Annabel Arden (born 11 November 1959)[1] is a British actress, theatre and opera director, and one of the co-founders of Théâtre de Complicite.

Annabel Arden
Born (1959-11-11) 11 November 1959 (age 65)
London, England
EducationSt Paul's Girls' School
Newnham College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Theatre and opera director, actress
SpouseStephen Jeffreys (died 2018)

Early life and education

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Arden was born in London in 1959 and studied English from 1978 to 1981 at Newnham College, Cambridge.

Career

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Théâtre de Complicité

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After university, she trained at Jacques Lecoq's theatre school in Paris[2] with Monika Pagneux and Philippe Gaulier. She then toured internationally with Neil Bartlett. In 1983 Arden founded Théâtre de Complicité with Simon McBurney and Marcello Magni.

Opera

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For Opera North, Arden has directed The Magic Flute, The Return of Ulysses, La Traviata and The Cunning Little Vixen.[2] In addition, for the English National Opera, she has directed The Rake’s Progress. At Glyndebourne Festival Opera, she has directed Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Rachmaninov’s The Miserly Knight, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.[2]and Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

Theatre

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As well as acting and directing for Théâtre de Complicité, Arden has also worked with plays at the National Theatre, the Arcola, the Royal Court as well as for BBC Radio.[3]

Personal life

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Arden was married to playwright Stephen Jeffreys, until his death on 17 September 2018.[4][5]

Awards

  • Time Out Award 1987
  • Olivier Award 1991
  • Olivier Nomination The Rakes Progress 2002
  • European Woman of Achievement Award in recognition of an outstanding contribution to pan-European understanding and progress that provides and inspiration to others 2003

Productions with Théâtre de Complicité

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  • 1983: Put It On Your Head (The Almeida Theatre, London) — as actress
  • 1985: A Minute Too Late (until 2005 all over Europe, in the USA, South Amerika, Israel and Sri Lanka) — co-director
  • 1986: Foodstuff — actress
  • 1986: Please, Please, Please — director and actress
  • 1987: Anything For A Quiet Life (The Almeida Theatre, London, and in 1989 as TV production for Channel 4) — actress
  • 1988: Burning Ambition
  • 1989: Dürrenmatt: The Visit (London, Zürich, Hong Kong, Australien) — director (with Simon McBurney)
  • 1989: The Phantom Violin — actress
  • 1992: The Street of Crocodiles, a both the life and work of writer Bruno Schulz (Royal National Theatre, thereafter on a worldwide tour) — actress
  • 1992: Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale (Seymour Theatre Centre Sydney, thereafter in Hong Kong and London) — director
  • 1994: The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (Manchester and thereafter tour til 1996) — collaboration
  • 1994: Out of a house walked a man … — collaboration
  • 1997: John Berger: To The Wedding (Radio production for BBC Radio 3) — speaker
  • 1999: Mnemonic
  • 2013: The Lionboy (Bristol Old Vic, thereafter on Tour) — director

References

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  1. ^ "ARDEN, Annabel Kate, (Mrs Stephen Jeffreys)". Who's Who 2015. A & C Black. 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "The Decline of the Theatre Director?". Inside Out Festival. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Annabel Arden – Director". Performing Arts. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Portrait of the artist: Annabel Arden, director". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  5. ^ Coveney, Michael (18 September 2018). "Stephen Jeffreys obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.