Matthew Warchus
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
The Yorkshire raised son of a former actor turned vicar, Matthew Warchus was at first considering following in his father's first profession until he discovered a preference for directing while still a college student. Shortly after graduating from the University of Bristol, he created a bit of a stir with his staging of "Sejanus: His Fall," an obscure Ben Jonson play. Warchus then returned to his native area and served two years as associate director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, proving equally effective as a director of plays (e.g., "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?") and musicals (e.g., "Fiddler on the Roof"). In 1992, he made his West End debut as director of "Much Ado About Nothing" and subsequently attracted further attention with his interpretation of Sam Shepard's seminal work "True West" at the Donmar Warehouse in 1994.
Warchus truly became internationally known after directing "Art," Yasmina Reza's 1996 three character comedy-drama about male friendship. The London production was an immediate hit and spawned a Tony-winning Broadway stand. The busy director barely stopped working, overseeing Alex Jennings' acclaimed turn as "Hamlet" in 1997 and reuniting with playwright Reza for her two-hander "The Unexpected Man."
Like many of his contemporaries (i.e., Nicholas Hytner, Sam Mendes, Deborah Warner), Warchus did not want to be pigeonholed strictly as a theater director. He had branched out to opera and it was perhaps inevitable that he would try filmmaking. Given his success with Sam Shepard's "True West" (which he re-staged to great acclaim on Broadway in 2000), he was able to obtain from the playwright the screen rights to "Simpatico." Released in 1999, the film version, which Warchus co-wrote with David Nicholls, captured the spirit of Shepard's work and provided strong roles for screen veterans Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte and Sharon Stone. Warchus did not return to the screen for another 15 years, when he directed the 1980s period piece "Pride" (2014), based on a real incident in which striking Welsh miners and London-based gay activists formed a common bond in Thatcher's England.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1987
Staged the rarely produced Ben Jonson play "Sejanus his Fall" in Edinburgh
1992
West End directing debut, "Much Ado About Nothing"
1994
Directed "Troilus and Cressida" for the English National Opera
1994
Directed Sam Shepard's "True West" at the Donmar Warehouse
1996
Staged Yasmina Reza's three-character play "Art" in London
1997
Directed Alex Jennings and Susannah York in "Hamlet" at London's Barbican Theatre
1998
Re-teamed with Yasmina Reza on "The Unexpected Man" in London
1998
Restaged "Art" on Broadway; production won Tony Award for Best Play; earned a Tony nomination for direction
1999
Feature film directorial debut "Simpatico"; also contributed to screenplay adaptation from Sam Shepard's play
2000
Directed "True West" on Broadway with Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly alternating the two lead roles; received a Tony nomination for Best Direction
2000
Staged "The Unexpected Man" Off-Broadway with Eileen Atkins and Alan Bates
2001
Staged the Roundabout Theater's Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical "Follies"
2002
Assumed position of artistic director of the Old Vic (January)
2002
Directed Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" at the Royal Shakespeare Company
2003
Directed the Broadway production of "Life (x) 3" with Helen Hunt and John Turturro
2007
Staged a production of "Boeing Boeing" at London's Comedy Theatre; production moved to Broadway in 2008; earned a Tony nomination for Best Direction
2007
Directed the stage adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
2008
Directed David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" with Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum
2009
Directed Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy of plays "The Norman Conquests" and Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" on Broadway; earned Tony nominations for both plays
Companions
