Director Michael Boyd, revivalist of Royal Shakespeare Company, dies at 68

According to his family, Michael Boyd, who served as the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and helped turn around its fortunes, passed away today from cancer. He was 68.

In 2003, Boyd took over as RSC's successor for Adrian Noble; he left nine years later. He received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2012 for his contributions to drama. Many believed that he was getting paid for maintaining the RSC.

The noble came under fire from all sides for moving the business out of London and disclosing intentions to demolish the RSC theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Boyd oversaw the organization's successful transformation of the $179.3 million Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, which won a 2011 Royal Institute of British Architects award and made the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist. He made his imprint, though, in a theatre rehearsal room.

Boyd encouraged Toby Stephens, who was portraying Hamlet's title character, by advising him to consider Shakespeare's Danish tragedy as "a thriller with the same kind of gothic allure as Batman."

Boyd opened up Shakespeare to audiences that avoided the classics in his own way. He never made them sound less intelligent; instead, he inspired the actors to read the lines exactly as they were written while also bringing some extra vigour to them.

Boyd was a master at making Shakespeare exciting.

Under his direction, the RSC produced The Complete Works Festival in 2006, presenting all 37 of Shakespeare's plays, sonnets, and epic poems in collaboration with 30 foreign visiting companies.

From 2005 through 2008, Boyd directed all eight of Shakespeare's historical dramas. The Glorious Moment, which had all eight plays presented over four days with 34 performers portraying over 264 parts, was the pinnacle of the season. The curtain call was incredibly energised.

In a statement released today, Boyd's family recalled his career, which included studying in Moscow on a British Council scholarship, serving as creative director of the Tron Theatre in Glasgow's East End from 1985 to 1996, and joining the RSC in 1996 as an associate director.

Caroline Hall, Boyd's partner, and his three children, Daniel, Gabriella, and Rachael, are still alive.