Arts world pays tribute as ‘powerhouse’ Jules Wright loses cancer fight

Wright, 67, was the first female director of the Royal Court Theatre and founder of the Wapping Project arts space
"Daring and visionary": Jules Wright at her restaurant The Wapping Project (Picture: Nick Holt)
NICK HOLT.
Matt Watts23 June 2015

Tributes were today paid to London arts “powerhouse” Jules Wright who has died after a short battle with cancer.

Wright, 67, the first female director of the Royal Court Theatre and founder of the Wapping Project arts space, was celebrated as one of the capital’s most daring and visionary commissioners of contemporary art.

The Australian-born curator, who moved to the UK from her native Adelaide with her husband Joshua in the 1970s, died on Sunday.

Friend Marina O’Laughlin said: “She was in every sense of the word a powerhouse. She was known for nurturing and discovering talent in the arts world, and collaborating with everyone from composers to fashion designers … the arts world is much poorer for her loss.”

Wright was completing a PhD in educational psychology in Bristol when she decided to follow her dream of working in theatre.

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She moved to London to found the Women’s Playhouse Trust, alongside Glenda Jackson, before being chosen to head the Royal Court. She was director from 1986 to 1992 and put on productions at the Old Vic, Royal Exchange and Royal Festival Hall. In 1988 she turned down an offer to direct the Sydney Opera House and instead turned a derelict hydraulic power station in Docklands into the Wapping Project.

Playwright Jonathan Harvey paid tribute, tweeting that she “gave me my first break in writing.”

Artist Edgar Martins said: “I hope you join me in saluting her.”

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