Noted British Director Steven Pimlott Dies at Age 52

Steven Pimlott, noted British director of theater, opera and musicals, has died at the age of 52. He continued to work right up until his death from lung cancer on February 14.

A non-smoker, Pimlott had last year been in preparation to direct a production of Moliere's The Misanthrope for the National Theater in London but was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed with the disease. He underwent a course of chemotherapy which granted him remission from the cancer, and a new production of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo was programmed with him at the helm. After conceiving the production, assembling the cast and leading rehearsals for just over a week, he fell seriously ill once again. The National's Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner was one of his closest friends and associates, and visited him at home the night before his death. Pimlott insisted to him that he would be back at rehearsals the following Monday. In a statement, Hytner revealed that it had always been thought possible that Pimlott might not be able to complete his work on the production, and that Hytner had been designated as his back-up from the outset. As a result The Rose Tattoo will open at the Olivier Theatre on March 29 as originally scheduled, with Hytner directing.

Paying personal and professional tribute to Pimlott, Hytner called him his oldest friend in the theater; the two attended Manchester Grammar School together. He said that, although Pimlott had been his senior by three years, he still remembered fondly the performance that Pimlott gave in a school production of The Visit.

Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the RSC, also paid tribute to his former colleague, describing him as "one of the best directors of his generation." He continued, "Steven's footprint on British theater was and is as wide as anybody's. His abilities, taste and success embraced opera, Shakespeare, bold new writing, the new European classical repertoire, Gilbert and Sullivan, and the popular modern musical. His storytelling was always blazingly clear, intelligent and human. I found him inspirational, challenging, enormously entertaining and a good friend. He leaves many friends behind at the RSC who will miss him dearly."

After early theater productions in Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, Pimlott became an Associate of the RSC, where he directed many Shakespeare productions including Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, Richard III, As You Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, Richard II and Hamlet, as well as T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, Tennessee Williams' Camino Real, Moliere's The Learned Ladies and the world premières of Michael Hastings' Unfinished Business and Robert Holman's Bad Weather. Productions outside the RSC during this time include three world premières of plays by Phyllis Nagy, Butterfly Kiss, The Strip and Neverland, and Moliere's The Miser. He subsequently became Artistic Director of The Other Place from 1998-2001. He had recently been a joint artistic director at Chichester Festival Theatre, where his productions included The Master and Margarita and The Seagull, Doctor Faustus and Nathan the Wise.

As a director of musical theater, Pimlott directed major productions of Sunday in the Park with George, Dr. Doolittle, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Bombay Dreams, the latter two of which also played on Broadway. Pimlott was also known extensively for his work in opera.