A. J. Antoon (December 7, 1944 – January 22, 1992) was an American theatre director. He attended the Yale School of Drama. Beginning in 1971, Antoon directed numerous plays at the New York Shakespeare Festival over a period of nearly 20 years. In 1973, Antoon became one of the few directors to have been nominated for two Tony Awards in the same category in the same year. In addition to winning the Tony Award with one of his nominations, Antoon was also the winner of a Drama Desk Award, a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and an Obie Award. His career lasted until 1991; he died less than a year later from AIDS-related lymphoma. Biography Alfred Joseph Antoon was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, on December 7, 1944. His parents were Alfred J. Antoon, Sr. and Josephine Antoon (née Saba). Antoon attended Lawrence Central Catholic High School in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts. After high school he studied for priesthood at the Shadowbrook Jesuit seminary in Lenox, Massachusetts, while also attending Boston College. He later dropped out from the seminary and earned his bachelor's degree from Boston College in 1968. He went on to attend the Yale School of Drama for a year and a half before leaving to begin his work in professional theatre. Antoon died at the age of 47 from AIDS-related lymphoma on January 22, 1992, at the NYU Medical Center. After his death, a collection of Antoon's papers and correspondence was donated to Billy Rose Theatre Collection. Career Antoon directed his first professional production, Story Theatre, at St. Clement's Church Theatre in 1971. In that same year, Antoon presented Subject to Fits, a play written by his Yale friend Robert Montgomery, to Joseph Papp, founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival. Papp gave Antoon the directing job, and the play opened on February 14, 1971, at the Public Theater. This was the first of many productions he would direct for the New York Shakespeare Festival over a career lasting 20 years. Subject to Fits was successful, and it moved to London where it was staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Place. Antoon continued his success with the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1971 with his direction of Tale of Cymbeline. In 1972, Antoon directed both the off-Broadway and Broadway debut productions of That Championship Season as well as a Broadway production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About