Richard Negri
| Richard Negri | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Richard Anthony Negri 27 June 1927 London |
| Died | 17 April 1999 (aged 71) |
| Occupation | Theatre director and designer |
| Years active | 1951–1983 |
| Spouse(s) | Jill Adams (1956–1998) (two sons and six daughters) |
Richard Negri (27 June 1927, London – 17 April 1999, Fakenham, Norfolk) was a British theatre director and designer.
Richard Negri was born on 27 June 1927 in Stamford Hill, London to parents of Italian origin: Riccardo Negri and Teresa Manattini. The family moved to Chingford in Essex where he was educated. He served in the Royal Navy as a radio engineer at the end of the Second World War and afterwards studied Art under David Bomberg at Borough Polytechnic (later to become part of South Bank University). In 1951 he attended the Old Vic Theatre School to study theatre design. The director of the school, Michel Saint Denis, was especially influential on Negri's thinking and development as a theatre designer as was the designer Margaret (Percy) Harris (of the renowned all female design group Motley), the design tutor at the school.
After leaving the Old Vic he spent a year designing for the Oldham Coliseum before founding the Piccolo Theatre company with director Frank Dunlop (a contemporary at the Old Vic Theatre School) in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester (which only survived for a year) and designing the productions. In 1957, at the Royal Court 'Nekrassov' by Jean-Paul Sartre directed by George Devine with Robert Helpmann heading a distinguished cast including Ronald Barker, Roddy McMillan, James Villiers, Bernard Kay and Harry H. Corbett. He also designed Chekhov's 'Platonov' directed by George Devine and John Blatchley at the Royal Court in 1960 with Rex Harrison as well as James Bolam, Peter Bowles, Ronald Barker, Rachel Roberts and Graham Crowden.
Also, Peter Shaffer's double bill 'The Private Eye' and 'The Public Ear' with Maggie Smith and Kenneth Williams at the Globe, in the West End directed by Peter Wood.
Shakespeare's 'King Richard II' at London's Old Vic in 1959, directed by Val May with Maggie Smith as the Queen to John Justin's King Richard. George Baker, John Woodvine and Joss Ackland were also in the cast.
'Lady at the Wheel' a musical comedy directed by Wendy Toye in 1958, costumes by Motley and lighting by Richard Pilbrow with Bernard Cribbins at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.
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