Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner ( ; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre and film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include Miss Saigon, The History Boys and One Man, Two Guvnors. He is also known for directing films such as The Madness of King George (1994), The Crucible (1996), The History Boys (2006), and The Lady in the Van (2015). Hytner was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II.
Early life and education
Hytner was born in the prosperous suburbs of south Manchester in 1956, to barrister Benet Hytner and his wife, Joyce. He is the eldest child of four, and went to university at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Some of his earliest professional directing work was in opera, including at Kent Opera, Wexford Festival Opera and a production of Rienzi at English National Opera. His first theatre productions were at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter. He then directed a series of productions at the Leeds Playhouse, including The Ruling Class by Peter Barnes, an adaptation of Tom Jones and a musical version of Alice in Wonderland. In 1985 he became an Associate Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, For Hytner, "It just felt like a huge lark... It was gigantic, and I was into gigantic at the time, so I threw everything I knew at it. It was big, honest, moving, brash, kind of crazy. I had no idea that it would take off."
Hytner was on a percentage for both London and New York productions, allowing him (then aged 34) to never need worry about money again.
In 1994, Eyre announced he would be leaving the National Theatre in three years' time. "[It] made me begin to think about the vision that is needed in such a position and the fact that this needs refreshing under every directorate. I very much felt that you had to have a big idea in order to put yourself forward for such a role and as I didn't have this kind of idea at that time, I decided not to apply," Hytner said later.
National Theatre Director (2003–15)
When Trevor Nunn announced that he would be leaving the National Theatre, Hytner "really felt that this time I had a strong sense of what the NT should be doing under a new Director. I had a long conversation with Christopher Hogg, then Chairman of the NT Board, and Tom Stoppard about my ideas for the NT's future. These included a redefinition of how it might be possible to use the theatre spaces and opening up the NT to new audiences by lowering prices for some performances." He took over from Nunn in April 2003.
Hytner's role as Director of the National involved decisions about what plays are staged. "Essentially what I do is produce 20 shows a year here," he stated in one interview.
Under Hytner's directorship, the National innovated with Sunday openings, The reduced price seasons were credited with achieving high usage for the Olivier auditorium – between 90% and 100% full during the summer months compared to a historic average of 65%, with no loss in overall income, In his role as Director of National Theatre, he appeared on the Cultural Exchange as part of the Radio Four programme Front Row, where he chose The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart as his work of art.
The London Theatre Company (2017–present)
Hytner and Nick Starr founded the London Theatre Company opening a new 900-seat adaptable commercial theatre, Bridge Theatre near Tower Bridge in October 2017. Hytner directed the inaugural production of Young Marx followed by productions such as the hit immersive revivals of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in 2018, A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2019 and Guys and Dolls which ran from March 2023 until January 2025.
The London Theatre Company also opened another venue with 59 Productions, The Lightroom in King's Cross, London in February 2023 used for immersive artist-led exhibitions which will also eventually become a theatrical space.
Opera and film
Hytner has worked extensively in opera, with many of his productions achieving critical acclaim and commercial success – his English National Opera staging of The Magic Flute was in repertory for 25 years. But Hytner has described himself (to an opera-related audience) as "someone who is unimpressed by his own work on the operatic stage".
Similarly, most of Hytner's films have achieved critical and commercial success, with The Madness of King George winning BAFTA and Evening Standard awards for best British film, but he still sees himself as primarily a theatre practitioner. "I think I'm a theatre director who does other stuff," he has said. "I can't see myself as a film-maker. I love doing opera when ever I've done it, but I always see myself as visiting from the theatre, which is where I belong. The real film-maker thinks with a camera, which is something I just can't do."
Stage and screen credits
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Producer
|-
| 1994
| The Madness of King George
|
|
|-
| 1996
| The Crucible
|
|
|-
| 1998
| The Object of My Affection
|
|
|-
| 2000
| Center Stage
|
|
|-
| 2006
| The History Boys
|
|
|-
| 2015
| The Lady in the Van
|
|
|-
| 2025
| The Choral
|
|
|-
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Notes
|-
| 2013
| National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage
| TV special
|-
| 2020
| Talking Heads
| 3 episodes
|}
Theatre
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Playwright
! Theater
!
|-
|1982
|Absurd Person Singular
|Alan Ayckbourn
|Northcott Theatre, Exeter
|
|-
|1985
|The Scarlet Pimpernel
|Baroness Orczy
|Chichester Festival Theatre
|
|-
|rowspan=3|1986
|As You Like It
|William Shakespeare
|rowspan=6|Royal Exchange, Manchester
|rowspan=5|
|-
|Measure for Measure
|Barbican Theatre
|
|-
|1989
|Ghetto
|Joshua Sobol
|National Theatre
|
|-
|1990
|Volpone
|Ben Jonson
|Almeida Theatre
|
|-
|1990–91
|The Wind in the Willows
|Kenneth Grahame <br/>adapted by Alan Bennett
|National Theatre
|
|-
|1991–92
|The Madness of George III
|Alan Bennett
|rowspan=2|National Theatre
|
|-
|1993
|The Importance of Being Earnest
|Oscar Wilde
|Aldwych Theatre
|
|-
|1997
|The Cripple of Inishmaan
|Martin McDonagh
|National Theatre
|
|-
|1999
|The Lady in the Van
|Alan Bennett
|Queen's Theatre
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2000
|Orpheus Descending
|Tennessee Williams
|Donmar Warehouse
|
|-
|Cressida
|Nicholas Wright
|Albery Theatre
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2001
|The Winter's Tale
|William Shakespeare
|rowspan=2|National Theatre
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2003
|Henry V
|William Shakespeare
|National Theatre
|rowspan=2|
|-
|2004
|Stuff Happens
|David Hare
|rowspan=13|National Theatre
|rowspan=9|
|-
|2011–12
|Collaborators
|John Hodge
| Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre
|-
|rowspan=2|2012
|Travelling Light
|Nicholas Wright
|National Theatre
|
|-
|Timon of Athens
|rowspan=2|William Shakespeare
|rowspan=2|Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
|
|-
|2013
|Othello
|
|-
|2014
| Great Britain
| Richard Bean
| Lyttleton Theatre <br/> Haymarket Theatre
|
|-
|2015
|The Hard Problem
|Tom Stoppard
| Dorfman, National Theatre
|
|-
|2017
|Young Marx
|Richard Bean and Clive Coleman
|rowspan=11|Bridge Theatre
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2018
|Julius Caesar
|William Shakespeare
|
|-
|Allelujah!
|Alan Bennett
|
|-
|rowspan=3|2019
|Alys, Always
|Lucinda Coxon
|
|-
|A Midsummer Night's Dream
|William Shakespeare
|
|-
|Two Ladies
|Nancy Harris
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2020
|Beat the Devil
|David Hare
|
|-
|Talking Heads
|Alan Bennett
|
|-
|2020, 2022
|A Christmas Carol
|Charles Dickens<br/>adapted by Hytner
|
|-
|2021
|Bach & Sons
|Nina Raine
|
|-
| 2021
|The Book of Dust: <br /> La Belle Sauvage
| Philip Pullman
|
|-
| 2022
|Straight Line Crazy
| David Hare
| Bridge Theatre, London <Br/>The Shed, Off-Broadway
| <br/>
|-
|2022
|The Southbury Child
|Stephen Beresford
|Chichester Festival Theatre<br/>Bridge Theatre
|
|-
| 2022
|John Gabriel Borkman
|Henrik Ibsen
|rowspan=2|Bridge Theatre
|
|-
|2023–25
|Guys and Dolls
|Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
|
|-
|2024<br/> 2025<br/> 2026
|Giant
|Mark Rosenblatt
|Royal Court Theatre<br/> Harold Pinter Theatre<br/>Music Box Theatre, Broadway
|
|-
|2025
|Richard II
|William Shakespeare
|Bridge Theatre
|
|}
Opera
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
|+ Opera produced by Nicholas Hytner
|-
! House
! Opera
! Composer
! First production
! Notes
|-
|rowspan=2|Kent Opera||The Turn of the Screw||Benjamin Britten||||
|-
|The Marriage of Figaro||Mozart||||
|-
|Wexford Festival Opera||Sakùntala||Franco Alfano||||
|-
|Kent Opera||King Priam||Michael Tippett||||
|-
|Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris||The Cunning Little Vixen||Janáček||||
|-
|Royal Opera||rowspan=2|Don Carlo||rowspan=2|Verdi||||
|-
|Metropolitan Opera|||| He is a patron of many organisations including London International Festival of Theatre, HighTide Festival Theatre, the Shakespeare Schools Festival, Dance UK, Action for Children's Arts, Pan Intercultural Arts and Prisoners' Penfriends.
He was elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 2005, and was Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University in 2000–01.
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! Ref.
|-
|rowspan=3|1995
| rowspan=3|British Academy Film Awards
|Outstanding British Film
| rowspan=3|The Madness of King George
|
|-
| Best Film
|
|-
|Best Direction ||
|-
|1991 || rowspan=5|Tony Awards || rowspan=2|Best Direction of a Musical|| Miss Saigon ||
|-
|1994 || Carousel ||
|-
|2006 || rowspan=3|Best Direction of a Play || The History Boys ||
|-
|2012 || One Man, Two Guvnors ||
|-
|2026 || Giant ||
|-
|1990 || rowspan=8|Laurence Olivier Awards || Best Director || Miss Saigon ||
|-
|1991 || Best Director of a Play || The Wind in the Willows ||
|-
|1993 || Best Director of a Musical || Carousel ||
|-
|2001 || rowspan=3| Best Director ||Orpheus Descending ||
|-
|2005 || The History Boys ||
|-
|2012 || One Man, Two Guvnors ||
|-
|2014 || Society of London Theatre Special Award || ||
|-
|2025 || Best Director || Giant ||
|-
|}
See also
- List of British film directors