Alan Vaughan Williams

Alan Vaughan Williams (23 May 1930 – 21 September 2026) was a British playwright and theatre director and producer.

Life and career

Williams began his theatre career in 1960 when he was appointed the company and stage manager of The Old Vic. In 1962 he became the resident producer and director of the Theatre Royal Lincoln (TRL), beginning his tenure there directing and producing The Irregular Verb to Love by Hugh and Margaret Williams. In 1963 he directed the world premiere of Malcolm Sircom and Neil Wilkie's musical Pardon My Language at the TRL. Some of the other plays he directed and produced at the TRL included Terence Rattigan's Ross (1962), Keith Waterhouse's Billy Liar (1962), Maria Marten, or, the Murder in the Red Barn (1963), Arnold Wesker's Chips with Everything (1963), William Shakespeare's Richard II (1964), Bill Naughton's All in Good Time (1964), and Joan Littlewood's Oh, What a Lovely War! (1965).

In 1965 Williams left the TRL to become director of the Northampton Repertory Company; beginning his tenure directing a stage adaptation of Richard Gordon's novel Doctor in the House. That same year he directed Rolf Hochhuth's The Representative at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In 1966 he directed the premiere of John Hall's The Little Woman at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. In 1968 he directed Graham Greene's The Complaisant Lover and Aleksei Arbuzov's The Promise at the Liverpool Playhouse. In 1970 he directed Alun Owen's The Rough and Ready Lot at the Greenwich Theatre.

As a playwright, Williams created several pantomimes based on fairy tales that were staged during the Christmas seasons at a variety of theatres. These included adaptations of Mother Goose (TRL, 1965) and Jack and the Beanstalk (1971, Greenwich Theatre) among others. In 1984 his play Matchplay was mounted by the Theatre Wales.

Williams died at a care home in Cardiff, on 21 September 2026, aged 96.

References

  1. ↑ "Alan Vaughan Williams". The Stage. No. 4109. January 14, 1960. p. 21.
  2. ↑ "Alan Vaughan Williams Welcomed At Lincoln". The Stage. No. 4246. August 30, 1962. p. 16.
  3. ↑ John O'Callaghan (8 May 1963). "Pardon My Language at Lincoln". The Guardian. p. 7.
  4. ↑ "SUCCESS OF LINCOLN'S 'ROSS'". The Stage. No. 4254. October 25, 1962. p. 9.
  5. ↑ "NEAR-CAPACITY HOUSES AT LINCOLN". The Stage. No. 4258. November 22, 1962. p. 16.
  6. ↑ L. G. S. (August 15, 1963). "ON THIS WEEK: Lincoln". The Stage. No. 4296. p. 16.
  7. ↑ L. G. S. (September 19, 1963). "ON THIS WEEK: ROTHERHAM". The Stage. No. 4301. p. 16.
  8. ↑ "On This Week: LINCOLN". The Stage. No. 4332. April 23, 1964. p. 23.
  9. ↑ "On This Week: LOUGHBOROUGH". The Stage. No. 4341. June 25, 1964. p. 16.
  10. ↑ "Littlewood Show at Lincoln". The Stage. No. 4389. May 27, 1965. p. 17.
  11. ↑ "'Doctor in the House'". The Stage. No. 4399. August 5, 1965. p. 16.
  12. ↑ "REPERTORY: Repertoire Rep success at Birmingham". The Stage. No. 4396. July 15, 1965. p. 16.
  13. ↑ Cordelia Oliver (12 September 1966). "THE LITTLE WOMAN at the Traverse, Scotland". The Guardian. p. 7.
  14. ↑ Robert Waterhouse (24 January 1968). "THE COMPLAISANT LOVER at Liverpool Playhouse". The Guardian. p. 6.
  15. ↑ Gillian Reynolds (29 May 1968). "THE PROMISE at the Liverpool Playhouse". The Guardian. p. 6.
  16. ↑ Catherine Stott (23 January 1970). "Review: Greenwich Theatre, The Rough and Ready Lot". The Guardian. p. 8.
  17. ↑ "CHRISTMAS SHOWS: LINCOLN". The Stage. No. 4369. January 7, 1965. pp. 26–27.
  18. ↑ Otis L. Guernsey (1972). "JACK AND THE BEANSTALK by Alan Vaughan Williams". The Best Plays of 1971-1972. Dodd, Mead & Co. p. 102.
  19. ↑ Tony Curtis (1986). Wales, the Imagined Nation: Studies in Cultural and National Identity. Poetry Wales Press. p. 252. ISBN 9780907476535.
  20. ↑ Smurthwaite, Nick (5 October 2026). "Alan Vaughan Williams". The Stage. Retrieved 5 October 2026.