Sam Boardman-Jacobs (1942 – January 2022) was a

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

-born playwright, director, and scenographer who was raised in the Midlands and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. After living in Glamorgan,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

for 25 years, he later resided in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He also received a master's degree from

Trinity Laban Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, and became a choreographer. Prior to his death, he commuted between France, Spain, and the UK.

Biography

Boardman-Jacobs, a former Reader in Theatre and Media Drama at the

University of Glamorgan , image_name = University of Glamorgan arms.png , image_size = 220px , caption = University of Glamorgan coat of arms , motto = Success Through Endeavour , established = , closed = , administrative_staff = , chancellor = John Morris ...

, is known for his research in Holocaust drama,

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...

, gay and lesbian theatre, Spanish playwright

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

, and the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, which are all reflected in his plays. His work with

Manchester Youth Theatre The Manchester Youth Theatre was a youth theatre which operated in Manchester from 1966 until 2003. It was founded by Geoff Sykes, a lifelong friend of Michael Croft founder of The National Youth Theatre who served as its Artistic Director until hi ...

on Holocaust and Yiddish drama earned him acclaim, and in 2002, he received a grant from the European Association of Jewish Culture for his play ''Trying To Be'', which explores Jewish identity in contemporary Britain. After completing an MA in Choreography at Laban in London, Boardman-Jacobs became the artistic director of Found Reality Dance Theatre in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, where he created choreographic dance theatre. His stage play ''Play Federico For Me'' tells the fictional story of Catalan actress

Margarita Xirgu Margarita Xirgu Subirá (18 June 1888, Molins de Rei, Barcelona, Spain – 25 April 1969, Montevideo, Uruguay), also Margarida Xirgu, was a Spanish stage actress, who was greatly popular throughout her country and Latin America. A friend o ...

, who relies on the ghost of Federico García Lorca during her exile after the

to help her in her political-artistic battle with

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 19 ...

over the first performance of Lorca's ''

The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not include ...

''. He also translated and adapted Lorca's '' El público'', which was produced by the Found Reality Theatre Company in 2005. His 2007 radio play, ''The Sixth Column Has Better Legs'', portrays the experiences of four chorus girls in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

during the city's siege. Boardman-Jacobs' ''Passion for the Impossible'' tells the story of

Violette Leduc Violette Leduc (7 April 1907 – 28 May 1972) was a French writer. Early life and education She was born in Arras, Pas de Calais, France, on 7 April 1907. She was the illegitimate daughter of a servant girl, Berthe Leduc, and André Debaralle ...

and Jean Genet in wartime

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, while ''Red Hot and Blue'' depicts singer

Libby Holman Elizabeth Lloyd Holman (née Holzman; May 23, 1904 – June 18, 1971) was an American socialite, actress, singer, and activist. Early life Elizabeth Lloyd Holzman was born May 23, 1904, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of a lawyer and stockbrok ...

's reflection on her life, including a murder trial, an affair with

Montgomery Clift Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''. He is best remembered ...

, and early

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

campaigning during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, on the night before her suicide. In 2003, Boardman-Jacobs taught at the Lemonia Disabled Writers' Residential Course, a project organized by

Graeae Theatre Company Graeae Theatre Company, often abbreviated to just Graeae (pronounced "grey-eye") is a British organisation composed of deaf and disabled artists and theatre makers. As well as producing theatre which it tours nationally and internationally to tradit ...

, Writernet, and

Tŷ Newydd Tŷ Newydd () is a historic house in Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Since 1990 it has housed the National Writing Centre of Wales. The centre specialises in residential creative writing and retreats. The courses ar ...

. His 2004 play, ''Embracing Barbarians'', based on the political and sexual fantasies of dying Greek poet

Constantine Cavafy Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης ; April 29 (April 17, OS), 1863 – April 29, 1933), known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy (), was a Gre ...

, featured a deaf performer in the role of a hearing character in an effort to make the piece accessible to both deaf and hearing performers and audiences.Boardman-Jacobs - ''Embracing Barbarians'' synopsisTheatre in Wales.
Retrieved on April 21, 2007 Boardman-Jacobs taught Writing Mentoring and Dramaturgy courses at various venues, including The Soho Theatre, The Actor's Centre in London, the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Cha ...

, and Ty Newydd in North Wales, as well as on MA in Scriptwriting courses in Cardiff and Exeter. In France and the UK, he taught Master classes in Scriptwriting and Dramaturgy. He was also a scriptwriter for 12 years on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...

'' and a writer for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

''. Additionally, he translated from Spanish to English.

Stage plays

* ''Someone Else’s Rainbow'', 1979 * ''Setting Out For Ithaca'' 1980 * ''Farblas!'' 1996 * ''Play Federico For Me'', 1998 * ''Passion for the Impossible'', 1999 * ''Asylum'', 2001 * ''Trying To Be'', 2002 * ''Why Is This Night?'', 2003 * ''Embracing Barbarians'', 2004 * ''The Public'' 2005 (English translation from Lorca's '' El Público'') * ''Red Hot & Blue'' 2007

Radio plays

* ''Her Name Was Milena'' 1982 * ''Last Friday in Jerusalem'' 1984 * ''Fanny Rosen's Bad Debt'' 1985 * ''After Every Dream'' 1988 * ''Facing the Sun'' 1986 * ''After Every Dream'' 1988 * ''Doesn't Everyone Live in a Ballroom?'' 1991 * ''Hangover Square'' (dramatised from Patrick Hamilton's novel) 1994 * ''The Abduction of Esther Lyons'', 1999 * ''One Pair of Hands'', (5 Part Series) 2001 (adaptation of the novel by

Monica Dickens Monica Enid Dickens, MBE (10 May 1915 – 25 December 1992) was an English writer, the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Biography Known as "Monty" to her family and friends, she was born into an upper-middle-class London family to Henr ...

) * ''The Sixth Column Has Better Legs'' (5-part series) 2007

Dance theatre productions

With Found Reality Dance Theatre: * ''Soft Murders'' (three dance theatre pieces based on the paintings of three gay artists:

Gilbert & George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art d ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

. Chapter Arts Theatre; Atrium Theatre Cardiff; Cardiff and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. * "Cabaret of Pain" Work in progress created to explore the Taboo of Pain in Performance. Shown as a Conference Intervention at ATRIUM Theatre Cardiff as part of the TAPRA Drama conference. * "The Mayakovsky Project" Based on the performance practices of Meyerhold and an intended as a showcase training manual by Found Reality Theatre for teachers of physical performance practice."Each One Teach One-Training Trainers to Train Practitioners to Train performance practitioners * "Street of Crocodiles" an Homage to Tadeusz Kantor- Found Reality Theatre Co in Collaboration with University of Glamorgan Theatre Department. * "Black and Blue" -A body in pain is a city under siege Chapter Arts Center Cardiff. * "Occupied Women" Women fashion and Collaboration in Occupied France in 1944 Théâtre du petit chapiteau, St Jean D'Angely France.

References

External links

Radio plays
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman-Jacobs, Sam Welsh dramatists and playwrights Yiddish theatre Disability theatre The Archers 2022 deaths 1942 births People involved with disability