↑ Saner, Emine (25 November 2016). "Phyllida Lloyd: a director who's determined to put women centre stage". Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  19. ↑ David Benedict "Arts: Together wherever we go", The Independent, 29 April 2011
  20. ↑ "Death and the Kings Horseman" Archived 19 January 2003 at the Wayback Machine , Royal Exchange Theatre website
  21. ↑ See Pericles at the Royal National Theatre by Melissa Gibson, in Pericles: Critical Essays (Shakespeare Criticism, Volume 23)
  22. ↑ Irvine, Chris (30 October 2008). "Mamma Mia becomes highest grossing British film". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 November 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  23. ↑ "Mamma Mia! tops all-time DVD list". BBC News. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  24. ↑ Catherine Shoard "Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher revealed in first still from The Iron Lady", The Guardian, 8 February 2011
  25. ↑ Gold, Sylviane (6 July 2008). "The 'Mamma Mia!' Factor, Times Three". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  26. ↑ Mintzer, Jordan (5 July 2008). "Mamma Mia!". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  27. ↑ Young, Susan (5 December 2011). "Streep a good Brit fit in 'Iron Lady'". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  28. ↑ Clarke, Stewart (25 April 2019). "Phyllida Lloyd's 'Herself' Adds Cast, Cornerstone Boards Sales (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety .
  29. ↑ Zemler, Emily (26 January 2021). "Phyllida Lloyd and writer-actress Clare Dunne join on the uplifting drama 'Herself'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  30. ↑ "Phyllida Lloyd named Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor". University of Oxford. 19 January 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  31. ↑ "Emeritus Fellows Archives". St Catherine's College. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  32. ↑ "Deborah Warner named as Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  33. ↑ "Honorary Graduates". University of Bristol. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  34. ↑ Tuck, Andrew (2 July 2006). "Gay Power: The pink list". The Independent . London: Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  35. ↑ "The IoS Pink List 2010" . The Independent on Sunday. London: Independent Print Limited. 1 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  36. ↑ "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 7.
  37. ↑ "University of Birmingham". thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk.
  38. ↑ September 26, Jessica Derschowitz Updated; EDT, 2021 at 11:14 PM. "Tony Awards 2021: See the full list of winners". EW.com. Retrieved 5 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  39. ↑ Woerner, Meredith (26 September 2021). "Tony Awards: The Full List Of Winners". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  40. ↑ agencies, Staff and (5 May 2009). "Billy Elliot musical dominates Broadway's Tony award shortlist". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  41. ↑ Stage,AP, Andrew Salomon Back; Stage, Andrew Salomon Back; AP (5 May 2009). "'Billy Elliot' scores 15 Tony noms". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  42. ↑ "We condemn the destruction of Gaza cultural centre in Israeli airstrike | Letter". The Guardian . 16 August 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023.
  43. ↑ "British Film and Theater Figures Condemn Israeli Bombing of Major Gaza Cultural Center". The Hollywood Reporter . 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.