Sir Richard Eyre (Guest Lecturer) was the director of the National Theatre in London from 1988 to 1997. In 1997 he was the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University. Sir Richard has had considerable success in film, television, as well as theatre. As director of the National Theatre, occupying the post first created for Laurence Olivier, he was responsible for more than one hundred productions, including plays brought from other countries, such as the Romanian Hamlet, original works from America and Japan, as well as new works commissioned from British writers. His work as a director includes Hamlet, Richard III, and King Lear, and many plays by contemporary writers such as Tom Stoppard, David Hare, Alan Benett, Christopher Hampton and Trevor Friffiths. His television films include The Insurance Man, Tumbledown, The Ploughmans Lunch and King Lear. In 1994, he directed La Traviata at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He also lectures and organizes workshops for aspiring directors, writers, and actors. Sir Richard is a member of the BBCs Board of Governors. He is a graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge.