John Burrell (theatre director) John Burrell (theatre director) John Percy Burrell (6 May 1910–28 September 1972) was an English theatre director. John Burrell was educated at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire, England and he led a successful theatre career afterwards. He was appointed as a co-director of the Old Vic Theatre in London, England, with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in 1948. He later moved to the USA and worked on Broadway, New York. "He was a founder of the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy at Stratford, Connecticut, where he also taught acting, and which opened its first season in July 1955. He was
Bristol Old Vic the Trust and in 1946 CEMA's successor, the Arts Council, arranged for a company from the London Old Vic to staff it, thus forming the Bristol Old Vic. Early members of the company included Peter O'Toole (making his first appearance in "Major Barbara" in 1956), John Neville, Timothy West, Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Dorothy Tutin. The first artistic director was Hugh Hunt. An early triumph for the Bristol Old Vic occurred when the 1954 première production of "Salad Days" transferred to the West End and became the longest-running musical on the London stage at that time. The Arts Council remained involved