Diana Devlin (1 April 1941 - 27 September 2020) was a London based teacher, author and theatre academic who helped to create the

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

theatre with her associate

Sam Wanamaker Samuel Wanamaker, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited as ...

Life

Devlin was born in

Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 1 April 1941. She studied at Beaufort House primary school in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, and then at Carlyle grammar school in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, where she was head girl at the school. In 1960, she attended

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and obtained a second-class degree in English Literature. During her time at Cambridge she became close friends with the actress

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Tora ...

. She married the actor Will Graham in 1968 but they divorced a few years later. After attending Cambridge, she was awarded a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and subsequently gained a doctorate in theatre arts from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. After graduation, Devlin became a lecturer in drama at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

. Devil was a key figure in the development of the Shakespeare's Globe theatre. This began with her running the theatre's first summer school, which took place in 1972. In 1985, she became the administrator of the theatre. In 1997, Devlin was appointed as a trustee of the theatre and would later act as the deputy chair of the council from 2013. In 1989, she married David Ogden but the marriage also ended in divorce. Between 1993 and 2013 she was the head of theatre studies at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

in London. Devlin died on 27 September 2020. The cause of death was

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Awards

In June 2019, she received the

Sam Wanamaker Award The Sam Wanamaker Award or Sam Wanamaker Prize is an award established in 1994 for pioneering work in Shakespearean theatre, usually given to individuals who have worked closely with Shakespeare's Globe or the Royal Shakespeare Company; the award ...

in recognition of her pioneering support of the Globe for 47 years.

Publications

* A Speaking Part: Lewis Casson and the Theatre of His Time, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982. * Mask and Scene: Introduction to a World View of Theatre, Scarecrow Press, 1989. * Sam Wanamaker: A Global Performer, Oberon Books, 2019. * The Casson Family in North Wales: A Story of Slate and More, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Diana 1941 births 2020 deaths English theatre managers and producers Women theatre managers and producers Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge People from Porthmadog