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
Michael Elliott (director) Company, based at the Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith) with Elliott appointed assistant artistic director and, although short-lived, the company achieved considerable success with productions of Ibsen's "Brand" (Elliott's professional debut as a director) and "Little Eyolf", plus Georg Büchner's "Danton's Death". The two men supervised a season of plays at the Old Vic in 1961, this time with Elliott as artistic director and Wrede as his assistant. He directed "As You Like It" in Stratford for the RSC with Vanessa Redgrave, "Peer Gynt" for the Old Vic with Leo McKern and "Miss Julie" for the National Theatre with Albert Finney and