Barton, John Bernard Adie

Barton, John Bernard Adie (1928– ), English director, who has been connected with the RSC since its foundation, and associate director since 1964, having previously directed plays in Cambridge for the Marlowe Society and the ADC. His first production at Stratford was The Taming of the Shrew. He devised the recitals The Hollow Crown (1961), The Art of Seduction, and The Vagaries of Love (both 1962), in all of which he took part. He also adapted Henry VI and Richard III as The Wars of the Roses (1963). In 1969 he prepared for Theatregoround, the RSC schools programme, a shortened version of Henry IV as When Thou Art King, concentrating on the relationship between Prince Hal and Falstaff. He also made a shortened version of Henry V as The Battle of Agincourt, and in 1970 added to it two more scenes from the history cycle as The Battle of Shrewsbury and The Rejection of Falstaff. His non-Shakespearian productions included his own version of Marlowe's Dr Faustus (1974); The Greeks (1980) based on 10 plays, mainly by Euripides; Schnitzler's La Ronde (1982); and Aphra Behn's The Rover (1986).