Richard Jones

Richard Jones CBE (born 7 June 1953) is a British theatre and opera director. He was born in London, and studied at the University of Hull and University of London. After working as a jazz musician, he spent 1982–83 on a bursary working with Scottish Opera and the Citizens Theatre.

His work has become controversial and has provoked considerable reactions from the UK press. However, he is also seen as a major figure in the worlds of theatre and opera, as has been noted in a 2002 interview which appeared in London's The Guardian: [His] gift for the thrilling, the gaudy and the wayward is one of the characteristics that marks Jones out. "He is the best British director around at the moment", says director David Pountney, part of the "powerhouse" triumvirate that presided over English National Opera in the 1980s. "He is extremely imaginative, he has a very individual, quirky response to the material, and a very sharp eye for humour."

In 2013, Jones directed the production of Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana at The Royal Opera House in London for the centennial of Britten's birth. Additionally, the American premiere of the opera Anna Nicole was presented by New York City Opera in September, a revival of his original production at The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.

The theatre Theatre work includes five productions for the Young Vic in London and which range from The Government Inspector to Annie Get Your Gun. Black Snow was directed for the American Repertory Theatre, plus All's Well That Ends Well for The Public Theater in New York. In London, Holy Mothers was presented at the Ambassadors and the Royal Court Theatre, while La Bête was seen in London's West End and on Broadway, where it received a Tony nomination. On Broadway, Jones' productions of the Maury Yeston Tony Award-winning Best Musical Titanic and Wrong Mountain were presented. For the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jones directed A Midsummer Night's Dream, which provoked critical reactions such as the comments "Dream world ruined by this vandal's romp" and "Miserably undercast, grotesquely overdesigned, sloppily directed and lacks the following: theatricality, comedy and magic" which appeared as part of The Guardians interview. Higgins also notes that the production "is now generally known as the play that got the worst reviews of the RSC's entire history and of any theatre production for the past 20 years.

Recent years In 2011, Jones directed David Harrower's Government Inspector (after Gogol's Revisor of 1836) at Warwick Arts Centre and London's Young Vic Theatre; the production featured Julian Barratt and Doon Mackichan.

Additionally, Offenbach's opera, Les contes d'Hoffmann, was directed for the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. This production concentrated on the poet's state of mind, intensified by drinking and pipe-smoking. All three loves occupied physically similar spaces, as if their tales existed only in Hoffmann's imagination. Rolando Villazón sang Hoffmann, having returned to vocal form after difficulties, and Diana Damrau took the roles of Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta and, mutely, Stella. It was conducted by Constantinos Carydis. The production was also noteworthy for Angela Brower's portrayal of the leading role of Nicklausse, Hoffmann's constant companion. English National Opera co-commissioned the staging, which received negative reviews along with the good, provoking this response in Britain's Opera magazine: Of course there were striking elements in Jones's direction—there always are—his handling of the doll for one, and the effect of the rose-tinted spectacles, which he didn't follow through consistently. I was less sure of King Kong watching the Antonia act from the floats, and joining in Giulietta's entourage. And as of now the Giulietta act is a mess. In sum, the Jones Hoffmann is too abstract, too loose of focus, and far too long. Perhaps Kaye-Keck could be persuaded to turn their minds to an "authentic" opéra comique edition. Other reviews took different approaches.

Awards

+YearWon /Nom.AwardForRoleProduction 1988 Won Olivier Award Best Newcomer in a Play Director Too Clever by Half (Old Vic Theatre) 1990 Won Evening Standard Award Best Director Director Into the Woods (Phoenix Theatre) and The Illusion (Old Vic Theatre) 1991 Nom. Tony Award Best Director Director La Bête (Broadway) 1991 Won Olivier Award Best Director of a Musical Director Into the Woods (Phoenix Theatre) 1996 Won Evening Standard Award Outstanding Artistic Achievement Director Der Ring 1997 Won Tony Award Best Musical Director Titanic (Broadway) 2000 Won Olivier Award Best New Opera Director Hansel and Gretel (WNO at Sadlers Wells) 2000 Won Opernwelt Designer of the Year Designer with Antony MacDonald – Un ballo in maschera 2001 Won TMA Award Achievement In Opera Director with Vladimir Jurowski and the company – The Queen of Spades (WNO) 2004 Won Olivier Award Best Opera Production Director The Trojans (ENO at the London Coliseum) 2005 Won Olivier Award Best Opera Production Director Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Royal Opera House) 2005 Won TMA Award Achievement in Opera Director with Valdimir Jurowski – Wozzeck (WNO) 2011 Won South Bank Sky Arts Award Best Opera Production Director Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (WNO) 2012 Nom. Olivier Award Outstanding Achievement in Opera Director Anna Nicole and Il ttrittico (Royal Opera House), The Tales of Hoffmann (London Coliseum) 2015 Won Olivier Award Outstanding Achievement in Opera Director The Girl of the Golden West, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and Rodelinda at London Coliseum 2019 Won Olivier Award Best New Opera Production Director Káťa Kabanová 2020 Won South Bank Sky Arts Awards Best Opera Director Káťa Kabanová

Production history

+YearProductionVenue 2007 Billy Budd Oper Frankfurt 2008 Rusalka The Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen 2008 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant Theater Basel 2008 The Good Soul of Szechuan Young Vic 2008 Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2009 Skin Deep Opera North 2009 Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk New National Theatre Tokyo 2009 Falstaff Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2009 Lohengrin Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich 2009 Annie Get Your Gun Young Vic 2009 Rumpelstiltskin Birmingham Contemporary Music Group 2009 Rusalka Finnish National Opera, Helsinki 2010 The Gambler Royal Opera House 2010 Pique Dame Houston Grand Opera 2010 Skin Deep The Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen 2010 Die Meistersinger Welsh National Opera, Cardiff 2011 The Cunning Little Vixen De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam 2011 Anna Nicole Royal Opera House 2011 Billy Budd De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam 2011 Macbeth Opera de Lille 2011 The Government Inspector Young Vic 2011 Il trittico Royal Opera House 2011 Les Contes d'Hoffmann Bavarian State Opera, Munich 2012 The Tales of Hoffmann London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2012 Juliette ou la Clef des songes Grand Théâtre de Genève 2012 Věc Makropulos Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt 2012 Peter Grimes La Scala, Milan 2012 Julietta London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2013 Gloriana Staatsoper Hamburg 2013 Hansel and Gretel Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich 2013 Public Enemy Young Vic 2013 Gloriana Royal Opera House 2013 Billy Budd Gotesborgsoperan 2013 Anna Nicole New York City Opera 2014 Rodelinda London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2014 Der Rosenkavalier Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2014 Ariodante Festival D'Aix En Provence 2014 La fanciulla del West London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2015 The Mastersingers of Nuremberg London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2015 The Queen of Spades Teatro Dell'Opera di Roma 2015 The Trial Young Vic 2015 The Hairy Ape Old Vic 2016 Once In A Lifetime Young Vic 2016 Boris Godunov Royal Opera House 2016 Ariodante De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam 2016 Don Giovanni London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2017 The Hairy Ape Park Avenue Armory, New York 2017 La bohème Almeida Theatre 2018 Parsifal Opera National de Paris 2019 Káťa Kabanová Royal Opera House 2019 The Twilight Zone Ambassadors Theatre 2019 La Damnation de Faust Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2019 Judgment Day Park Avenue Armoury, New York 2020 Endgame Old Vic 2021 La clemenza di Tito Royal Opera House 2021 Valkyrie London Coliseum (English National Opera) 2022 Samson et Delila Royal Opera House 2023 Pygmalion The Old Vic 2024 Machinal The Old Vic 2025 Festen Royal Opera House 2026 I Puritani Royal Opera House