Howard Davies

Stephen Howard Davies, (26 April 1945 – 25 October 2016) was a British theatre and television director. Early life Davies was the son of miner and glassblower Thomas Emrys Davies, from Maesteg, and Hilda Bevan. He was born in Reading, England. He was educated at Christ's Hospital school, Horsham and then studied at Durham University (1963-1966) and Bristol University, where he developed an appreciation for the works of Bertolt Brecht. Career In the early 1970s, Davies worked extensively with the Bristol Old Vic and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and he served as an associate director for both the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he directed Les liaisons dangereuses, Macbeth, and Troilus and Cressida. He also did much work for the Royal National Theatre, where his projects included Hedda Gabler, The House of Bernarda Alba, Pygmalion, The Crucible, The Shaughraun, and Paul., and where he directed Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard which opened in May 2011 and was broadcast on 30 June 2011 as part of National Theatre Live. At the Almeida Theatre he directed Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Play About the Baby, whilst at the Hampstead Theatre he directed the 2012 premiere of 55 Days. His opera credits include Idomeneo, The Italian Girl in Algiers, Eugene Onegin, and I due Foscari, and he directed the opera-related play After Aida 1985–86 in Wales and at the Old Vic Theatre.