![JRE ear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/JRE_ear.jpg)
James Roose-Evans (11 November 1927 – 26 October 2022) was a British theatre director, priest, and writer on
experimental theatre
Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...
,
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
and
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
. In 1959 he founded the
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
Club, in London; in 1974 the Bleddfa Centre for the Creative Spirit, in mid-Wales; and in 2015 Frontier Theatre Productions. He was best known for directing the
West End play ''
84 Charing Cross Road''.
Early life and education
James Roose-Evans was born in London on 11 November 1927, the second son of Jack and Primrose. His older brother Monty later emigrated to America. Roose-Evans attended
the Crypt Grammar School,
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, before spending eighteen months in the
Royal Army Educational Corps
The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Gene ...
, ending his service in Trieste in 1947.
In 1949, he was admitted to
St Benet's Hall, Oxford
St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed down in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern en ...
where he read English. In the vacations, and after graduating from university, he worked as an actor in
repertory theatre
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
s. In 1954, at
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
, Somerset, where he was leading man, he was encouraged to direct by
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...
.
Career as a theatre director
In 1954, Roose-Evans was appointed Artistic Director of the
Maddermarket Theatre
The Maddermarket Theatre is a British theatre located in St. John's Alley in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It was founded in 1921 by Nugent Monck.
Early history and conversion
The theatre was originally built as a Roman Catholic chapel in 1794. In ...
in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
. Here, in the 1954–55 season he directed nine plays including Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'' (in which he also played the lead), and
Garcia Lorca's ''Dona Rosita'', for which he visited Granada and met the eponymous heroine.
Having met
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
and seen her
dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a sport, spectacle or entertainment. There are many different types of dance companies, often working in different styles of dan ...
on its first visit to England, Roose-Evans determined to go to America to learn more about modern dance. He was appointed to the Faculty of the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
of Music in New York City where he was given a studio, a group of dancers, musicians and a composer, and invited to experiment with integrating music, dance and drama, which he did from 1955–56.
RADA
On his return to the UK, Roose-Evans joined the staff of the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
, directing many productions in the Vanbrugh Theatre, from his own adaptation of
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
's ''Paradise Lost'', to
Henri de Montherlant's ''Port Royal''. His production of
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...
's ''
Under Milk Wood
''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...
'' was revived term after term, with different casts, eventually transferring to the
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, with
Philip Madoc
Philip Madoc (born Philip Arvon Jones; 5 July 1934 – 5 March 2012) was a Welsh actor. He performed many stage, television, radio and film roles, and was recognised for having a "rich, sonorous voice" and often playing villains and office ...
in the lead role.
Among the RADA students Roose-Evans taught were
Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...
,
Sarah Miles
Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in films ''The Servant'' (1963), ''Blowup'' (1966), ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), ''The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing'' (1973), '' White Mischief'' (1987) and '' Ho ...
,
John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...
,
Geoffrey Whitehead
Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at Shakespeare's Globe, St Martin's Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic.
Early life
Whitehe ...
, and
Michael Williams. He also taught at the
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
, where he influenced students including
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
and
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
.
Hampstead Theatre
In 1959 Roose-Evans founded the
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
Club, at Moreland Hall, in Holly Bush Vale, London. The first season opened with ''Siwan'', a play by the Welsh poet
Saunders Lewis
Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis) (15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist, supporter of Welsh independence and was a co-found ...
, translated by
Emyr Humphreys
Emyr Humphreys (; 15 April 191930 September 2020) was a Welsh novelist, poet, and author. His career spanned from the 1940s until his retirement in 2009. He published in both English and Welsh.
Early life and career
Humphreys was born on 15 ...
, and with
Siân Phillips
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips ( ), is a Welsh actress. She has performed the title roles in Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' and George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan''.
Early life
Phi ...
as the Princess Siwan. A double-bill by
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
, ''The Dumb Waiter'' and ''The Room'', received rave reviews from
Harold Hobson
Sir Harold Hobson CBE, (4 August 1904 – 12 March 1992) was an English drama critic and author.
Early life and education
Hobson was born in Thorpe Hesley near Rotherham then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He attended Sheffield Gramm ...
in ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', and put the fledgling theatre on the cultural map.
Roose-Evans remained at the Hampstead Theatre until 1971, during which time his production of
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
's ''Private Lives'' transferred to the West End, followed by his adaptation and production of
Laurie Lee
Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire.
His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...
's ''
Cider with Rosie
''Cider with Rosie'' is a 1959 book by Laurie Lee (published in the US as ''Edge of Day: Boyhood in the West of England'', 1960). It is the first book of a trilogy that continues with ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) and '' A ...
'' – at one point Hampstead had two productions running simultaneously in the West End. In that time he also founded the short-lived Stage Two, an adjunct to the Hampstead Theatre conceived as a laboratory for
experimental theatre
Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...
.
Career from 1971
In the following years, Roose-Evans directed a number of commercial productions (including ''Private Lives'' with
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...
and
Simon Cadell
Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy ''Hi-de-Hi!''.
Early life
Born in London, he was the son of theatr ...
), an experimental production of ''Oedipus'' for the Contemporary Greek Theatre in Athens; as well as his 1973 production of the ''
Chester Mystery Plays
The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of mystery plays originating in the city of Chester, England and dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century.
Origins and history
Biblical dramas were being performed across continental Eur ...
'' which he rehearsed over a period of nine months.
''84 Charing Cross Road''
In the summer of 1980, Roose-Evans went to teach a practical course in
Experimental Theatre
Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...
in
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, Michigan. His assistant there, Susan Kruger, gave him a copy of
Helene Hanff
Helene Hanff (April 15, 1916April 9, 1997) was an American writer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the author of the book ''84, Charing Cross Road'', which became the basis for a stage play, television play, and film of t ...
's ''
84, Charing Cross Road
''84, Charing Cross Road'' is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play, and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between the author and Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co antiquarian booksellers, loca ...
'', which he then adapted for the stage. He directed the world premiere at the
Salisbury Playhouse
Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was built in 1976 and comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg, a rehearsal room and a community & education space. It is part of Arts Council En ...
in the summer of 1981. It transferred to the West End, winning awards for
Rosemary Leach
Rosemary Anne Leach (18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress. She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for ''84, Charing Cross Road'' and was nominated for the BAFTA Award fo ...
as Best Actress and for Roose-Evans as Best Director. In 1982 he directed an American cast in the play on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, with
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
and Joe Maher in the leading roles, where it won further awards for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Play. James subsequently directed tours of ''84'', the first with
Miriam Karlin
Miriam Karlin (23 June 19253 June 2011) was an English actress whose career lasted for more than 60 years. She was known for her role as Paddy in ''The Rag Trade'', a 1960s BBC and 1970s LWT sitcom, and in particular for the character's catchp ...
as Helene, and then
Rula Lenska
Rula Lenska (born Róża Maria Leopoldyna Łubieńska, 30 September 1947) is a British actress. She mainly appears in British stage and television productions and is known in the United States for a series of television advertisements in the 19 ...
. In February 2015 his new production of ''84 Charing Cross Road'' opened at Salisbury with
Janie Dee
Janie Dee (born 20 June 1962) is an English actress and singer. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award ...
as Helene and
Clive Francis
Clive Francis (born 26 June 1946) is a British stage, television and film actor.
Early life
Francis was born in Eastbourne, Sussex. He is the son of actors Raymond Francis and his second wife Margaret Towner.
His father played Detective Chief ...
as Frank Doel.
Frontier Theatre Productions
Roose-Evans was involved in Frontier Theatre Productions, a new theatre company, which provides a platform for actors aged over 60.
Ritual
Roose-Evans had a special interest in
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
, and in the development of rituals for particular situations. His book, Passages of the Soul: Ritual Today, describes his work in this area, and the exercises he has evolved.
Meditation and spirituality
In the early 1960s, Roose-Evans presented a series of Epilogues for
BBC television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
on the subject of prayer. He also wrote a weekly column on meditation for the ''
Church Times
The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays.
History
The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...
''.
Roose-Evans was brought up an Anglican, but was received into the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
while in Trieste on army service. He later reverted to
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
and in 1981 he was ordained in Hereford Cathedral as a
non-stipendiary priest
Self-supporting ministers (SSMs), previously called non-stipendiary ministers or non-stipendiary priests (NSMs), are religious ministers who do not receive a stipend (i.e. payment) for their services and therefore financially support their own mi ...
of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
.
Roose-Evans practised meditation for more than fifty years. In his first book on the subject, ''Inner Journey: Outer Journey, Finding a spiritual centre in everyday life'', he wrote, "The little that I know about prayer has been forged in the fire of practice, against a backdrop of uncertainty, stress, and a lack of security, in a restless and hustling profession. I am not an authority on prayer, if indeed such a thing is possible; but it may be an encouragement to others to know that in such a gypsy existence an inner centre can be found and held." His most recent book on meditation is ''Finding Silence: 52 Meditations for Daily Living''. He maintained a blog, entitled The Sound of Silence.
In 2020 James was invited to
Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...
to receive the
Dunstan Award for prayer and the religious life “for his distinctive contribution in exploring over 65 years the relationship between art and life, the creative and spiritual”.
The Bleddfa Centre for the Creative Spirit
The Bleddfa Centre, in Powys, was founded in 1974 by Roose-Evans and his partner Hywel Jones. The Bleddfa Centre hosts seminars, workshops and retreats, and aims to encourage the exploration of the relationship between art and life, and between the creative and the spiritual.
Journalism
Roose-Evans contributed articles and reviews to many journals and publications. He was a regular contributor to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' magazine, under the heading Something Extra.
Roose-Evans was the author of twenty-one books, including: ''Directing A Play'', with an introduction by
; ''Experimental Theatre''; ''London Theatre: from the Globe to the National''; ''One Foot on the Stage'' (the biography of the actor
); ''Inner Journey'': ''Outer Journey''; ''Passages of the Soul: Ritual Today''; ''Opening Doors and Windows: A Memoir in Four Acts''; and ''Finding Silence: 52 Meditations for Daily Living''.
Roose-Evans also edited the letters of
to her mother, ''Darling Ma'', as well as her wartime journals, ''The Time of My Life''. In addition he wrote for
an entertainment about life of Joyce Grenfell entitled ''Re:Joyce!'' and directed the first performances. It later played two sell-out seasons in the West End.
Roose-Evans' papers are lodged at the
.
Roose-Evans had two major relationships in his life: the first was with the actor David March whom he met as a student in
and with whom he lived until 1960. In 1958 he met the actor Hywel Jones, who would be his partner for the next 54 years. Jones died in 2013, and Roose-Evans wrote a memoir of their life together.
Roose-Evans died on 26 October 2022, at the age of 94.
Roose-Evans is the author of
* ''Directing a Play'' (1968)
* ''Experimental Theatre from Stanislavsky to Peter Brook'' (1970)
* ''London Theatre: From the Globe to the National'' (1977)
* ''Inner Journey: Outer Journey'' (1987) (reprinted 2019 with a new foreword by
)
* ''The Cook-a-Story Book''
* ''Passages of the Soul: Ritual Today'' (1995)
* ''The Inner Stage: Finding a Centre in Prayer and Ritual'' (1995)
* ''One Foot on the Stage: The Biography of Richard Wilson'' (1996)
* ''Cook-a-Story: The Bleddfa Cook Book'' (2005)
* ''Opening Doors and Windows A Memoir In Four Acts'' (2009)
* ''Finding Silence 52 meditations for Daily Living'' (2009)
*''Blue Remembered Hills: A Radnorshire Journey'' (2017)
*''A Life Shared,'' Port Meadow Press,
*''Older: A Thought Diary'' (2019)
*''Behold the Word: 52 Visual Meditations'' (2020) (with John Rowlands-Pritchard)
and a number of children's books, including
* ''The Adventures of Odd and Elsewhere'' (1971)
* ''The Secret Of The Seven Bright Shiners'' (1972)
* ''Elsewhere and the Gathering of the Clowns'' (1974)
* ''Odd and the Great Bear'' (1974)
* ''The Return Of The Great Bear'' (1975 May)
* ''Odd to the Rescue!'' (1975)
* ''The Secret Of Tippity Witchit'' (1975 October)
* ''The Lost Treasure of Wales'' (1977)
* ''The Christ Mouse''
The Odd and Elsewhere series was illustrated by
.
.