Andrew Hilton receives Honorary Degree

Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s Founder and Artistic Director receives an Honorary Degree


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Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory (SATTF) is delighted to announce that its Founder and Artistic Director, Andrew Hilton, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from University of Bristol for services to theatre in the city. The degree was conferred at a graduation ceremony in the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building at 2.30pm on Friday 19th July. It was presented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor David Clarke, after a speech by Dr Edward Forman which detailed Andrew’s career and achievements.

Andrew Hilton – who will announce SATTF’s 15th Anniversary 2014 Season at an event at the Tobacco Factory Theatre on 30th July – has said he is ‘thrilled’ to have been awarded such a great honour by the university. 

In his speech, Dr Forman said: ‘In Bristol’s cultural life, Andrew has indeed for some years been a towering figure, metaphorically as well as literally, contributing significantly to the transformation of a landscape which many thought all but derelict.’ He also paid tribute to SATTF’s flair for telling a story, with an intelligent and lucid delivery, plus other qualities which have won ‘an intensely loyal and growing following.’

Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory
Andrew Hilton founded SATTF in 1999 to produce large-cast, intimate Shakespeare in the new Tobacco Factory Theatre in South Bristol.  The company was an instant success and soon became an established part of the UK’s theatre scene.  It has won a Peter Brook/Empty Space Award and transferred productions to London’s Barbican Centre, the Kingston Rose and the Galway Festival.SATTF has now produced 23 Shakespeare plays, Chekhov’s Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, The Evils of Tobacco and Uncle Vanya (a co-production with the BOV), Middleton & Rowley’s The Changeling and the Molière/Tony Harrison The Misanthrope (also with the BOV). All of these – with the single exception of Hamlet, which was directed by Jonathan Miller – were directed by Andrew. In 2013 SATTF began national touring with its production of Two Gentlemen of Verona generously supported by a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

SATTF’s 15th Anniversary 2014 Season will be announced at the Tobacco Factory and online on July 30th.  

For further information Please contact SATTF General Manager, Morag Massey, t: e:  

An honorary degree is a major accolade, awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement and distinction in a field or activity consonant with the University’s mission. Click here for further information from Bristol University