Jan Fredrik "Janken" Varden (born 6 April 1938) is a graduate of The University of Oslo, Law School, stage director and theatre educator. He was born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. In 1966, he married poet Kate Næss (died 1987); from 1989, he lived with Danish actress Birgitte Halling-Koch. He has worked as a stage director at

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes in 1949, with Sigurd Christiansen's play ''En reise i natten''. The theatre plays on about ...

- The Norwegian Itinerary Theatre,

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo () is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was ...

- The National Theatre of Norway,

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret () was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) that produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation) and operated until a major reorganisation of NRK o ...

, - Television Theatre, and many others. He headed the Norwegian National Theatre School from 1976 to 1981. He was head of, and first director at,

Oslo Nye Teater Oslo Nye Teater is a theater in Oslo, Norway. Its main venue is located at Rosenkrantz' gate 10, and the company is wholly owned by Oslo Municipality. History The establishment opened as Det Nye Teater Det Nye Teater was a theatre that ope ...

from 1989 to 1996. He headed the

Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance The Danish National School of Performing Arts (Danish: Den Danske Scenekunstskole) is an artistic educational institution governed by the Danish Ministry of Culture. The school offers higher education and continuing education within performing arts. ...

from 1998 to 2003, and has been decorated Knight of the Danish

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

as well as Knight of the Norwegian order of Saint Olav.

References

1938 births Living people Theatre people from Oslo Norwegian theatre directors Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog {{Theat-director-stub