Ian McKellen
and Trevor Nunn

They met as undergraduates, both reading English at Cambridge, where they acted together in the Marlowe Society's 1960 production of Christopher Marlowe's "Dr Faustus" in the open-air theatre in Bankside Gardens, Stratford-upon-Avon.

They first worked together professionally for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1976, when Trevor Nunn as artistic director invited McKellen to be his leading man in a golden season of successes. Sir Ian played Romeo (to Francesca Annis's Juliet); voted Actor of the Year for his now legendary Macbeth (with Judi Dench as the Scottish Queen); Leontes in "The Winter's Tale" and Face in Ben Jonson's "The Alcemist" (Comedy Performer of the Year). These productions were all directed by Trevor Nunn. They opened at Stratford and then played in the RSC's first season in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before reaching London at the Aldwych Theatre and Donmar Warehouse.

In 1978, McKellen produced and acted for the RSC's first small-scale tour around the United Kingdom on John Napier's portable stage. Trevor Nunn directed "Twelfth Night" and Chekhov's "Three Sisters", with McKellen as Sir Toby Belch and Andrei. The journey to 13 venues was chronicled on television by the South Bank Show.

The Nunn/McKellen partnership was revived in 1989 with "Othello", the closing production of the original Other Place in Stratford. McKellen was a ground-breaking Iago, for which he was again Actor of the Year. The production played the Young Vic in London and was televised. Video versions of "Othello" and "Macbeth" are currently available.

On Dr. Faustus (1960):

"I was The Pope and Trevor my acolyte! The following year I played Shakespeare's 'King Henry 6th' at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, with Trevor as an old man."

On the RSC's first tour of the US (1978):

"Trevor told me it was the most enjoyable job he'd ever done for the RSC. He must have enjoyed the actors because they were the core of the company which later devised 'Nicholas Nickelby,' Trevor's RSC masterpiece, itself the staging inspiration for 'Les Miserables'."

On the upcoming season with Trevor Nunn at the RNT (1997-8):

"I am thrilled to be back in Trevor's rehearsal room, where I expect to learn once more from one of the world's most inspiring directors. His appointment at the RNT is a worthy successor to Richard Eyre."


1976 —
Ian McKellen as Romeo directed by Trevor Nunn