Terence Osborne Clarke (
AM) (born 1935) is a retired Australian theatrical director and composer who also worked as an actor, pianist,
musical director
A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...
, teacher and
dramaturg. On
Australian Day 2007 he was installed as a Member of the
Order of Australia for service to the performing arts as a director, actor, writer, composer and educator.
Early life
Clarke was born in 1935 in Sydney and educated at
Shore and the
University of Sydney (resident
St. Paul's College), graduating BA with first-class honours in Music.
While a student he appeared as Robert in the Sydney University Players' rendition of
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...
's play ''The Indifferent Shepherd'' in August 1953.
A reviewer for ''
The Sydney Morning Herald'' observed, "
ehad little to say but said it nicely".
One of his fellow students at university was Charles Colman.
After graduation Clarke taught at
All Saints' College, Bathurst (where he had attended primary school) and at
Cranbrook School, Sydney, where he became head of mathematics and in charge of drama.
Career
Terence Clarke's career has alternated between theatre work and teaching. While in England during 1959-1960 he acted at the
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. In 1970 he left teaching to return to theatre and music. During his theatre career he has worked as an actor, artistic director, composer, musical director, writer and pianist from 1963 to 2016.
Early work was as actor and musical director at
Nimrod Street Theatre, Darlinghurst.
His appointments have included: Associate Director of Perth's
National Theatre at the Playhouse where he also acted, composed and played piano;
founding Artistic Director of the Hunter Valley Theatre Company,
Australia's first professional regional theatre company; Artistic Director of the
Australian National Playwrights Conference; and Head of Directing at the
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA),
where he continued to teach. He directed the world premieres of ''A Happy and Holy Occasion'' (
John O'Donoghue) and ''Backyard'' (Janis Balodis). He has taught at the
West Australian Institute of Technology, the
University of Newcastle, and the
University of New South Wales, where he held a demi-lectureship for a year.
Clarke wrote three musicals to book and lyrics by
Nick Enright:
(cast album, Folkways Records), produced by all state theatre companies, and toured; ''
Variations'' (Winner of the Play Award,
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, 1983)
not seen since its original
Nimrod Theatre production runs in 1982 and 1983; and ''
Summer Rain'', commissioned by NIDA for the graduating class of 1984 and directed by
Gale Edwards, later revised three times for productions at the Sydney and Queensland Theatre Companies.
His other compositions include: a ballad opera, ''
Flash Jim Vaux'' (book and lyrics,
Ron Blair).
Leonard Glickfeld of ''
The Australian Jewish News'' reviewed its performance at
Russell Street Theatre
The Russell Street Theatre was a theatre on Russell Street, Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne Theatre Company performed there from 1960 to 1994, using it as their main city venue in the 1960s and early 1970s and their secondary venue from the late ...
, Melbourne in December 1973.
Glickfeld praised Blair's writing including the ballads' lyrics, which were set to music by Clarke and Colman.
However the lyrics "are not always matched by the quality or rhythms of the music... about four tunes which really work."
Blair later dropped 'Vaux' from the play's title. Clarke also provided five plays with music - ''Catspaw'' and ''Jarrabin'' (both
Dorothy Hewett
Dorothy Coade Hewett (21 May 1923 – 25 August 2002) was an Australian playwright, poet and author, and a romantic feminist icon. In writing and in her life, Hewett was an experimenter. As her circumstances and beliefs changed, she progressed ...
), ''Lysistrata'' (John Croyston), ''Henry and Peter and Henry and Me'' (
George Hutchinson), and ''Gone with Hardy'' (
David Allen); incidental music; and song-settings.
List of works
at Solee.com (paywall site) Late in 1992 he returned to Canberra to direct the Canberra Theatre's version of '' The Pirates of Penzance (or The Slave of Duty)'', which ran from 15 to 30 January 1993.[ Note: incorrectly dates ''Flash Jim Vaux'' debuting in 1972 instead of 1971]
Honours
On Australia Day (26 January) 2007 Clarke was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia "for service to the performing arts as a director, actor, writer, composer, and educator."
Theatre roles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Terence
1935 births
Living people
Australian theatre directors
Members of the Order of Australia
Australian male composers
Australian composers
Australian musical theatre composers
People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School
University of Sydney alumni