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's theatre school in Paris with Monika Pagneux and

Philippe Gaulier Philippe Gaulier is a French master clown, pedagogue, and professor of theatre. He is the founder of École Philippe Gaulier, a French theatre school in Étampes, outside Paris. He studied under Jacques Lecoq in the mid-1960s and was an instr ...

. 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 theatre and opera director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Complicité, Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films ''The Manch ...

and Marcello Magni.

Opera

For Opera North, Arden has directed ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'', '' The Return of Ulysses'', '' 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 a British 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 E ...

, she has directed '' The Rake’s Progress''. 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, e ...

, she has directed Puccini’s '' Gianni Schicchi'', Rachmaninov’s '' The Miserly Knight,''

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic 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 ...

's ''

L'elisir d'amore ''L'elisir d'amore'' (; ''The Elixir of Love'') is a (comic melodrama, opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's (1831). ...

''.and

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

Theatre

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 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 app ...

as well as for

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

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 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 award may be d ...

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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

) — 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 History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jewish writer, fine artist, Literary criticism, literary critic and Art education, art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish (language), Po ...

(

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

, 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 criti ...

'' (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 t ...

: ''To The Wedding'' (Radio production for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

) — 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 fin ...

, thereafter on Tour) — director

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arden, Annabel Kate Living people British theatre directors British women 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