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 ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

. In 1966 he married poet

Kate Næss Kate Næss (30 July 1938 – 15 July 1987) was a Norwegian poet and translator. She was born in Oslo, and was married to theatre director Janken Varden. She made her literary debut in 1962 with the poetry collection ''Billedskrift''. Later col ...

(died 1987), and from 1989 he lived with Danish actress Birgitte Halling-Koch. He has worked as stage director at

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or ima ...

- The Norwegian Itinerary Theatre, Nationaltheatret - The National Theatre of Norway,

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) which produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation), and operated until 1990, when a major reorganisati ...

, - Television Theatre, and many others. He headed the Norwegian National Theatre School 1976–81, He was head of and first director at

Oslo Nye Teater Oslo Nye Teater is a theater located in Oslo, Norway. The theater has its main stage in its own theater house at Rosenkrantz' gate 10. It is one of Norway's most visited theatres. Oslo Nye Teater AS is wholly owned by Oslo Municipality. Histor ...

from 1989 to 1996. He headed the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance from 1998 to 2003, and has been decorated Knight of the Danish

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

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