Kenneth Tynan theatre critic until mid-1963 when he joined the National Theatre. In 1963, Laurence Olivier became the British National Theatre Company's first artistic director. Tynan had been highly dismissive of Olivier's achievements as artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre, which had opened in 1962, but he recommended himself for the role of literary manager. Olivier was initially outraged by Tynan's presumption but Olivier's wife, Joan Plowright, convinced him that Tynan would be an asset at the National Theatre Company, then based at the Old Vic theatre. When he became the National Theatre's literary manager, Tynan ceased to be the theatre
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School designers and stage and company managers throughout the world. Among the most notable of the many distinguished actors on the School's list of alumni are the Academy Award winners Daniel Day-Lewis and Jeremy Irons multiple Academy Award nominees Miranda Richardson, Pete Postlethwaite and Gene Wilder, Brian Blessed, Mark Strong, Naomie Harris and in more recent years three time BAFTA award-winning actress Olivia Coleman. Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England that provides training in acting for film, television and theatre. It is one of the most prestigious drama schools