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

Early life and education

Arden was born in London in 1959 and studied English from 1978 to 1981 at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

Career

Théâtre de Complicité

After university, she trained at

Jacques Lecoq Jacques Lecoq (15 December 1921 – 19 January 1999) was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known a ...

's theatre school in Paris with Monika Pagneux and Philippe Gaulier. She then toured internationally with Neil Bartlett. In 1983 Arden founded Théâtre de Complicité with

Simon McBurney Simon Montagu McBurney (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, playwright, and theatrical director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ...

and Marcello Magni.

Opera

For

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and ...

, Arden has directed ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

'', ''

The Return of Ulysses ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' ( SV 325, ''The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland'') is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera was first pe ...

'', '' La Traviata'' and ''

The Cunning Little Vixen ''The Cunning Little Vixen'' (original title ''Příhody lišky Bystroušky'' or ''Tales of Vixen Sharp-Ears'' in English), is a three-act Czech-language opera by Leoš Janáček completed in 1923 to a libretto the composer himself adapted from a ...

''. In addition, for the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

, she has directed ''

The Rake’s Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...

''. At

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

, she has directed Puccini’s ''

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Pucci ...

'', Rachmaninov’s ''

The Miserly Knight ''The Miserly Knight'', Op. 24, also ''The Covetous Knight'' (russian: Скупой рыцарь, ''Skupój rýtsar’''), is a Russian opera in one act with music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, with the libretto based on Alexander Pushkin's drama of the ...

,''

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...

's '' L'elisir d'amore''.and Rossini's

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...

Theatre

As well as acting and directing for Théâtre de Complicité, Arden has also worked with plays at the National Theatre, the

Arcola Arcola may refer to: Places ; Australia * Arcola, Grafton, a heritage-listed house in New South Wales ;Canada * Arcola, Saskatchewan, a town in the Province of Saskatchewan * Arcola Airport, an airport in the Province of Saskatchewan ;England * ...

, the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

as well as for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

Personal life

Arden was married to playwright Stephen Jeffreys, until his death on 17 September 2018. Awards * Time Out Award 1987 * Olivier

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

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

* 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 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

) — 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 Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. In 1938, he was awarded the Polish Academ ...

( Royal National Theatre, thereafter on a worldwide tour) — actress * 1992: Shakespeare: ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some crit ...

'' (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 John Peter Berger (; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to the ...

: ''To The Wedding'' (Radio production for BBC Radio 3) — speaker * 1999: ''Mnemonic'' * 2013: ''The Lionboy'' (

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

, thereafter on Tour) — director

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arden, Annabel Kate Living people British theatre directors British opera directors Female opera directors 1959 births British stage actresses People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq alumni