Bill Alexander
Bill Alexander is a director. He directed the original production of The Snowman.
Bill began his career at Bristol Old Vic, directing everything from classics to innovative drama, including Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Pinter’s Old Times and Peter Handke’s The Ride Across Lake Constance. He joined the RSC in 1977 with a special brief for new plays. His productions under this brief included: James Robson’s Factory Birds, Stephen Poliakoff’s Shout Across The River, Howard Barker’s The Hang Of The Gaol, Nigel Baldwin’s Men’s Beano and Barrie Keeffe’s Bastard Angel. Bill became an associate director of the RSC in 1984. His productions include: Antony Sher in Tartuffe by Moliere and the highly acclaimed Richard III. In 1984 Bill directed Richard Griffiths in Jonson’s Volpone, Edward Bulwer Lytton’s Money and The Accrington Pals, Clay, Captain Swing and School of Night, all by Peter Whelan. At the Other Place he directed: Country Dancing, Today, Molière and Cymbeline. Other productions for the RSC main stage include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives Of Windsor (for which he won an Olivier Award for best director), Twelfth Night, The Merchant Of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming Of The Shrew. In 1988 Bill went to Sydney, Australia, where he conducted a six-week workshop for 12 directors on his approach to Shakespeare. Other theatre works include: Entertaining Mr Sloane (Nottingham Playhouse); Amy And the Price of Cotton, Sex And Kinship In A Savage Society, Class Enemy, Sugar And Spice (Royal Court); Romeo And Juliet (Victory Theatre, New York); Troilus And Cressida (Shakespeare’s Theatre, Washington); and After Easter (Lyric Theatre, Belfast).
Bill became artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre and directed Othello, Volpone, Old Times, The Snowman, Awake And Sing!, The Tempest, The Servant, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Way Of The World, Divine Right, Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, The Alchemist, The Merchant Of Venice, Frozen and Hamlet. Following his departure from Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Bill directed An Enemy Of The People (Theatr Clwyd), revived his award winning production of Frozen by Bryony Lavery (Cottesloe) and directed the world premiere of Shelagh Stephenson’s new play, Mappa Mundi (National Theatre). He also directed Titus Andronicus at the RSC and Henry IV Parts I and II for the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC and New York. Bill directed King Lear for the RSC starring Corin Redgrave, a production which opened to uniformly excellent reviews and transferred to the Albery Theatre in January 2005. In 2009 Bill directed Peter Whelan’s The School of Night at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In 2009 he directed Stephen Lowe’s Glamour at Nottingham Playhouse and directed the premier of Bette And Joan at London’s Arts Theatre in 2011, followed by a national tour in 2012. In 2012 he also directed a production of Othello for NWCTC in Portland USA. His work at LAMDA has included productions of Twelfth Night, Measure For Measure and Summerfolk. He also directed new productions of The Merchant Of Venice for both the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and LAMDA.
Bill lives in Gloucestershire with the actress and painter Juliet Harmer. They have two daughters.