Christopher Morahan

Christopher Thomas Morahan CBE (born 9 July 1929) is an English stage and television director and production executive.

Life and career

Morahan was born in London in 1929, and was educated at Highgate School. He trained for the stage at the Old Vic Theatre School with actor/director Michel Saint-Denis, designer Margaret Harris, and director George Devine.

Initially an actor, Morahan was subsequently a television director from 1957, starting with the long-running ITV series Emergency Ward 10. His first stage production was Jules Feiffer's Little Murders for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in July 1967, starring Brenda Bruce, Barbara Jefford, Derek Godfrey and Roland Curram.

From 1972 to 1976 he was the Head of Plays for BBC Television, a department responsible for such series as Play for Today. Morahan joined the National Theatre in 1977 as Deputy Director and was appointed Co-Director of the Olivier Theatre.

Personal life

Morahan's first wife was Joan Murray, with whom he had three children, including director Andy Morahan.^[1] After her death Morahan married actress Anna Carteret, and the couple have two daughters: theatre director Rebecca and actress Hattie Morahan.^[2]

Honours

Morahan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama.^[3][4]

Selected directing credits

Television

• Fable (The Wednesday Play, 1965)
• Talking to a Stranger (BBC 1966)^[5]
• Uncle Vanya (1970)
• Old Times
• Fathers and Families (BBC series 1977)
• The Jewel in the Crown (Granada 1984, three episodes, also producer)
• In the Secret State (1985)
• The Heat of the Day (1989)
• Ashenden (1991)
• Unnatural Pursuits (Simon Gray two-part play, 1992)
• A Dance to the Music of Time (eight-part mini-series 1997)

Film

• Diamonds for Breakfast (1968)
• All Neat in Black Stockings (1969)
• Clockwise (1986)
• After Pilkington (BBC 1987)
• Paper Mask (1990)
• Element of Doubt (1996)

Theatre

• This Story of Yours (John Hopkins), Royal Court (December 1968)
• Flint (David Mercer), Criterion Theatre (May 1970)
• The Caretaker (Harold Pinter), starring Leonard Rossiter at the Mermaid Theatre (March 1972)
• State of Revolution (Robert Bolt), National Lyttelton (1977)
• Sir Is Winning (Shane Connaughton), National Cottesloe (1977)
• The Lady from Maxim's (Georges Feydeau), National Lyttelton (1977)
• Brand (Ibsen), National Olivier (1978)
• The Philanderer (George Bernard Shaw), National Lyttelton (1978)
• Strife (John Galsworthy, National Olivier(1978)
• The Fruits of Enlightenment (Tolstoy), National Olivier (1979)
• Richard III, National Olivier (1979)
• The Wild Duck (Ibsen), Nartional Olivier (1979)
• Line 'Em (Nigel Williams), National Cottesloe (1980)
• Man and Superman (Shaw), National Olivier (1980)
• Wild Honey (Chekhov/Michael Frayn), National Lyttelton (Evening Standard Best Director Award, 1984) and New York (1986)
• Melon (Simon Gray), Theatre Royal Haymarket, (1987)
• The Devil's Disciple (Shaw), National Olivier, (1994)
• A Letter of Resignation (Hugh Whitemore), Comedy Theatre (October 1997)
• Ugly Rumours (Tariq Ali/Howard Brenton), Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn (November 1998)
• Semi-Detached (David Turner), Chichester Festival Theatre (May 1999)
• The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde), Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket (1999)
• Quartet (Ronald Harwood), Albery Theatre (September 1999)
• Heartbreak House (Shaw), Chichester (May 2000)
• Naked Justice (John Mortimer), West Yorkshire Playhouse and tour, (January 2001)
• The Importance of Being Earnest, Savoy Theatre (2001)
• The Dwarfs (Pinter novel, adapted by Kerry Lee Crabbe), Tricycle Theatre (April 2003)
• The Linden Tree (J.B. Priestley), Orange Tree Theatre (February 2006)
• Legal Fictions (double bill: The Dock Brief/Edwin, by John Mortimer) Richmond Theatre and touring (November 2007)^[6]

References

• Simon Callow The National: The Theatre and its Work 1963–1997 by Nick Hern Books/NT, 1997 ISBN 1-85459-323-4
• Leslie Halliwell and Philip Purser Halliwell's Television Companion, Third edition, Grafton, 1986 ISBN 0-246-12838-0
• Theatre Record and Theatre Record annual indexes
• John Walker (ed) Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, Fourth edition, HarperCollins, 2006 ISBN 0-00-716957-4
• Who's Who in the Theatre 17th edition, Gale, 1981 ISBN 0-8103-0235-7

Notes

External links

• Christopher Morahan at the Internet Movie Database
• Christopher Morahan at the Internet Broadway Database