Frith Banbury

(1912-2008) West End director. Born Frederick Harold Banbury, May 4, 1912, in Plymouth, Devon, England. Studied at RADA, where his contemporaries included Robert Morley, after leaving Oxford. His acting career lasted from 1933 to 1947. After World War II, during which he was a conscientious objector, he discovered his true metier when he was invited back to RADA to direct a student production. His professional directing debut came with Wynyard Browne’s 1947 play Dark Summer, Over the years, Banbury’s other notable credits included the 1952 premiere of Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea, NC Hunter’s A Touch of the Sun, John Whiting’s Waters of the Moon, Robert Bolt’s debut play Flowering Cherry, Wynyard Browne’s The Holly and The Ivy, Errol John’s Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (the first play by a black author presented at the Royal Court) and Rodney Ackland’s The Pink Room. Came to South Africa on a number of occasions to direct plays like Frederick Lonsdale’s On Approval (Toerien-Firth, 1976), Never the Sinner (Pieter Toerien, 1991).

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