Peter Hall, a major force of the British theater over the past half a century, who founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and won two Tony Awards, dies at 86.
The National Theatre in London, which Hall directed for 15 years, said he died Monday surrounded by his family. “We all stand on the shoulders of giants, and Peter Hall’s shoulders supported the entirety of British theatre as we know it,” Rufus Norris, the National Theatre’s current director, said.
“All of us, including those in the new generation of theatre-makers not immediately touched by his influence, are in his debt. His legendary tenacity and vision created an extraordinary and lasting legacy for us all.’
He was as comfortable with plays by William Shakespeare as by Peter Shaffer.
In 1955, he directed the London premiere of Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” a play that confounded as many viewers as it enchanted.
But it was the founding of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, when Hall was just 29, that sealed his reputation in the British theater world and beyond. The company continues to draw large audiences for performances of the Bard’s works in its home base of Stratford-upon-Avon and on tour.
Directors, producers, and actors alike paid tribute to Hall on Tuesday. He is credited Hall with transforming the British stage.
