1967–1986: Early theatre work from 1967 to 1972 Eyre was Associate Director at the
Royal Lyceum Theatre,
Edinburgh from 1967 to 1972. He won STV Awards for the Best Production in Scotland in 1969, 1970 and 1971. His productions at the Lyceum included
Jack Ronder's adaptation of
James Hogg's novel,
Confessions of a Justified Sinner in August 1971. He was artistic director of
Nottingham Playhouse from 1973–78 where he commissioned and directed many new plays, including the
Trevor Griffiths play
Comedians starring
Jonathan Pryce,
Stephen Rea, and
Tom Wilkinson which was first performed in 1975. Eyre worked as both a director and one of the producers of
BBC's
Play for Today between 1978 and 1980. He directed ''
The Ploughman's Lunch (written by Ian McEwan) in 1983, which won the Evening Standard Award for Best Film. He returned to the BBC in 1988 to direct the Falklands War story Tumbledown (starring Colin Firth), which won him the BAFTA Award for Best Director and the Prix Italia. He has been the recipient of numerous directing awards including five Olivier Awards. In 1982 he won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director, for Guys and Dolls
, and in 1997 for King Lear'' and Tom Stoppard's
The Invention of Love. In 1997 he won an Olivier Lifetime Achievement Award, and awards from The Directors' Guild of Great Britain, the South Bank Show, the
Evening Standard and the Critics' Circle.
1987–1999: Royal National Theatre from 1987 to 1997. Eyre was artistic director of the UK's
National Theatre (which gained the now little-used prefix Royal as outgoing director
Peter Hall handed over to him) between 1987 and 1997. He had previously directed a well received revival of
Guys and Dolls for the venue in 1982, with
Olivier Award-winner
Julia McKenzie and
Bob Hoskins. He repeated this production in 1996 with
Imelda Staunton and
Joanna Riding. His diaries from his time at the National have been published as
National Service, winning the 2003
Theatre Book Prize. Other than
Guys and Dolls, his theatre productions include
Hamlet (twice), with
Jonathan Pryce at the
Royal Court in 1980 and
Daniel Day-Lewis in 1989;
Richard III with
Ian McKellen;
King Lear with
Ian Holm;
Tennessee Williams'
The Night of the Iguana and
Sweet Bird of Youth;
Eduardo De Filippo's '
and ';
Henrik Ibsen's
John Gabriel Borkman with
Paul Scofield,
Vanessa Redgrave and
Eileen Atkins; Ibsen's
Hedda Gabler with
Eve Best; and numerous new plays by
David Hare,
Tom Stoppard, Trevor Griffiths,
Howard Brenton,
Alan Bennett,
Christopher Hampton and
Nicholas Wright. He made his
Broadway debut directing the
David Hare play
Racing Demon earning a
Tony Award for Best Play nomination. The following year he directed the Broadway transfer of Hare's play
Skylight (1996). He directed Hare's play
The Judas Kiss (1998) starring
Liam Neeson and
Tom Hollander on the West End and Broadway. The next year he directed
Judi Dench in Hare's play ''
Amy's View'' at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre on
Broadway which earned her the
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Eyre has also directed
operas. His debut was the 1994 production of
La traviata at the
Royal Opera House which starred
Angela Gheorghiu and was conducted by Sir
Georg Solti. This production was televised and has subsequently been released on video and DVD. Eyre was appointed to the
Board of Governors of the BBC in November 1995, and in October 2000 was appointed for a second term of office, though he resigned early (with effect from 31 May 2003) due to theatre and film directing commitments. In 1999, Eyre gave the
James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the
Edinburgh TV Festival, where he argued public service broadcasting must give way to public interest broadcasting, predicting the imminent demise of public service television. Eyre has written adaptations of
Hedda Gabler and of
Sartre's ''
(Dirty Hands) as The Novice
for the Almeida Theatre. A friend of Ian Charleson, whom he directed in acclaimed performances of Guys and Dolls
and Hamlet, Eyre contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute''.
2000–2009: Film director in the films
Iris (2001), and
Notes on a Scandal (2006) for which she earned nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Actress In 2001 he directed the biographical drama
Iris about writer and philosopher
Iris Murdoch. The film covers her early life to her later years dealing with
Alzheimers. Critics praised the film specifically citing the powerful performances from its four stars
Judi Dench,
Jim Broadbent,
Kate Winslet and
Hugh Bonneville. Broadbent won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in
Iris, and Dench and Winslet were nominated for
Best Actress and
Best Supporting Actress, respectively. The following year he directed the
Broadway revival of the
Arthur Miller play
The Crucible starring
Liam Neeson and
Laura Linney. Charles Isherwood of
Variety wrote, "Eyre’s production has an earnest integrity to the text that firmly accentuates the play’s powerful aspects". In 2006, he directed
Notes on a Scandal, the film adaptation of the
Man Booker Prize-nominated novel by
Zoë Heller. The film starred
Judi Dench,
Cate Blanchett, and
Bill Nighy. James Christopher of
The Times praised the film writing, "Eyre directs the film like a
chamber play...his natural gift for framing scenes is terrifically assured. A potent and evil pleasure." The film was nominated for the
BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film as well as two
Academy Awards for
Best Actress for Dench and
Best Supporting Actress for Blanchett. He then directed the 2005 stage musical
Mary Poppins for
West End and
Broadway. For his work on the former production he received a
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director nomination. On 14 February 2007, Eyre's production of
Nicholas Wright's
The Reporter premiered at the National Theatre, London. The play explores the social climate in the years before
James Mossman's death as well as the reasons for the death itself. He directed
The Other Man (2008), an adaptation of a short story by
Bernhard Schlink, starring
Liam Neeson,
Antonio Banderas, and
Laura Linney. Eyre directed a new production of
Bizet's opera
Carmen for the
Metropolitan Opera's 2009–10 season, starring Latvian
mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča and
Roberto Alagna. He returned to the Met for the 2013–14 season where he created and directed a new production of
Jules Massenet's
Werther with
Jonas Kaufmann and
Sophie Koch and returned to create and direct the 2014–15 season opening production, Mozart's
The Marriage of Figaro. Eyre was planning to direct
Jon Robin Baitz's stage adaptation of Hollywood legend
Robert Evans' memoirs
The Kid Stays in the Picture and its sequel,
The Fat Lady Sang, but the project was cancelled by the producer.
2010–present His production of
Noël Coward's
Private Lives starring
Kim Cattrall and
Paul Gross opened at the
Music Box Theatre on Broadway in November 2011 following a run in Toronto. In November 2013, he once again won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director for Ibsen's
Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre. This production moved to the
West End. In the late 2010s, Eyre directed numerous projects for the screen. In 2015 he directed the television film
The Dresser starring
Anthony Hopkins and
Ian McKellen based on the
1980 play of the same name by
Ronald Harwood. It received positive reviews as well as a
Golden Globe Award for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film nomination. He also directed the drama film
The Children Act (2017), based on the novel of the same name by
Ian McEwan and starring
Emma Thompson. The following year he directed the
BBC Two television film
King Lear (2018) which starred
Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson,
Florence Pugh, and
Jim Broadbent. It earned a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. In 2021, Eyre directed
Allelujah, a
film adaptation of
Alan Bennett's play of the same name which starred
Jennifer Saunders,
Bally Gill,
Russell Tovey,
David Bradley,
Derek Jacobi, and
Judi Dench. His play 'The Snail House' was premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2022. == Style and recognition ==