Clare Rosamund Venables (17 March 1943 – 17 October 2003) was an English

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. She was artistic director of regional theatres in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, Stratford East (London), and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

; she became Director of Education at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, and she also directed a number of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Early life

She was born in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, to Sir Peter Venables, first vice-chancellor of the

University of Aston Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...

and a founder of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, and Ethel Howell, an educational psychologist who chaired the

Marriage Guidance Council Relate is a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses. Relate also offers online services ...

.Obituary: Clare Venables
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 29 October 2003.Obituary: Clare Venables
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 20 October 2003. She was educated at Manchester High School and Camp Hill School,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. She then read drama at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, gaining a

first-class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

, and taught there for three years after graduating.

Career

Clare Venables started her career as director at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln in 1968, taking over as artistic director in 1970, with Howard Lloyd-Lewis as her assistant. They both moved on to the Manchester Library Theatre in 1973. From 1977 to 1980, she was artistic director at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East, London, a high-profile role where she followed

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

in the role.Obituary: Clare Venables
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 27 October 2003. From 1981 to 1992, she was artistic director at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's m ...

, where she had a role in the early careers of

Tim Albery Tim Bronson Reginald Albery (born 20 May 1952) is an English stage director, best known for his productions of opera. Life and career Albery was born in Harpenden, the son of the impresario Donald Albery and grandson of the producer Sir Bronson ...

Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End and three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. He has received three ...

and Steven Pimlott. She was active in the administration of the dramatic arts as a founding director of the Actors' Centre and as a member of the Arts Council drama panel. She was also active throughout her career in teaching: long before taking up her RSC post, she taught at 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 ...

and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. From 1995 to 1999, she was principal of the BRIT School of Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. She was appointed Director of Education at the

in 1999, a post which she held until her death. In this role she worked on education projects in the United States with the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

, and in England with many schools as well as the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

. One of her last projects was a production of ''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelopo ...

'' with the homeless people's theatre company,

Cardboard Citizens Cardboard Citizens is the UK's only homeless people's professional theatre company, and the leading practitioner of Forum Theatre and the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology in the UK. The acclaimed theatre company works with people who have exp ...

.RSC’s Cardboard Pericles Takes Refuge at Elephant

WhatsOnStage
10 July 2003. She contributed articles to ''Theatre Quarterly'' (1980), ''

Plays and Players Hansom Books was a British publisher founded in 1950 by Philip Dosse to produce the magazine ''Dance and Dancers''. Magazines in a similar format were then founded to cover other arts, so forming the Seven Arts Group. The other titles were '' Ar ...

'' (1987) and ''Changes'' (1988).

Personal life

On 27 May 1971 she married the actor Robert Whelan; they separated in 1982. Their son, Joe, was born on 6 October 1978. She died of breast cancer aged 60.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading