William Gaskill was born in Yorkshire in 1930 and studied at Oxford University, alongside Tony Richardson and Kenneth Tynan. Gaskill was very influenced by the French theatre he saw during his time in Oxford and after leaving university he spent six months studying mime, ballet and theatre in Paris and watching the work of the Comédie Française and Théâtre National Populaire. On his return to England he became a Stage Manager in weekly rep before Richardson secured him a place on Granada Television’s directors’ course. After a successful Sunday night production of N.F. Simpson’s absurd comedyA Resounding Tinklein 1957, George Devine offered Gaskill the role of Assistant to the Artistic Director at the Royal Court. Impressed by the simplicity of staging and clarity of acting he had seen in Paris and in the work of the Berliner Ensemble, Gaskill developed a spartan aesthetic in which the actor is unencumbered by elaborate set or props. Gaskill left the Royal Court for the fledgling National Theatre where he directed The Recruiting Officer (1963) in a distinctly Brechtian style, inspired by  Brecht’s own adaptation of the play, Trumpets and Drums.

Gaskill returned to the Royal Court as Artistic Director in 1965, directing the premieres of Edward Bond’s Saved (1965), Early Morning (1968), Lear (1971) andThe Sea, and establishing the Theatre Upstairs for experimental and studio work. He was a founder member of Joint Stock Theatre company alongside Max Stafford-Clark and left the Royal Court to focus on the company as well as directing influential productions of Brecht’s work. Kate Dorney