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| Robin Phillips, Director Who Revitalized the Stratford Festival in Canada, Dies at 75 | |
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| Robin Phillips, a British theater director who helped rejuvenate Canada’s best-known theater, the Stratford Festival, as artistic director from 1975 to 1980, died on July 25 in Woodstock, Ontario. He was 75. | Robin Phillips, a British theater director who helped rejuvenate Canada’s best-known theater, the Stratford Festival, as artistic director from 1975 to 1980, died on July 25 in Woodstock, Ontario. He was 75. |
| The cause was complications after a fall, Joe Mandel, his longtime partner, said. | The cause was complications after a fall, Joe Mandel, his longtime partner, said. |
| Mr. Phillips took over the Stratford Festival at a time when it held a reputation as a first-rate classical theater but also as a bit of a fusty one, lacking in adventurous spirit. He was not yet 35, and his appointment caused controversy — why not a Canadian for what many thought of as Canada’s national theater? — which his tenure did little to attenuate. | Mr. Phillips took over the Stratford Festival at a time when it held a reputation as a first-rate classical theater but also as a bit of a fusty one, lacking in adventurous spirit. He was not yet 35, and his appointment caused controversy — why not a Canadian for what many thought of as Canada’s national theater? — which his tenure did little to attenuate. |
| No one disputed that Mr. Phillips revitalized the place, however, adding productions to beef up the schedule and accelerate the work pace and creating a separate company of young actors (called, appropriately, the Young Company), which mounted its own productions. | No one disputed that Mr. Phillips revitalized the place, however, adding productions to beef up the schedule and accelerate the work pace and creating a separate company of young actors (called, appropriately, the Young Company), which mounted its own productions. |
| “Mr. Phillips is a thin, high-strung young man who works up to 18 hours a day and has been through ulcers, a heart attack and other symptoms of a man burning himself up at all his various ends,” the critic Richard Eder wrote in The New York Times in 1977. “He has brought excitement, controversy, exacting standards, brilliance and sometimes wrongheadedness to the festival.” | “Mr. Phillips is a thin, high-strung young man who works up to 18 hours a day and has been through ulcers, a heart attack and other symptoms of a man burning himself up at all his various ends,” the critic Richard Eder wrote in The New York Times in 1977. “He has brought excitement, controversy, exacting standards, brilliance and sometimes wrongheadedness to the festival.” |
| His productions at Stratford — which was founded in 1952 and has also been known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival — were known for their attention to detail, clean and elegant stage tableaus featuring gorgeous costumes and new technology (it was early in the video age), precision acting and a loyalty to the text. | |
| He brought in stars like Maggie Smith (in “As You Like It”) and Peter Ustinov (as King Lear), and in his first season he directed a widely admired “Measure for Measure” with Brian Bedford, a newcomer to the festival who became one of its regular players. | He brought in stars like Maggie Smith (in “As You Like It”) and Peter Ustinov (as King Lear), and in his first season he directed a widely admired “Measure for Measure” with Brian Bedford, a newcomer to the festival who became one of its regular players. |
| Mr. Phillips and Mr. Bedford collaborated on many productions, including “As You Like It,” “The Winter’s Tale” and Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.” | Mr. Phillips and Mr. Bedford collaborated on many productions, including “As You Like It,” “The Winter’s Tale” and Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.” |
| “Robin was a brilliant artistic director who raised the standards of acting and physical production at the Stratford Festival,” the current artistic director, Antoni Cimolino, said in a statement. | “Robin was a brilliant artistic director who raised the standards of acting and physical production at the Stratford Festival,” the current artistic director, Antoni Cimolino, said in a statement. |
| Mr. Phillips was born on Feb. 28, 1940, in Haslemere, which most sources place in Surrey, in southern England, southwest of London, although Mr. Mandel said his birthplace was in a neighboring county, West Sussex. His father, Jim, was a gardener on the estate of the actors Stewart Granger and Elspeth March, and his mother, Ellen, was a cook and housekeeper there. | |
| Robin left school at 15 and moved to London, where he worked for a costumer and a wig maker. He attended the Bristol Old Vic Theater School, where he trained as an actor, director and designer and made his professional acting debut in 1959. | Robin left school at 15 and moved to London, where he worked for a costumer and a wig maker. He attended the Bristol Old Vic Theater School, where he trained as an actor, director and designer and made his professional acting debut in 1959. |
| In 1962, he joined the inaugural company of the Chichester Festival Theater — Laurence Olivier was the artistic director — and in 1965 he became an assistant director with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1970, in London, he directed Ronald Millar’s drama “Abelard and Heloise,” about the tragic 12th-century lovers, with Keith Michell and Diana Rigg. The production later appeared briefly at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in New York, about which the Times critic Clive Barnes reported, “As a matter of record, I suppose Miss Rigg and Mr. Michell are the first major stars to appear naked on Broadway.” | In 1962, he joined the inaugural company of the Chichester Festival Theater — Laurence Olivier was the artistic director — and in 1965 he became an assistant director with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1970, in London, he directed Ronald Millar’s drama “Abelard and Heloise,” about the tragic 12th-century lovers, with Keith Michell and Diana Rigg. The production later appeared briefly at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in New York, about which the Times critic Clive Barnes reported, “As a matter of record, I suppose Miss Rigg and Mr. Michell are the first major stars to appear naked on Broadway.” |
| Mr. Phillips was one of five directors — the others were Woody Allen, Sarah Caldwell, Liviu Ciulei and Ellis Rabb — who were hired in the late 1970s by Richmond D. Crinkley, then the executive director of Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, which was dark, to revive Lincoln Center’s theater program. But the “directorate,” as it was called, dissolved after one lackluster season. | Mr. Phillips was one of five directors — the others were Woody Allen, Sarah Caldwell, Liviu Ciulei and Ellis Rabb — who were hired in the late 1970s by Richmond D. Crinkley, then the executive director of Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, which was dark, to revive Lincoln Center’s theater program. But the “directorate,” as it was called, dissolved after one lackluster season. |
| After leaving Stratford, Mr. Phillips directed many productions in Canada, Britain and the United States. They included the 1997 Broadway production of the musical “Jekyll & Hyde,” whose overheated passions generated a cult following that kept the show running for nearly four years and more than 1,500 performances. | After leaving Stratford, Mr. Phillips directed many productions in Canada, Britain and the United States. They included the 1997 Broadway production of the musical “Jekyll & Hyde,” whose overheated passions generated a cult following that kept the show running for nearly four years and more than 1,500 performances. |
| Mr. Phillips met Mr. Mandel, a hotel manager and restaurateur who was originally from New Zealand, in London in the 1960s, and they reconnected as a couple in 1971, Mr. Mandel said. Mr. Phillips is also survived by a sister, Hilary Weatherburn. | Mr. Phillips met Mr. Mandel, a hotel manager and restaurateur who was originally from New Zealand, in London in the 1960s, and they reconnected as a couple in 1971, Mr. Mandel said. Mr. Phillips is also survived by a sister, Hilary Weatherburn. |