Benedict Andrews

Theatre

Andrews has directed for theatres in both Australia and Europe. He is known for his versions of works by Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Jean Genet, and Tennessee Williams, as well as his stagings of contemporary writers such as David Harrower, Martin Crimp, Marius von Mayenburg, Caryl Churchill and Sarah Kane.

His marathon Shakespeare cycle, The War of the Roses (Sydney Theatre Company, 2009) which was a part of the 2009 Sydney and Perth festivals, received six Helpmann Awards in 2012 including Best Play and Best Direction of a Play, as well as five Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Direction and Best Mainstage Production. The two-night eight-hour production of The War of the Roses incorporates all eight War of the Roses Shakespearean plays in name but largely cut out the Henrys, making it in large part a combination of both Richard II and Richard III. The first night consisted of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. The second consisted of Henry VI and Richard III. The production was also memorable for having his two female leads, Cate Blanchett and Pamela Rabe, play Richard II and Richard III, respectively, while still dressing in modern gender-neutral clothing.

Andrews has been a regular guest at London's Young Vic, Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin, and the National Theatre of Iceland in Reykjavik. Key productions include his production of Chekhov's Three Sisters which won the Critics Theatre Award in 2012 for Best Director, Groß und Klein (STC, 2011) for which Andrews received the 2011 Helpmann Best Director award for the third time and which toured to Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), The Barbican (London), the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna) and the Ruhrfestspiele (Recklinghausen).

His production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (with Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster{{Cite news | access-date = 2016-02-26

Opera

Andrews also works extensively in opera. In autumn 2015, he directed La bohème in London, a Dutch National Opera co-production with English National Opera (ENO). His prior ENO production, Detlev Glanert's Caligula (2012) was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production and toured in 2014 to the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires. Other recent opera productions includes Verdi's Macbeth at Royal Danish Opera; The Marriage of Figaro at Sydney Opera House; The Fiery Angel at Komische Oper Berlin.

Writing

As a writer, Andrews' theatrical adaptations include: The Maids (with Andrew Upton), Three Sisters, The Seagull, The War of the Roses (with Tom Wright) and Life Is a Dream (with Beatrix Christian).

Andrews' first original play Every Breath was produced at Belvoir St Theatre in 2012 The premiere of his 2016 play Gloria was shown by the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney, directed by Lee Lewis with Marta Dusseldorp in the title role who also played Queen Margaret in Andrews' The War of the Roses in 2009.

Andrews' first volume of poetry, Lens Flare, was published in 2014 by Pitt Poetry.

Film

In November 2014, it was announced Andrews would make his directorial debut on Una starring Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn, an adaption of the Broadway play Blackbird by David Harrower. The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival.

In March 2018, it was announced that Andrews would direct Seberg, a political thriller that tells the true story of the attempts made by the FBI to discredit actress Jean Seberg through its COINTELPRO program in response to her support of the Black Panther Party. Actress Kristen Stewart was cast to play Seberg in the film. It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 30, 2019.

Notable productions

• 2017 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Young Vic
• 2014 A Streetcar Named Desire, Young Vic
• 2013 The Maids, by Jean Genet, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2012 Three Sisters, Young Vic
• 2012 Gross und Klein, Barbican
• 2011 The Seagull, Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
• 2009 The City by Martin Crimp, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2009 The War of the Roses, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2007 The Season at Sarsaparilla by Patrick White, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2005 Julius Caesar, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2003 Endgame, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2000 Attempts on her Life by Martin Crimp, Sydney Theatre Company
• 2000 La Dispute by Pierre Marivaux, translated by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Sydney Theatre Company

References

References

1. [http://www.realtimearts.net/feature/Archive_Highlights/9892 Profile in ''Real Time'' magazine]
2. Dow, Steve. (31 August 2015). "Benedict Andrews returns to Australia with new play ''Gloria''". [[The Guardian]].
3. Júlia Marí Bernaus. (2013). "About Benedict Andrews". Benedict Andrews.
4. [http://www.spectator.co.uk/2009/01/blanchett-triumphs-but-this-war-is-unwinnable/ ''The Spectator'' 21 January 2009]{{Title missing. (August 2023{{dead link). (August 2023)
5. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/sep/14/three-sisters-review "''Three Sisters'' – review"] by [[Michael Billington (critic). Michael Billington]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 14 September 2012
6. [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/maids-pile-fake-flowers "''The Maids'' Is a Pile of Fake Flowers"] by [[Hilton Als]], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 13 August 2014
7. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10996713/A-Streetcar-Named-Desire-Young-Vic-review.html "''A Streetcar Named Desire'', Young Vic, review"] by [[Charles Spencer (journalist). Charles Spencer]], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 29 July 2014]
8. [https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/magazine/posts/2012/september/archive-benedict-andrews ''Sydney Theatre Magazine'', September 2012]{{Title missing. (August 2023)
9. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9593979/Fireface-Young-Vic-review.html ''The Telegraph'' (Jane Shilling) October 2012]{{Title missing. (August 2023)
10. [http://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/magazine/posts/2015/june/archive-caryl-churchill ''Sydney Theatre Magazine'', June 2015 (Archive 2004)]{{Title missing. (August 2023)
11. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/mar/23/theatre1 "The best British playwright you'll never see"] by [[Michael Billington (critic). Michael Billington]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 23 March 2005]
12. [http://www.helpmannawards.com.au/2012/past-nominees-and-winners/theatre Helpmann Awards 2012]
13. (2013). "Catching Australian Theatre in the 2000s". Rodopi.
14. (2010). "Shakespeare Survey: Volume 63, Shakespeare's English Histories and Their Afterlives". Cambridge University Press.
15. [http://www.criticscircle.org.uk/?ID=315 Critics Theatre Awards 2012]
16. [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/apr/15/big-small-gross-klein-review Ferguson, Euan; ''The Guardian'', April 2012]{{Title missing. (August 2023)
17. [https://variety.com/2014/legit/reviews/theater-review-the-maids-cate-blanchett-isabelle-huppert-1201279258 "New York Theater Review: '‘The Maids'’ Starring Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert"] by Marilyn Stasio, ''[[Variety (magazine). Variety]]'', 9 August 2014
18. [http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/06/detlev_glanerts.php "Detlev Glanert’s ''Caligula'', ENO"] by Anne Ozorioa, ''Opera Today'', 4 June 2012
19. [https://www.oberonbooks.com/three-sisters-1157.html ''Three Sisters''], {{ISBN. 9781849435031]
20. Benedict Andrews. (2012). "Every Breath". Currency Press.
21. (2014). "Lens Flare". Pitt Street Poetry.
22. Fleming, Mike Jr.. (November 5, 2014). "Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn Star In 'Blackbird'; First Film For Theater Helmer Benedict Andrews".
23. Hammond, Pete. (September 1, 2016). "Telluride Film Festival Lineup: ''Sully'', ''La La Land'', ''Arrival'', ''Bleed for This'' & More".
24. "Una".
25. "Una".
26. (15 March 2018). "Kristen Stewart to Star as Jean Seberg in 'Against All Enemies'".