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Michael Howard Poynor (born 29th September 1942) is a British theatre director, designer, writer, lighting designer, fight director and adjudicator. Biography Born in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands and educated in Argentina (St. George's College, Quilmes, Buenos Aires) and England (Clayesmore Prep School andClayesmore School, Dorset). A late decision not to read Microbiology at Cambridge led to a four year Trainee Executive Course with the British Automatic Company (part of the Gardner Merchant and Trust House Hotels group), in conjunction with Law and Economics at Westminster College, London (1962-66). His growing interest in theatre, which started at school, developed with the Guildburys Theatre Company (Surrey), for whom he directed, performed in and designed a cluster of productions (1966-73), including some several drama festival winners. He trained for theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (L.A.M.D.A.) (1967-70), and read Business (Dip. Mgmt, MBA) at the Open University. Theatre He started his theatre career at the Castle Theatre, Farnham as Stage Manager, Designer, Lighting Designer and Actor. After a spell at the Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead as a lighting designer he joined the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 1973 as Director of Productions and became Artistic Director in 1974 for one year whilst Mary O’Malley took a sabbatical. Returning to England in 1975 he co-founded the New Overground Theatre, Kingston-Upon-Thames, where he was Resident Director. In 1977 he became Artistic Director of Harrogate Theatre, Yorkshire. Returning to Northern Ireland he founded Stage ’80 Theatre Company for whom he was Artistic Director for five years as well as being Artistic Director of the Ulster Youth Theatre (1983 – 86). From 1987 to 1990 he was Artistic Director of The National Youth Theatre of Wales and has been Artistic Director of the Ulster Theatre Company since 1991. He was Chief Executive of the Millennium Forum in Derry/Londonderry (1999-2002), the largest purpose built theatre in Ireland, where he oversaw the building and opening phases as well as setting up its operational base. He was appointed Consultant General Manager for the Belfast Festival at Queen's 2003 and 2004 and subsequently Head of Culture and Arts at Queen’s University, Belfast (2005-07), with overall responsibility for the operation and management of Belfast Festival at Queen's, the Queen’s Film Theatre and the Naughton Gallery. During 1988 he represented the Director’s Guild of Great Britain in negotiations with the Association of Spanish Directors (Associacion de Directores de Escena) to set up a cultural exchange programme; in 1989 he was invited to be a moderator at the 'Forum for Young Theatre Professionals' in Philadelphia for the newly established Theatre International Exchange; in 1990 he adjudicated the first International (IATA) Festival in Ireland at the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen; and from August to October 1992, under the auspices of the British Council, he conducted a series of workshops and masterclasses on Directing, Writing and Adjudicating in Argentina and New Zealand, and adjudicated the Finals of the New Zealand Theatre Federation Drama Festival in Wellington. In 1998 he was invited to adjudicate the Finals of the All Ireland Confined Drama Festival in Enniscorthy. Amongst the one hundred and fifty productions he has directed are: The UK provincial premieres of Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, Hello Dolly and Mary O’Malley’sOnce a Catholic at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast; Sean Patrick Vincent’s Interview and Ionesco’s The Bald Prima Donna at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon; Arthur Kopit’sIndians, Brecht’s Schweyk in the Second World War, Orton’s What the Butler Saw and Michael Frayn’s Noises Off at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast; Williams' The Glass Menagerie, Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking and Labiche’s The Happiest of the Three at the Overground Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames; Frayn’s Alphabetical Order, Shaffer’s Equus, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Shaw’s Candida at Harrogate Theatre; The Snoopy Show, Fugard’s Hello and Goodbye, Rudkin’s Ashes, Harry Barton’s Kelly's Book and Martin Lynch’s Crack-Up for Stage '80, Ayckbourn’s How the Other Half Loves, and Allen’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for Theatre Ulster; Paddington Bear and The Wizard of Oz for the Riverside Theatre, Coleraine; Dario Fo’sCan't Pay? Won't Pay!, The Boyfriend, and Leave Him to Heaven for the Arts Theatre, Belfast; Oh, What A Lovely War!, Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds andWest Side Story for the Ulster Youth Theatre, Godspell and Grease for The National Youth Theatre Of Wales, La Belle Helene for Castle Ward Opera Co. and West Side Story with the Ulster Orchestra at the Klondike in Belfast for Opera Northern Ireland. For the Ulster Theatre Company he directed his own versions of several Christmas pantomimes including the world premieres of Oliver Twist (1998), Scrooge’s Christmas (1997) and Once Upon A Time (1999) which performed for a record breaking seventy four performances at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall; Robin Glendinning's Summerhouse (1995); Oklahoma! (1996) winner of Best Musical of the Year (1996) from the Belfast Telegraph; the Irish Premiere of A Chorus Line (1997); Rockin’ Mikado (1988), West Side Story (1999), the largest theatre tour ever to leave Ireland, and the RSC’s version of The Wizard of Oz (2000). The musical productions were all part of the unique Music Theatre Training Course run by the UTC (the only one of its kind in Ireland). Writing He has written eight burlesque pantomimes, and been the most prolific writer/director of seasonal entertainment in Northern Ireland since 1987; titles include: Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Little Red Riding Hood, Scrooge’s Christmas, Oliver Twist: The Pantomime and Once Upon A Time: The Millennium Panto. He also wrote Alice! (a musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's most famous books) (1989) for the Arts Theatre, Belfast; a new version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s best known operetta: Rockin’ Mikado, with composer Mark Dougherty, which was nominated ‘Best Visiting Production’ in the 1998 Manchester Theatre Awards; a modern adaptation of Comedy of Errors: The Musical (2013) with Mark Dougherty for Theatre at The Mill, Newtownabbey; and adapted Bram Stoker’s novel as a one man show: Jonathan Harker and Dracula (2014). He developed and wrote The Greening of Lord Litter for the 1991 Newry Summer Festival; The Hiring Fair for Strabane District Council's all day outdoor celebration in June, 1995 and again in 1997 and The Awakening of The Fairies for the Gilford Fairy Festival (2000). Events In 1995 he designed and staged the ABSA Awards Ceremony featuring Barry Douglas, Joanna Lumley, Adrian Dunbar and Princess Michael of Kent and devised and directed the Navan Celebrations for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board's Eurovision Song Contest entertainment. In 2009 he directed/choreographed Francis Morgan’s extraordinary sculptured creations for the 125th Anniversary of the GAA at Croke Park, Dublin. In 1996/97 he designed and wrote an eighteen month Community Theatre Training Course for the Mid Ulster Women’s Network (Magherafelt), which became the first course managed by a professional theatre company to achieve accreditation (Open College). Miscellaneous He has Designed Sets for well over a hundred productions and Lighting for nearly two hundred and fifty. He is a Fight Teacher member of the British Academy of Dramatic Combat and an Equity Registered Fight Director, the only accredited FD in Northern Ireland. He also works as a drama adjudicator and is a member of the Association of Drama Adjudicators (ADA) and the Guild of Drama Adjudicators (GODA). From 1999 to 2002 he Chaired the Ulster Association of Youth Drama; he was a member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Advisory Panel for five years; a member of the Riverside Theatre (Coleraine) Board (1998-2006) and Chairman of the Northern Ireland Theatre Association (2004-2009). Awards In 1982 Michael was awarded first prize in the Bass (Ireland) Arts Awards, the first time this had been won by a theatre practitioner. In 1987 he won three 'Peacocks' in the Ulster Theatre Awards: Best Musical Production; Best Lighting Designer and Best All Round Theatre Person. In 1993 he was awarded Best Lighting Designer by the Association of Irish Musical Societies for his lighting of Brigadoon for the New Lyric Opera Company.

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