Past Presidents

Elected Presidents of the Shakespeare Club

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The tradition of the Mayor of Stratford being Club President continued until 1941. Then people distinguished in drama, literature or history were elected, and since the 1970s Presidents have come alternately from the worlds of scholarship and theatre.  

 

1942-43    Sir Barry Jackson, theatre director

1943-44    Robert Donat, actor

1944-45     Sir Norman Birkett, barrister, judge and politician

1945-46     Professor John Dover Wilson, academic

1946-47     Professor Allardyce Nicoll, founding Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, 1951-1961

1947-48     Ivor Brown, academic

1948-49     Alan Dent, theatre critic

1949-50     Antony Quayle, actor and Director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1949-1956

1950-51     John Gielgud, actor

1951-52     Professor C.J.  Sisson, academic, Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham

1952-53     T.C. Kemp, theatre critic

1953-54     Peggy Ashcroft, actor

1954-55     H.V.D. (Hugo) Dyson, academic and Shakespearean

1955-56     Canon C.B. Mortlock, essayist

1956-57     Neville Coghill, academic

1957-58     Glen Byam Shaw, Director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1953-9

1958-59     James Laver, author and art historian

1959-60     J.C. Trewin, theatre critic

1960-61     Sir Tyrone Guthrie, theatre director

1961-62     W.A. Darlington, theatre critic

1962-63     Ernest Burbridge, formerly British Council representative in Stratford  

1963-64     Dr Levi Fox, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1945-1989

1964-65     Dr Levi Fox

1965-66     Michel St. Denis, theatre director

1966-67     Gareth Lloyd Evans, academic and Shakespearean

1967-68     J.B. Butterworth, Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick, 1964-1985

1968-69     Professor T.J.B. Spencer, Professor of English and Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, 1961-1979

1969-70     Dame Veronica Wedgewood, historian

1970-71     Dr A.L. Rowse, academic

1971-72     Professor Stanley Wells, Director of the Shakespeare Institute 1988-97, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1991-2011.

1972-73     Professor Arthur C. Sprague, American academic and stage historian

1973-74     Lord David Cecil, biographer, historian and academic.

1974-75     Robert Speaight, theatre critic and historian

1975-76     The Rev. Professor  Moelwyn Merchant, academic and Shakespearean

1976-77     Sir Donald Sinden, actor

1977-78     Professor Kenneth Muir, academic and Shakespearean

1978-79     George Rylands, academic and theatre director

1979-80     Richard Pasco & Barbara Leigh-Hunt, actors

1980-81     Professor Muriel Bradbrook, academic and Shakespearean

1981-82     Professor Glynne Wickham, academic and theatre historian

1982-83     Miss Fabia Drake, actor

1983-84     Professor Philip Brockbank, Director of the Shakespeare Institute 1979-88.

1984-85     Judi Dench & Michael Williams, actors

1985-86     Professor Inga-Stina Ewbank, academic

1986-87     Dr  Jonathan Miller, theatre director

1987-88     Professor Philip Edwards, academic

1988-89     Tony Church, actor

1989-90     Professor Harold Jenkins, academic

1990-91     Adrian Noble, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1990-2003

1991-92     Professor Andrew Gurr, academic and theatre historian

1992-93     Barbara Jefford, actor

1993-94     Roger Pringle, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 1989-2007

1994-95     David Brierley CBE, Manager of the Royal Shakespeare Company   

1995-96     Dr  Rex Gibson, academic and Shakespearean

1996-97     Jane Lapotaire, actor

1997-98     Professor Jonathan Bate, academic and Shakespearean

1998-99     Guy Woolfenden, composer and Head of Music, Royal Shakespeare Company

1999-00     Professor R.A. Foakes, academic and Shakespearean

2000-01     Sir Nigel Hawthorne, actor

2001-02     Professor David Daniell, academic and Shakespearean

2002-03     Fiona Shaw, actor

2003-04     Dr T.P. Matheson, Fellow (1963-1993), Acting Director (1978, 1987-8) and Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Institute 1980-1993.

2004-05     Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company 2012-2022

2005-06     Professor Russell Jackson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, 2002-4.

2006-07     Desmond Barrit, actor

2007-08     Professor Carol Chillington Rutter, academic and Shakespearean

2008-09     Alex Jennings, actor

2009-10     Patrick Spottiswoode, Director of Education, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

2010-11     David Bradley, actor

2011-12     Professor Stanley Wells, CBE (see 1971-2 above)

2012-13    Michael Attenborough, theatre director

2013-14    Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, 2011-.

2014-5     Jeremy Irons, actor

2015-6      Peter Kyle, OBE, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 2011-  and former Chief Executive of Shakespeare’s Globe, 1999-2011.

2016-7     Sir Richard Eyre,  CH, CBE, theatre, opera, television and film director, formerly Director of the National Theatre 1988-97.

2017-8   Michael Wood, historian and broadcaster

2018-9   Emma Rice, theatre director

2019-20  Sir Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of the National Theatre

2020-1   Professor Stanley Wells CBE (see 1971-2 above)

2021-2   Lena Cowen Orlin, Professor Emerita of English at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

2022-3  Dame Harriet Walter, actor

2023-4  Professor Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, Hertford College, University of Oxford.

2024-5  Sir Gregory Doran, former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company

2025-6   Rev Dr Paul Edmondson, Local Studies Specialist, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust