Robert Icke is an English playwright and theatre director.
18 Facts About Robert Icke
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Robert Icke is best known for his play The Doctor, and his modern adaptations of classic texts, including versions of Oresteia, Mary Stuart, and 1984, devised with Duncan Macmillan.
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Robert Icke then founded a theatre company, Arden Theatre, and directed a series of shows at Arc Theatre over a five-year period between 2003 and 2008.
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Robert Icke studied at Ian Ramsey Church of England School, Stockton, Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, and then studied English at King's College, Cambridge, where he was taught by Anne Barton.
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In 2010, Icke replaced Ben Power as associate director at Rupert Goold's company Headlong.
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Robert Icke first worked alongside Goold on the site-specific Decade at St Katharine's Docks.
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Robert Icke then directed touring productions of Romeo and Juliet, the first production of Boys by Ella Hickson and 1984, written and directed with Duncan Macmillan, which began at Nottingham Playhouse then toured in 2013 and after an extended further life, opened on Broadway in 2017.
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In 2013, Robert Icke left Headlong to take up a post as associate director at the Almeida Theatre.
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In summer 2019, Robert Icke stepped down from his Almeida role after six years to focus on his freelance career.
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In 2018, Robert Icke opened his new adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus for Ivo van Hove's company Toneelgroep Amsterdam, starring Hans Kesting and Marieke Heebink.
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In 2020, Robert Icke was announced as the first Ibsen Artist in Residence at ITA, supported by the Philip Loubser Foundation, which committed him to making productions with the company from 2020 to 2022.
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Robert Icke made his National Theatre debut with The Red Barn, starring Mark Strong and Elizabeth Debicki in 2016.
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In March 2019, Robert Icke won the Kurt Hubner award for the German adaptation of Oresteia.
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From its opening moments, when a digital clock starts to count the minutes, Robert Icke offers a story in which elements of time and fate are compressed and heightened.
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Robert Icke has been praised for successfully balancing technology and artistry in his work.
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Robert Icke's Hamlet had CCTV in the corridors of Elsinore, and in his Mary Stuart, the two main actresses decided only at the start of each performance which of them would play which part.
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Robert Icke became the youngest ever winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director in 2016.
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Robert Icke was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in its "40 Under 40" initiative in June 2018.