Phyllida Lloyd

Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film and theatre director and producer. Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre, and opera director for Opera North and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Her adaptation of three Shakespeare plays (Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest) received acclaim from critics, with The Guardian calling it "one of the most important theatrical events of the past 20 years". She is best known for directing Mamma Mia! (2008) and The Iron Lady (2011). Films she has directed have won 2 Academy Awards, and have won and been nominated for numerous other awards. She has been nominated for a BAFTA Award, a European Film Award, 2 Tony Awards. Life and career Lloyd was born and raised in Nempnett Thrubwell, Somerset, south of Bristol. After graduating from the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at Birmingham University in 1979 (BA, English), she spent five years working in BBC Television Drama. In 1985 she was awarded an Arts Council of Great Britain bursary to be Trainee Director at the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich. The following year she was appointed Associate Director at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, then in 1989 Associate Director of the Bristol Old Vic, where her production of The Comedy of Errors was a success.