Clare Rosamund Venables (17 March 1943 – 17 October 2003) was an English

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. She was artistic director of regional theatres in Lincoln, Stratford East (London), and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

; she became Director of Education at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, and she also directed a number of

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Early life

She was born in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, to Sir Peter Venables, first vice-chancellor of the University of Aston and a founder of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, and Ethel Howell, an educational psychologist who chaired the Marriage Guidance Council.Obituary: Clare Venables
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 29 October 2003.Obituary: Clare Venables
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 20 October 2003. She was educated at Manchester High School and Camp Hill School,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. She then read drama at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, gaining a

first-class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

, and taught there for three years after graduating.

Career

Clare Venables started her career as director at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln in 1968, taking over as artistic director in 1970, with Howard Lloyd-Lewis as her assistant. They both moved on to the Manchester Library Theatre in 1973. From 1977 to 1980, she was artistic director at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East, London, a high-profile role where she followed

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

in the role.Obituary: Clare Venables
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 27 October 2003. From 1981 to 1992, she was artistic director at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

, where she had a role in the early careers of

Tim Albery Tim Bronson Reginald Albery (born 20 May 1952) is an English stage director, best known for his productions of opera. Life and career Albery was born in Harpenden, the son of the impresario Donald Albery and grandson of the producer Sir Brons ...

Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway theatre, Broadway and an Olivie ...

and Steven Pimlott. She was active in the administration of the dramatic arts as a founding director of the Actors' Centre and as a member of the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

drama panel. She was also active throughout her career in teaching: long before taking up her RSC post, she taught at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

and at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

. From 1995 to 1999, she was principal of the BRIT School of Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. She was appointed Director of Education at the

in 1999, a post which she held until her death. In this role she worked on education projects in the United States with the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and

Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...

, and in England with many schools as well as the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. One of her last projects was a production of ''

Pericles Pericles (; ; –429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed ...

'' with the homeless people's theatre company,

Cardboard Citizens Cardboard Citizens is the UK's only homeless people's professional theatre company, and the leading practitioner of Forum Theatre (Augusto Boal), Forum Theatre and the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology in the UK. History and productions Cardb ...

.RSC’s Cardboard Pericles Takes Refuge at Elephant

WhatsOnStage
10 July 2003. She contributed articles to ''Theatre Quarterly'' (1980), ''

Plays and Players Hansom Books was a British publisher founded in 1947 by Philip Dosse to produce the magazine ''Dance and Dancers''. Magazines in a similar format were then founded to cover mainly other performing artforms, all seven magazines eventually being k ...

'' (1987) and ''Changes'' (1988).

Personal life

On 27 May 1971 she married the actor Robert Whelan; they separated in 1982. Their son, Joe, was born on 6 October 1978. She died of breast cancer aged 60.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading