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
The Old Vic South Bank, opening in 1976. The Old Vic then became the home of Prospect Theatre Company, at that time a highly successful touring company which staged such acclaimed productions as Derek Jacobi's "Hamlet". However, with the withdrawal of funding for the company by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1980 for breaching its touring obligations, Prospect disbanded in 1981. The theatre underwent complete refurbishment in 1985. In 2003, Kevin Spacey was appointed artistic director, which received considerable media attention. In 2015, Matthew Warchus succeeded Spacey as artistic director. The theatre was founded in 1818 by James King and Daniel