Nicholas Wright

(1940-) South African born British actor, director and playwright.

Biography

Born in Cape Town, 1940.

Training

He trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA)

Career

Joined the Royal Court as Casting Director before becoming the first director of the Theatre Upstairs in 1969. From 1975 to 1977, he was Co-Artistic Director of the Royal Court along with Robert Kidd. He joined the National Theatre as Literary Manager in 1984 and was an Associate Director until 1998.

His work at the Royal Court Theatre, London, was a feature of London’s spectacular advances in experimental theatre. He has produced plays in the same category at The Space on visits home.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He started his career as a child actor in The Innocents produced by Gwen ffrangçon-Davies in 1953, followed by appearances in Androcles and the Lion, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Back to Methuselah, Spring 1600.

He wrote the play Custom of the Country about the Jameson Raid. He also wrote One Fine Day.

Directed Strindberg Without Tears at the Hofmeyr Theatre and subsequently Biography at the Nico Malan Theatre in August 1971.

He wrote the plays Travelling Light in 2012, performed at the Lyttleton Theatre, London, starring Antony Sher as Jacob and A Human Being Died That Night.