Joan Littlewood | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Joan's Book: the autobiography of Joan Littlewood | |
| Born | Joan Maud Littlewood 6 October 1914 |
| Died | 20 September 2002 (aged 87)[1] London, England |
| Occupation | Theatre director |
| Years active | 1930–1975 |
| Spouse | |
| Partner(s) | Gerry Raffles Philippe de Rothschild |
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 Modern Theatre".[2] Her production of Oh, What a Lovely War! in 1963 was one of her more influential pieces.
Littlewood and her company lived and slept in the Theatre Royal while it was restored. Productions of The Alchemist and Richard II, the latter starring Harry H. Corbett in the title role, established the reputation of the company.[3]
She also conceived and developed the concept of the Fun Palace in collaboration with architect Cedric Price,[4] an experimental model of a participatory social environment that, although never realized, has become an important influence in the architecture of the 20th and 21st centuries.[citation needed]
Miss Littlewood, a musical written about Littlewood by Sam Kenyon, was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2018.[5]
- ^ Barker, Clive (May 2003). "Closing Joan's Book: Some Personal Footnotes". New Theatre Quarterly. 19 (2). Cambridge University Press: 99–107. doi:10.1017/S0266464X03000022. ISBN 978-0-521-53589-2. S2CID 194973320.
- ^ "Obituary: Theatre's defiant genius". BBC News. 21 September 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Stevenswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Duffy, Stella. "Fun palaces: Joan Littlewood's dream for culture gets second chance". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Miss Littlewood: About the Play". rsc.org.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2017.