London — Giles Havergal, the renowned theatre director whose daring vision transformed the Glasgow Citizens Theatre into one of Britain’s most distinctive stages, has died aged 87.

From 1969 to 2003, Havergal, alongside co-directors Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald, led the Citizens through more than three decades of audacious, European-influenced theatre. Their tenure became the longest of any British directing team, establishing the south-side Glasgow venue as a beacon of provocative, experimental performance.

Havergal’s approach was both pragmatic and radical: by keeping finances in order, he gave himself freedom to push artistic boundaries. Productions ranged from Brecht and Pirandello to Tennessee Williams, Jacobean dramas, and even Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, adapted by MacDonald as A Waste of Time. Havergal himself played Baron de Charlus in the 1980 staging, remembered for its daring reversal of Proust’s narrative.

The company’s reputation for creative boldness was cemented in 1970 with an all-male Hamlet featuring nudity, black satin, and a searing performance by David Hayman that shocked critics and enthralled young audiences. Ticket prices remained accessible—just 50p in the early years—while the theatre offered equal pay for actors, free programmes, and a policy of free previews.

Over the years, the Citizens became a launchpad for some of Britain’s greatest acting talent, with early appearances from Mark Rylance, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Pierce Brosnan, Rupert Everett, Celia Imrie, and Ciarán Hinds, among many others.

Havergal also earned acclaim as a performer, most notably in Travels with My Aunt, his own stage adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel. First staged at the Citizens in 1989, the production—featuring four actors in identical suits shifting seamlessly between roles—won an Olivier Award in 1993 and toured internationally. His solo Death in Venice, which premiered in 2000, was performed worldwide.

Born in Edinburgh in 1937, the son of Henry Havergal, a leading choral conductor and principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Giles was educated at Harrow and Oxford. He began his theatre career in Carlisle before directing at Watford Palace, where he staged the British premiere of Tennessee Williams’s Sweet Bird of Youth in 1968.

Beyond the Citizens, Havergal worked extensively in opera, directing productions for Opera North, Scottish Opera, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where he taught and mentored young actors.

He was appointed OBE in 1987 and CBE in 2002, and held honorary doctorates from the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.

A tall, genial figure known for personally greeting audiences in the foyer each night, Havergal believed that “the show started when the audience first stepped into the theatre.” His presence left an indelible mark on Glasgow’s cultural life, particularly during the city’s tenure as European Capital of Culture in 1990.

Havergal lived in both Glasgow and London for much of his life, later settling near Clapham Common, where he tended a small garden. He remained an insatiable theatregoer and served on the board of the Almeida Theatre.

He is survived by his niece, Louise. His brother Malcolm predeceased him.