Director
Warren
Hooper has directed over one hundred and eighty shows. From
November 1990 to June 1996, Warren was Artistic Director of the
Coliseum Theatre, Oldham. Prior to this he had been Associate
director of four regional theatres - the Tyneside Theatre Company,
Newcastle; the Marlowe Theatre Canterbury; the Playhouse Derby; and
from 1981-83, the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester. Apart from twenty
two productions at the Haymarket and thirteen at Derby Playhouse,
Warren has directed at the Bristol Old Vic; the Olympia Theatre
Dublin; the John Houseman Theatre New York, the Churchill Theatre
Bromley; the Palace Theatre Watford; the Queen's Theatre
Hornchurch; Contact Theatre Manchester; the Northcott Theatre
Exeter; the Drum Theatre Plymouth; the Gateway Theatre Chester; the
Phoenix Theatre Leicester; the Humberside Theatre Hull; the
Edinburgh Festival, and Theatre North Sheffield. In London his
shows have been seen at the Albany; the Warehouse Croydon; the Gate
Theatre Notting Hill; the Finborough Arms; the York and Albany; the
Embassy Theatre; the Embassy Studio; the Judi Dench Theatre; and on
tour with the Oily Cart Company.
Productions have
ranged from musicals such as
Blood Brothers,
Side by Side by Sondheim,
The Wizard of Oz,
Yakety Yak,
Judy, and
Grease to plays
like
The Elephant Man,
All My Sons,
Savage Amusement,
Terra Nova and
Outskirts.
Warren has
earned a fine reputation for comedy - from 'old chestnuts'
See How They Run!,
Charley's Aunt and
Arsenic and Old Lace to more modern
classics such as
Accidental Death of an Anarchist,
Once A Catholic (with Tim
McInnerny),
Funny Peculiar,
Having A Ball,
One For The Road and (with
Miranda Richardson)
Educating Rita. His
productions of plays centred around women have received great
critical praise for their sensitivity and insight, especially
worthy of mention are
Duet For One,
Shakers,
A Little Like Drowning (with Roberta
Taylor),
Piaf (with Caroline
Quentin),
Steaming,
Trafford Tanzi,
Strippers and
Crimes of the Heart.
As well as directing work by Shakespeare, Shaw, Brecht, Orton,
Stoppard, and Ayckbourn, Warren has devised three plays and has
directed premieres of work by Lord Ted' Willis, Roy Hudd, Mary O'
Malley, Mike Stott, John Chambers, John Godber and many more. In
his time at the Coliseum, Warren wrote and directed four
very successful Pantomimes. Other work has
included two productions of
The Adventures of Mr Toad, (Bristol Old
Vic and Dublin Olympia),
Private Lives (Bristol Old Vic
and The Tyne Opera House),
Tommy Boy (Malvern
Festival and National Tour),
Stiff Options (Churchill
Theatre Bromley and National Tour),
Rockula (Oldham Coliseum
and National Tour),
Phallacy, by Carl
Djerassi, (co-directed with Andy Jordan: New End and King's Head
Theatres),
Mirandolina (Drama Centre)
and
Peter Pan(Charter,
Preston).
Recently, Warren has written, produced, and directed his first film
–
Out Of The Shadows – starring
Phyllis Logan and Peter Guinness. The film has won seven awards,
including Barcelona (Best Director), Granada (Best Actress),
Strasbourg (Best Actor), and Miami Short Film (Best
Photography).
TV screenings
include BBC2's
Home Grown Hollywood, and Propeller
TV.