Janet Suzman

Janet Suzman [1]. (1939-). Internationally renowned actress, director and playwright.

Biography

Born in South Africa 9 February 1939 and was brought up in Natal by her father, Saul, a wealthy tobacco importer. The influential theatrical figure Cecilia Sonnenberg and the redoubtable politician Helen Suzman [2] were her aunts. She studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and in 1959, she emigrated to England, where she went on to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Her first stage appearance was to be in Billy Liar in Ipswich on 30 April 1962. Spotted later the same year at the Library Theatre in Manchester, she was recruited by the Royal Shakespeare Company for The Wars of the Roses, becoming a highly regarded member of the ensemble. She went on from there to play a number of great Shakespearean roles during the 60s and 70s, among them "Kate" in The Taming of the Shrew, "Portia" in The Merchant of Venice and "Ophelia" in Hamlet.

Her vast canon of work over the years has been lauded in London and internationally. Though the stage was her main focus, her work included some TV and film roles, among them a fine BBC portrayal of Hedda Gabler and an Oscar-nominated performance in the title role in Nicholas and Alexandra (1971).

She married director Trevor Nunn[3] in 1969, but by 1984 the marriage had collapsed. They have one son, Joshua.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

As a student she played Calpurnia in Julius Caesar, directed by John Boulter for the Wits University Players in 1957.

Her association with South African theatre came through her close involvement as patron ans supporter of the Market Theatre and her association with its directors Barney Simon and Mannie Manim. She appeared in the 1974 fund raising production for The Company and the opening production of the Market Theatre (1976), then – because she strongly supported the cultural boycott - she only returned to the country a decade later, when changes had begun to occur. She directed Othello with John Kani, Richard Haines and Joanna Weinberg at the Market in 1986. In 2005 she returned once more to direct Hamlet for The Baxter Theatre and the National Arts Festival (with Rajesh Gopie, John Kani and Dorothy-Ann Gould).

As dramatist she has written and directed South Africanised versions of Brecht’s The Good Person of Sezuan (entitled The Good Woman of Sharkville) and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (entitled The Free State) in 1998.

She starred in Athol Fugard’s Hello and Goodbye in London opposite British actor Ben Kingsley. She starred in Pleasure and Repentance, a fund-raising show for the Market Theatre on 4 January 1976. Barney Simon directed and the cast also starred Ron Smerczak, Keith Blundell and Michael McCabe. She starred in Barney Simon’s production of Edward Albee’s The Death of Bessie Smith together with John Kani and Winston Ntshona at the Market Theatre in 1979.

In 1987 she directed an immensely influential multi-racial production of Othello at the Market, opening on 16 September of that year.

She directed The Good Woman of Sharkville at the Market Theatre in July 1996, with a text which adapted by herself and Gcina Mhlope .

Awards, etc

Winner of numerous awards, including two Evening Standard Best Actress Awards in Britain. She has received honorary D.Litt degrees from a number of British universities.

Sources

Stuart Jeffries 2011. "The Saturday Interview: Janet Suzman", The Guardian, 26 August, 2011.[4]

Tucker, 1997.

Various entries in the NELM catalogue.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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