Peoples Archive is proud to present the stories of the theatre director Sir Peter Hall.
Sir Peter Hall was born on the 22nd of November in Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk. After his National Service he went to St Catharines College, Cambridge, receiving his Master of Arts degree in 1953, the same year that he staged his first professional play at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.
Hall went on to work at the Oxford Playhouse from 1954 to 1955 and from there moved to London to work at the Arts Theatre which he ran from 1955 to 1957. Whilst at the Arts Theatre he received the script of "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett and he went on to stage the English language premiere. Whilst at the Arts Theatre he also did the 1957 to 1959 seasons at Stratford-on-Avon.
After becoming frustrated working with groups of actors with differing styles, Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, aged only 29, with the aim of controlling the way the actors spoke to be at the heart of the company. He stayed at the Royal Shakespeare Company until 1968 after which he went on to become the director of the National Theatre from 1973 to 1988. In 1988 he launched the Peter Hall Company which has presented some 40 productions in London, New York, Europe and Australia.
Sir Peter Hall was made commander of the British Empire in 1963, knighted in 1977 and received the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1999. He has been married four times and has six children.
