# Mike Alfreds

Michael Alfreds (born 5 June 1934) is an English theatre director, adaptor, translator and teacher.

## Biography

Michael Alfreds was born in London in 1934 and trained as a director at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
He lived in the United States for eight years (1954–1962), during which time he worked for MGM Studios in Hollywood, was artistic director of Theatre West, Tucson, and then of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. For five years he worked in Israel (1970–1975), where he became the artistic director of the Jerusalem Khan Theatre and contributed immensely to its development.
In the UK, Alfreds founded Shared Experience in 1975 and ran it for thirteen years. He worked as a director at the Royal National Theatre between 1985 and 1988, and was an associate and artistic director of the Cambridge Theatre Company, later renamed Method and Madness, from 1991 to 1999. He has directed for Shakespeare's Globe, Royal Shakespeare Company, and for several regional repertory theatres.
As well as the USA and Israel, Alfreds has worked in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Norway, France, Italy, Mongolia and China. He has staged over two hundred productions, and won awards both internationally and in the UK. He has translated the texts of several of his productions and has also specialised in the adaptation of novels and stories for the stage and has developed techniques for storytelling in the theatre.
Alfreds has written three books on his working methods: Different Every Night, which deals with his rehearsal processes for plays; Then What Happens, concerning his methods of working on adaptations; and What Actors Do, which is a philosophy of his process. He has divided his career between directing and teaching acting and directing. Alfreds is known for his special method of working with actors, inspired amongst others by the principles of Constantin Stanislavski and Rudolf Laban, with emphasis on physical work, scrupulous analysis of text, spontaneity and interaction with others during the play in minimalistic productions.

## Teaching

Alfreds began teaching acting and directing at the London Opera Centre and taught at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in London from 1965 to 1970. He later served as a senior lecturer in drama at the University of Tel Aviv from 1971 to 1973.
Alfreds has conducted workshops and masterclasses globally, including locations such as St Andrews, Melbourne, Wellington, and Beijing, covering various techniques such as storytelling, melodrama, and the methods of Chekhov and Stanislavski.
He has collaborated with theatre companies like the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, and worked with the Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Canada and the Actors Studio in New York.
Alfreds has also taught dance and choreography workshops, contributing to theatre education through training courses and workshops for organisations worldwide.

## Productions

| Year | Production | Company / Theatre |
| 1955 | Hello From Bertha, Williams | Brentwood Playhouse, Los Angeles |
| 1956 | The Death of Manolete, Conrad adaptation | Brentwood Playhouse, Los Angeles |
| 1956 | The Human Voice, Cocteau | Brentwood Playhouse, Los Angeles |
| 1956 | One, Two, Three, Molnar | Brentwood Playhouse, Los Angeles |
| 1957 | The Epidemic, Mirbeau | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1957 | The Tenor, Wedekind | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1957 | The Understanding, Alfreds | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1957 | Blithe Spirit, Coward | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1957 | The Beaux Arts Revue, Alfreds/Cohen | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1957 | Keep An Eye On Amelie, Feydeau | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | Montserrat, Robles/Hellman | Summer Stock, Kennebunkport, Maine |
| 1958 | Guys and Dolls, Loesser | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | Kiss Me, Kate, Porter | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | La Perichole, Offenbach | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | Lakme, Delibes | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | The Secret Marriage, Cimarsoa | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | The Land of Smiles, Lehar | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | Gallantry, Moore | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1958 | The Merry Wives of Windsor, Nicolai | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1959 | Annie Get Your Gun, Berlin | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1959 | Die Fledermaus, Strauss | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1959 | The Most Happy Fella, Loesser | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1959 | The Merry Widow, Lehar | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1959 | Madama Butterfly, Puccini | Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh |
| 1960 | Thieves' Carnival, Anouilh | Winter Stock, Theatre West, Tucson, Arizona |
| 1960 | Enrico IV, Pirandello | Winter Stock, Theatre West, Tucson, Arizona |
| 1961 | Volpone, Romains/Zweig/Jonson | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1961 | A View From the Bridge, Miller | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1961 | Under Milk Wood, Thomas | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1961 | The Seagull, Chekhov | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1961 | La Ronde, Schnitzler | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1961 | The Bald Soprano/The Chairs, Ionesco | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | Hedda Gabler, Ibsen | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | The Servant of Two Masters, Goldoni | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | Heartbreak House, Shaw | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | No Exit, Sartre | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | The Lark, Anouilh/Hellman | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, new play - Shapiro | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1962 | Hamlet, Shakespeare | Cincinnati Playhouse-In-The Park |
| 1963 | Photo Finish, Ustinov | Chruchill, Bromley |
| 1963 | Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Laclos | Frinton/Cambridge Arts |
| 1964 | La Traviata, Verdi | Welsh National Opera Tour |
| 1964 | Die Fledermaus, Strauss | Opera Players |
| 1964 | La Boheme, Puccini | British Opera Company |
| 1964 | La Traviata, Verdi | British Opera Company |
| 1967 | Busybody, Popplewell | Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury |
| 1967 | Lady, Be Good, Gershwin | Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury |
| 1968 | The Government Inspector, Gogol | Theatre Royal, Lincoln |
| 1968 | A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Sondheim | Theatre Royal, Lincoln |
| 1968 | A Day In The Death of Joe Egg, Nichols | Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury |
| 1968 | The Servant of Two Masters, Goldoni | Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury |
| 1968 | The Misanthrope, Moliere | Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury |
| 1968 | Dear Departed Mother In Law, Feydeau | Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury |
| 1969 | Marriage | Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel |
| 1970 | Mandragola | Haifa Theatre, Israel |
| 1971 | The House of Bernarda Alba, Lorca | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1971 | Asses, from Platus | Haifa Theatre, Israel |
| 1972 | 1001 Nights | Tel Aviv |
| 1972 | The Persian Protocols, devised from The Book of Esther | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1972 | Woyzeck, Buchner | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1973 | One City, devised documentary about Jerusalem | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1973 | Fumed Oak, Coward / The Music Cure Shaw | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1973 | The Proposal/The Jubilee, Chekhov | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1973 | The Book of Jonah | Israeli Television |
| 1973 | Two Hassidic Tales, Buber | Israeli Television |
| 1974 | Offending The Audience, Handke | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1974 | The Servant of Two Masters, Goldoni | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1975 | The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov | Khan Theatre, Jerusalem |
| 1975 - 1977 | Arabian Nights Trilogy, stories from the 10001 Nights | Shared Experience, (Crucible, Sheffield) |
| 1977 - 1978 | Bleak House, 4-part production of novel by Dickens | Shared Experience |
| 1978 - 1979 | Science Fictions, improvised clown show | Shared Experience |
| 1979 | Cymbeline, Shakespeare | Shared Experience |
| 1981 | The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare | Shared Experience |
| 1981 | The Seagull, Chekhov | Shared Experience |
| 1982 | La Ronde, Schnitzler | Shared Experience |
| 1982 | The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov | Shared Experience |
| 1982 | A Handful of Dust, novel by Evelyn Waugh | Shared Experience |
| 1983 | Suitcase Packers, an Israeli play by Hanoch Levine | Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel |
| 1983 | Le Theatre des Nations, Nancy | Shared Experience - Performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1985 |
| 1983 | The Comedy Without a Title, 4 plays by Ruzante | Shared Experience |
| 1983 | False Admissions, Marivaux | Shared Experience |
| 1983 | Successful Strategies, Marivaux | Shared Experience |
| 1984 | Marriage, Gogol | Shared Experience |
| 1984 | 1001 Nights | Theater der Stadt Heidelberg, Germany |
| 1984 | False Admissions, Marivaux | Taragon Theatre, Toronto, Canada |
| 1985 | The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov | Royal National Theatre (Best Director-BTA/DRAMA & Plays and Players Awards) |
| 1986 | The Three Sisters, Chekhov | Shared Experience |
| 1986 | Too True To be Good, George Bernard Shaw | Shared Experience |
| 1986 | Arabian Nights | Nationale Scene, Bergen, Norway |
| 1987 | The Wandering Jew, novel by Eugene Sue | Royal National Theatre |
| 1987 | Countrymania, Goldoni trilogy | Royal National Theatre |
| 1988 | Blood Wedding, Lorca | Tarragon Theatre, Toronto & Banff Centre, Canada |
| 1988 | A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams | Tianjin People's Art Theatre, China |
| 1989 | Ghosts, Ibsen | Beersheba Municipal Theatre, Israel |
| 1990 | The Miser, Molière | Oxford Stage Company |
| 1990 | Trouble In Paradise, devised show. | Talking Pictures |
| 1991 | The Seagull, Chekhov | Oxford Stage Company |
| 1991 | Marriage, Gogol | Theatre der Stadt Heidelberg, Germany |
| 1991 | The Country Wife, Wycherley | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1991 | Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1992 | The Revenger's Tragedy, Tourneur | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1992 | The Game of Love and Chance, Marivaux | Co-Director; Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1993 | The Hypochondriac, Molière | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1993 | The Dearly Beloved, new play by Philip Osment | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1993 | A Flea In Her Ear, Feydeau | Theatre Clwyd/West Yorkshire Playhouse |
| 1993 | Les Enfants Du Paradis, film of Carné & Prévert. | Co-Director; Cambridge Theatre Co. |
| 1994 | A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh Revival | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1994 | Uncle Silas, novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1994 | Emma, novel by Jane Austen | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1995 | What I Did In The Holidays, new play by Philip Osment | Cambridge Theatre Company |
| 1995 | Jude The Obscure, novel by Thomas Hardy | Method & Madness (Best Director TMA Awards) |
| 1996 | Private Lives, Noël Coward | Method & Madness (Best Director TMA Awards) |
| 1996 | Flesh and Blood, new play by Philip Osment | Method & Madness (Best Director TMA Awards) |
| 1996 | Ghosts, Ibsen | Method & Madness |
| 1997 | The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare | Method & Madness |
| 1998 | Cherry Orchard, Chekhov | Method & Madness |
| 1998 | Demons & Dybbuks, stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer | Method & Madness |
| 1998 | The Black Dahlia, novel by James Elroy | Method & Madness |
| 1999 | Buried Alive, new play by Philip Osment | Method & Madness |
| 2000 | Demons & Dybbuks, Bashevis Singer | Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv |
| 2001 | Buried Alive, Philip Osment | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2001 | Cymbeline, Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2002 | Cymbeline, Shakespeare | Brooklyn Academy of Music |
| 2002 | A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2002 | The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare | Dartmouth College, New Hampshire |
| 2003 | Collateral Damage, on the Oklahoma City Bombing; devised with Osment | LAMDA |
| 2003 | The Black Dahlia, novel by James Ellroy | Yale Repertory Theater |
| 2003 | Collateral Damage | LAMDA |
| 2004 | Twelfth Night, Shakespeare | Rutgers University at Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2004 | Pedro, The Great Pretender, Cervantes | Royal Shakespeare Company; The Swan |
| 2005 | Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare | Rutgers University at Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2005 | Pedro, The Great Pretender, Cervantes | Royal Shakespeare Company; The Swan |
| 2006 | Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare | Rutgers University at Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2007 | The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare | Rutgers University at Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2008 | Cymbeline, Shakespeare | Rutgers University at Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2011 | The Tin Ring, Zdenka Fantlova Erlich/Jane Arnfield | Northern Stage/Lowry Centre/The Houses of Parliament/World Tour |
| 2014 | Blood Wedding, Lorca | East 15 School of Acting |
| 2014 | The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare | Guildhall School of Music & Drama |
| 2015 | Twelfth Night, Shakespeare | Guildhall School of Music & Drama |
| 2016 | Dealer's Choice, Patrick Marber | Guildhall School of Music & Drama |
| 2016 | The Crucible, Miller | Guildhall School of Music & Drama |
| 2018 | The Three Sisters, Chekhov | Central School of Speech & Drama |
| 2018 | Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks | Lowry Centre |
| 2023 | Five Characters in Search of a Good Night's Sleep, devised with the company | Visible Theatre, Southwark Playhouse |

## Awards

* Kinoor David (David's Harp) Award (Israel), Best Director/Production: Mandragola, Haifa Theatre 1971; Suitcase Packers, Cameri Theatre 1984
* The Israeli Culture & Arts Council Theatre Award: Mandragola, Haifa Theatre 1971; The Persian Protocols, Khan Theatre 1973
* BTA/DRAMA Award, Best Revival: The Seagull, Shared Experience 1982
* BTA/DRAMA Award & Plays and Players Award, Best Director: The Cherry Orchard, National Theatre 1986
* Writer's Guild, Best New Regional Play: The Dearly Beloved, 1993
* TMA Awards, Best Director, for Jude the Obscure, Private Lives and Flesh and Blood, 1996
* Honorary Fellowship of London Guildhall (HonFGS) 2014.

## Bibliography (selection)

* A Shared experience: The actor as story-teller Series: Theatre papers. Published 1980 by Dartington College of Arts
* The Wandering Jew by Michelene Wandor, Mike Alfreds. Published 27 May 1988 by Heinemann Educational Books.
* Different Every Night: Freeing the Actor, Published 1 April 2008 by Nick Hern Books ISBN 978-1-85459-967-4
* Then What Happens? Storytelling & Adapting for Theater. Published 2013 by Nick Hern Books, ISBN 978-1-84842-270-4 Published 21 August 2014 by Nick Hern Books.
* The Surprise of Love by Pierre Carlet De Marivaux, translated by Mike Alfreds. Published 2011 by Oberon Books, ISBN 978-1-84943-183-5.
* What Actors Do, Published 2024 by Nick Hern Books.
Books:
* Different Every Night: Freeing the Actor, Nick Hern Books 2007. An account of his rehearsal processes with actors.
* Then What Happens? Storytelling & Adapting for the Theatre, Nick Hern Books, 2013. An account of his work on material not originally conceived for the stage.
* What Actors Do - Advice to the Players in Seven Paradoxes and a Manifesto, Nick Hern Books, 2024.
Translation:
* The Surprise of Love by Marivaux, published by Oberon Books for The Theatre Royal Bath, 2011.
Adaptation:
* The Wandering Jew, co-adapted with M. Wandor from the novel by Eugene Sue. Methuen, 1987.

## Memberships

* Arts Council Drama Panel, 1981–1985
* Working Party of Gulbenkian Foundation Enquiry into Director
* Training and Report: "A Better Direction", 1987–1989
* Management Committee of the Actors Centre, 1988
* Director: Board of Almeida Theatre, 1982–1989
* Director: Board of Shared Experience, 1975–1998
* Director: Board of David Glass Ensemble, 1990–1994
* Director: Board of Odyssey Theatre, 1992–1993
* Member of Council: Directors Guild of Great Britain, 1995–1996
* Director: Board of Unicorn Theatre for Children, 2000–2002