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 ...

. 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 co ...

(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 in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) 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 Christia ...

- The National Theatre of Norway, Fjernsynsteatret, - 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 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 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