Christopher Morahan
Encyclopedia
Christopher Thomas Morahan CBE
(born 9 July 1929) is an English stage and television director and producing manager.
. 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
. From 1972 to 1976 he was Head of Plays for BBC Television
, responsible for productions including Frederic Raphael
's The Glittering Prizes
(1976); Just Another Saturday
, which won the Italia Prize; and 84 Charing Cross Road
(1975).
Morahan joined the National Theatre
in 1977 as Deputy Director and was appointed Co-Director of the Olivier Theatre. 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
.
, and the couple have two daughters: theatre director Rebecca and actress Hattie Morahan
.
for services to drama.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 9 July 1929) is an English stage and television director and producing manager.
Training and career
Morahan was born in London in 1929, and was educated at Highgate SchoolHighgate School
-Notable members of staff and governing body:* John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Cromwellian General* 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, owner of Kenwood, noted for judgment finding contracts for slavery unenforceable in English law* T. S...
. He trained for the stage at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
Theatre School with actor/director Michel Saint-Denis
Michel Saint-Denis
Michel Saint-Denis , dit Jacques Duchesne, was a French actor, theater director, and drama theorist whose ideas on actor training have had a profound influence on the development of European theater from the 1930s on.Michel Saint-Denis was born in Beauvais, France, the nephew of Jacques Copeau, who...
, designer Margaret Harris
Margaret Harris
Margaret Frances Harris was an English theatre and opera costume and scenic designer.-Early years:Harris was born in Hayes, Kent, the fourth child and second daughter of William Birkbeck Harris, a Lloyds Insurance clerk, and his wife Kathleen Marion, née Carey...
, and director George Devine
George Devine
George Alexander Cassady Devine CBE was an extremely influential theatrical manager, director, teacher and actor in London from the late 1940s until his death. He also worked in the media of TV and film.-Biography:...
.
Initially an actor, Morahan was subsequently a television director from 1957, starting with the long-running ITV series Emergency Ward 10
Emergency Ward 10
Emergency – Ward 10 is a British television series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like The Grove Family, a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, Emergency – Ward 10 is considered to be one of British television's first major soap operas.-Overview:The series was made by the ITV...
. From 1972 to 1976 he was Head of Plays for BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
, responsible for productions including Frederic Raphael
Frederic Raphael
Frederic Michael Raphael is an American-born, British-educated screenwriter, and also a prolific novelist and journalist.-Life and career:...
's The Glittering Prizes
The Glittering Prizes
The Glittering Prizes is a British television drama about the changing lives of a group of Cambridge students, starting in 1953 and following them through to middle age in the 1970s. It was first broadcast on BBC2 in 1976.-Cast:...
(1976); Just Another Saturday
Just Another Saturday
Just Another Saturday is a Play For Today about the Orange Walk culture transmitted 7 November 1975 on BBC1. It was directed by John Mackenzie and stars Jon Morrison and Billy Connolly.The film won the Prix Italia for Best Drama.- Synopsis :...
, which won the Italia Prize; and 84 Charing Cross Road
84 Charing Cross Road
84, Charing Cross Road is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between her and Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co, antiquarian booksellers located at the eponymous address in London, England.Hanff, in search of...
(1975).
Morahan joined the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in 1977 as Deputy Director and was appointed Co-Director of the Olivier Theatre. His first stage production was Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
's Little Murders
Little Murders
Little Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages...
for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
at the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
in July 1967, starring Brenda Bruce
Brenda Bruce
Brenda Bruce was a British actress. She had a long and successful career in the theatre, radio, film, and television.-Early life:Brenda Bruce was born in Manchester...
, Barbara Jefford
Barbara Jefford
Barbara Jefford, OBE is a British Shakespearean actress best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre, and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 film of James Joyce's Ulysses.-Early life:Jefford was born Mary Barbara Jefford in...
, Derek Godfrey
Derek Godfrey
Derek Godfrey was a British actor who appeared in several films and BBC television dramatizations during the 1960s and 1970s....
and Roland Curram
Roland Curram
Roland Curram is a successful English actor.Curram was educated at Brighton College and has led a long film, television and theatre career. His appearances include Julie Christie's gay travelling companion in her Oscar-winning movie Darling and the expatriate Freddie in the BBC's short-lived soap...
.
Personal life
Morahan's first wife was Joan Murray, with whom he had three children. After Joan's death Morahan married actress Anna CarteretAnna Carteret
Anna Carteret is a British stage and screen actress, born in Bangalore, India the daughter of Peter John Wilkinson and his wife Patricia Carteret . She is married to the television and film director Christopher Morahan and has often worked with him...
, and the couple have two daughters: theatre director Rebecca and actress Hattie Morahan
Hattie Morahan
Harriet Jane Morahan is an award-winning English television, film, and stage actress.-Background:Hattie Morahan is the youngest daughter of television and film director Christopher Morahan and actress Anna Carteret...
.
Honours
Morahan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours2011 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 7 June 2011 in New Zealand and 11 June 2011 in United Kingdom to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2011.-Privy Councillors:...
for services to drama.
Television
- Talking to a StrangerTalking to a StrangerTalking to a Stranger is a British television drama, produced by the BBC and made up of four separate plays telling the story of one weekend from the viewpoints of four different members of the same family. Originally transmitted on BBC2 as part of the Theatre 625 anthology strand, the four...
(BBC 1966) - Uncle VanyaUncle VanyaUncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
(1970) - Old TimesOld TimesOld Times is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on June 1, 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was directed by Peter Hall...
- Fathers and FamiliesFathers and familiesFathers & Families is an American family court reform organization dedicated to protecting a child's right to the love and care of each parent. Fathers and Families advocate for the presumption of joint custody in divorce proceedings and for a variety of other father's rights oriented causes...
(BBC series 1977) - The Jewel in the Crown (Granada 1984, three episodes, also producer)
- In the Secret State (1985)
- The Heat of the DayThe Heat of the DayThe Heat of the Day is a novel written by Elizabeth Bowen, first published in 1948 in Great Britain, and in 1949 in the United States of America....
(1989) - Ashenden (1991)
- Unnatural Pursuits (Simon GraySimon GraySimon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years...
two-part play, 1992) - A Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of Time is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. One of the longest works of fiction in literature, it was published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim...
(eight-part mini-series 1997)
Film
- Diamonds for BreakfastDiamonds for Breakfast (film)Diamonds for Breakfast is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Christopher Morahan.-Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Grand Duke Nicholas Wladimirovitch Goduno* Rita Tushingham - Bridget Rafferty* Elaine Taylor - Victoria* Margaret Blye - Honey...
(1968) - All Neat in Black StockingsAll Neat in Black StockingsAll Neat in Black Stockings is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Christopher Morahan and starring Victor Henry, Susan George and Jack Shepherd. It is based on a novel by Jane Gaskell...
(1969) - ClockwiseClockwise (film)Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. It was directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film was co-produced by Moment Films and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment...
(1986) - After PilkingtonAfter PilkingtonAfter Pilkington was a one-off BBC television drama by Simon Gray, starring Miranda Richardson, Bob Peck and Barry Foster. It was first broadcast in 1987.- Plot :...
(BBC 1987) - Paper MaskPaper MaskPaper Mask is a 1990 British drama film directed by Christopher Morahan and starring Paul McGann, Amanda Donohoe and Tom Wilkinson. A hospital porter decides to impersonate a doctor in a busy hospital. It was based on a novel by John Collee.-Cast:...
(1990) - Element of DoubtElement of DoubtElement of Doubt is a 1996 British thriller film directed by Christopher Morahan and starring Gina McKee and Michael Jayston. A seemingly perfect couple begin to dispute when they should have children and their relationship rapidly deterioates until she is afriad he might kill her.-Cast:* Nigel...
(1996)
Theatre
- This Story of Yours (John HopkinsJohn Hopkins (writer)John Richard Hopkins was an English film, stage, and television writer.Born in southwest London, he graduated from St Catharine's College, Cambridge...
), Royal Court (December 1968) - FlintFlintFlint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
(David Mercer), Criterion TheatreCriterion TheatreThe Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
(May 1970) - The CaretakerThe CaretakerThe Caretaker is a play by Harold Pinter. It was first published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960. The sixth play that Pinter wrote for stage or television production, it was his first significant commercial success...
(Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
), starring Leonard RossiterLeonard RossiterLeonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
at the Mermaid TheatreMermaid TheatreThe Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
(March 1972) - State of RevolutionState of RevolutionState of Revolution is a play by Robert Bolt, written in 1977. It deals with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and Civil War, the rise to power of V.I...
(Robert BoltRobert BoltRobert Oxton Bolt, CBE was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar winning screenwriter.-Career:He was born in Sale, Cheshire. At Manchester Grammar School his affinity for Sir Thomas More first developed. He attended the University of Manchester, and, after war service, the University of...
), National Lyttelton (1977) - Sir Is Winning (Shane ConnaughtonShane ConnaughtonShane Connaughton is an Irish writer and actor, probably best known as co-writer of the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for My Left Foot. He also co-wrote the screenplays for the Academy Award-winning 1980 short film The Dollar Bottom and 1992 film The Playboys, as well as other screenplays and...
), National Cottesloe (1977) - The Lady from Maxim’s (Georges FeydeauGeorges FeydeauGeorges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
), National Lyttelton (1977) - BrandBrandThe American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
(IbsenHenrik IbsenHenrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
), National Olivier (1978) - The PhilandererThe PhilandererThe Philanderer is a play by George Bernard Shaw.It was written in 1893 but the strict British Censorship laws at the time meant that it was not produced on stage until 1902....
(George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
), National Lyttelton (1978) - StrifeStrifeStrife is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Velocity, based on the Doom engine from id Software. Strife added some role-playing game elements and allowed players to talk to other characters in the game's world...
(John GalsworthyJohn GalsworthyJohn Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
, National Olivier(1978) - The Fruits of EnlightenmentThe Fruits of EnlightenmentThe Fruits of Enlightenment, aka Fruits of Culture is a play by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. It satirizes the persistence of unenlightened attitudes towards the peasants amongst the Russian landed aristocracy...
(Tolstoy), National Olivier (1979) - Richard IIIRichard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, National Olivier (1979) - The Wild DuckThe Wild DuckThe Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Håkon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...
(IbsenHenrik IbsenHenrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
), Nartional Olivier (1979) - Line 'Em (Nigel WilliamsNigel Williams (author)Nigel Williams is an English novelist, screenwriter and playwright.-Biography:He was educated at Highgate School and Oriel College, Oxford, is married with three sons and lives in Putney, south-west London...
), National Cottesloe (1980) - Man and SupermanMan and SupermanMan and Superman is a four-act drama, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to calls for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905, but with the omission of the 3rd Act...
(Shaw), National Olivier (1980) - Wild HoneyWild Honey (play)Wild Honey is a 1984 adaptation by British playwright Michael Frayn of an earlier play by Anton Chekhov. The original work, a sprawling five-hour drama from Chekhov's earliest years as a writer, has no title but it is usually known in English as Platonov, from its principal character "Mikhail...
(ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
/Michael FraynMichael FraynMichael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
), National Lyttelton (Evening StandardEvening Standard AwardsThe Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre. Sponsored by the Evening Standard newspaper, they are announced in late November or early December...
Best Director Award, 1984) and New York (1986) - MelonMelonthumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
(Simon GraySimon GraySimon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years...
), Theatre Royal Haymarket, (1987) - The Devil's DiscipleThe Devil's DiscipleThe Devil's Disciple is an 1897 play written by Irish dramatist, George Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's eighth, and after Richard Mansfield's original 1897 American production it was his first financial success, which helped to affirm his career as a playwright...
(Shaw), National Olivier, (1994) - A Letter of Resignation (Hugh WhitemoreHugh WhitemoreHugh Whitemore is an English playwright and screenwriter.Whitemore studied for the stage at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he is now a Member of the Council. He began his writing career in British television with both original teleplays and adaptations of classic works by Charles...
), Comedy Theatre (October 1997) - Ugly RumoursUgly RumoursUgly Rumours may refer to:*Ugly Rumours - a former United Kingdom band*Ugly Rumours - a novel about the Vietnam War band...
(Tariq AliTariq AliTariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
/Howard BrentonHoward Brenton-Early years:Brenton was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, son of Methodist minister Donald Henry Brenton and his wife Rose Lilian . He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and read English Literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. In 1964 he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal...
), Tricycle TheatreTricycle TheatreThe Tricycle Theatre is located on Kilburn High Road in Kilburn in the London Borough of Brent, England. During the last 30 years, the Tricycle has been presenting plays reflecting the cultural diversity of its community; in particular Black, Irish, Jewish, Asian and South African works, as well as...
, Kilburn (November 1998) - Semi-DetachedSemi-Detached (play)Semi-Detached is a play written by David Turner. It was premiered at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in June 1962 with Leonard Rossiter in the lead role and directed by Tony Richardson....
(David TurnerDavid Turner (dramatist)David Turner was a British playwright.From a working class background, he studied French at Birmingham University and subsequently worked as a school teacher in that city...
), Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
(May 1999) - The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
(WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
), Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket (1999) - QuartetQuartet (Harwood)Quartet is a play by Ronald Harwood about aging opera singers.The play, presented by Michael Codron, was first directed by Christopher Morahan at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford prior to its West End opening at the Albery Theatre on 8 September 1999 starring Sir Donald Sinden.Following a...
(Ronald HarwoodRonald HarwoodSir Ronald Harwood CBE is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay...
), Albery Theatre (September 1999) - Heartbreak HouseHeartbreak HouseHeartbreak House is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cultured, leisured Europe" was drifting toward destruction, and that "Those in a position to guide Europe to safety...
(Shaw), Chichester (May 2000) - Naked Justice (John MortimerJohn MortimerSir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
), West Yorkshire PlayhouseWest Yorkshire PlayhouseThe West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England is a theatre which opened in March 1990 as part of the regeneration of the Quarry Hill area of the city...
and tour, (January 2001) - The Importance of Being Earnest, Savoy TheatreSavoy TheatreThe Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
(2001) - The Dwarfs (Pinter novel, adapted by Kerry Lee Crabbe), Tricycle (April 2003)
- The Linden Tree (J.B. Priestley), Orange Tree TheatreOrange Tree TheatreThe Orange Tree Theatre is a 172-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south west London, built specifically as a theatre in the round....
(February 2006) - Legal Fictions (double bill: The Dock Brief/Edwin, by John MortimerJohn MortimerSir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
) Richmond TheatreRichmond TheatreThe present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of As You Like It, and is one of the finest surviving examples of the work of theatre...
and touring (November 2007)