British stage director Steven Pimlott, 52, dies

Posted:
Feb 15, 2007

Steven Pimlott, a renowned British stage director whose work ranged from such musicals as Bombay Dreams to Hamlet and Julius Caesar at the Royal Shakespeare Company, died Wednesday night at his home near Colchester, England.

Pimlott, 52, had been diagnosed with lung cancer last year, although he was not a smoker. He died surrounded by family.

Beyond his stage work, Pimlott sang baritone on the animated puppet short Gilbert & Sullivan: The Very Models (1998), directed, written and animated by Barry Purves, which aired on Britain's Channel Four. In the film, Richard D'Oyly Carte wonders what he has done in introducing the temperamental Gilbert to the equally difficult Sullivan.

Gilbert & Sullivan: The Very Models won many awards: Media Prize for Best Object Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, a nomination for Grand Prize of the City of Portimão at the Algarve International Film Festival, Best Animation at the Carolina Film Festival, the Silver Heron Award at Montecattini, a Gold Award for Best Direction in Seoul, and Russia's Krok for Best Film 15-30 minutes. It was even shortlisted for an Oscar.

Born Steven Charles Pimlott, he had begun rehearsals on Tennessee Williams' play The Rose Tattoo, starring Zoe Wanamaker, which is scheduled to run at the National Theatre from March 21 to April 12. However, he was forced to withdraw when the cancer returned. National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner, a longtime friend, will now take over the direction.

"He had the greatest appetite for life of anyone I have ever known, and a talent for satisfying that appetite," Hytner said at a National Theatre press conference.

"I asked him to direct The Rose Tattoo at the NT this year. We knew there was a possibility he might not get through it and agreed that if that happened, I would be the backup. That is what has happened, but the production you will see when it opens has been conceived and cast by him."

In the United States, Pimlott was best-known for his association with Andrew Lloyd Webber. He directed a revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London's West End theater district, which headed to Broadway in 1993 and headed to Canada and Australia as well. He directed the London and Broadway versions of the Lloyd Webber-backed Bollywood stage musical Bombay Dreams.

He was the artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre from 2003 until his resignation in 2005.

"Steven was an extraordinary man, a director of great energy, intellect and warmth," said the festival's current artistic director, Jonathan Church. "Actors loved working with him, knowing they were completely safe in his hands, whilst also knowing he would encourage them to perform to the very limits of their abilities. He will be greatly missed by the theatrical community."

Pimlott attended Manchester Grammar School, where Hytner was a classmate. He also went to university at Cambridge.

Though beginning his career as an actor and producer, Pimlott became an opera director at Opera North, which he joined in 1978. Throughout his life, he would continue directing opera.

In 1990, he joined the RSC as an associate director and artistic director of The Other Place. His RSC credits included Julius Caesar, Richard III, Measure for Measure, Anthony and Cleopatra, Richard II and Hamlet (with Samuel West), as well as T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, Tennessee Williams' Camino Real and Moliere's The Learned Ladies.

"Steven's footprint on British theatre was and is as wide as anybody's," said RSC artistic director Michael Boyd.

"His style ranged from extravagant flamboyance to high European elegance, to stripped-down purity. His storytelling was always blazingly clear, intelligent and human... He leaves many friends behind at the RSC who will miss him dearly."

Leaving the RSC in 2002, he became one of three artistic directors of Chichester Festival Theatre the following year. He directed The Seagull, Nathan the Wise and King Lear.

Among his other credits were the British premiere of Carmen Jones, Sunday in the Park With George (at the Royal National Theatre), the world premieres of three plays by Phyllis Nagy, and new plays by Michael Hastings and Robert Holman.

In January, Pimlott received an Order of the British Empire for his services to drama.

With David Mallet, he was nominated in 2001 for the Video Premiere Award for Best Directing in connection with the direct-to-video Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

His hobby was playing the oboe.

Steven Pimlott is survived by German soprano Daniela Bechly, whom he married in 1991, and their two sons and one daughter.

Pimlott, whose hobby was playing the oboe, is survived by his German soprano wife Daniela Bechly, whom he married in 1991, and their two sons and one daughter.