Rupert Doone (born Reginald Woodfield, 14 August 1903 – 4 March 1966) was a British dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and teacher in London.

Biography

Doone was born in

Redditch Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester. In 2021, the town had a population of ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, from a Worcestershire family in reduced circumstances, but with a background that reportedly included a link with

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. His father was a needle factory foreman. He left home at sixteen to begin his career as a dancer with no money. He led a precarious existence, scraping by on what he earned modeling at the Royal Academy and the Slade in order to pay for the lessons. At 19, he left London for Paris, where he became a

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

and lover of Jean

Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

. In 1925 he was the last ''premier danseur'' engaged by

Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario a ...

for the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

- but remained with the company only until Diaghilev's death a few weeks later. He then made his way to the Festival Theatre, Cambridge, to learn acting and production, and there he became part of a play-reading group. In 1926 he met and fell in love with the painter Robert Medley, who was the co-founder of the Group Theatre. They lived together until Doone's death in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

in 1966. In 1932, after Medley moved to London, the play-reading group evolved into the

Group Theatre (London) The Group Theatre (London) was an experimental theatre company founded in 1932 by Rupert Doone and Robert Medley. It evolved from a play-reading group in Cambridge that Doone had been involved with during his years studying with the Cambridge F ...

, which performed left-wing and

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

plays during the 1930s and again during its revival in the 1950s. Despite his prominence in avant-garde theatre, Doone was thought to be a muddled and ineffective stage director by

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

and others, who tried to steer the Group Theatre into more effective productions and organization. In the 1950s, Doone founded the Theatre School at

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the ...

, and worked there until his premature retirement as a result of

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. A portrait of Doone as a young man was painted by

Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, Visual arts education, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is be ...

ca. 1923.

Career

Doone was known for his imagination and artistic integrity in his work with Group Theatre and at the Morley College School of Drama. Doone made rapid progress as a late starter in dance. He made his first performance in Basil Dean's production of James Elroy Fleck's play ''Hassan'' just after few years of his study. At this time, Donne changed his name to Rupert Doone. *In 1923, Doone became the featured soloist of the Ballets Suédois. But he left the company after this. *In 1924, Doone collaborated with Cocteau on the production of his ''Romeo and Juliet''. *In 1925, Doone fell in love with painter Robert Medley. *In 1928, Doone partnered with Ver Trefilova in her last performances in Berlin. After the performance, Doone joined Ida Rubinstein's company to work about choreographer. *In 1930, Doone's first acting role in the Festival Theatre in Cambridge in Lion Feuchtwanger's Warren Hastings.

Works

* ''The Dance of Death''(1933) * ''The Dog Beneath the Skin'' (1936) * ''The Ascent of F6''(1937) * ''On the Frontier'' (1939)

Biography

Career

Works

Further reading