Joan White
Joan White (1909–1999) was a British actress, theatre director and educator who over a career that spanned 65 years became a popular figure on the London stage, appeared in films and television and produced and directed plays on both sides of the Atlantic, and trained many of the young to follow in her footsteps.
As a master of the art of high comedy she entertained numberless audiences, and through her students left an indelible mark on the future of her profession.
Joan White was born on 3 December 1909 in Alexandria, Egypt, where her father was managing the laying of undersea telegraph cables.
[4] Producer Anmer Hall and Guthrie then moved the company to the Westminster Theatre in London, where a season was presented including Bridie's The Anatomist, Sierra's The Kingdom of God, Love's Labour's Lost and Six Characters in Search of an Author.
On opening night in October 1935 Bernard Shaw was in the audience, accompanying Elisabeth Bergner, who at that time was planning a film of As You Like It starring herself and Laurence Olivier.
[18] But later that year White opened in what was to be the biggest hit of her career, Ian Hay's Housemaster, that ran with a break for over 600 performances.
In February 1939 she appeared as another young girl in Little Ladyship, a Hungarian play adapted by Ian Hay and starring Lilli Palmer.
[23] White had to leave the company because of her advancing pregnancy; shortly after that World War II was declared, and theatre ground to a halt.
[25] In 1946 came one of the highlights of her career, the West End premiere production of Christopher Fry's one-act, A Phoenix Too Frequent, with the young Paul Scofield.
Television started again after its wartime hiatus and White appeared in several plays including the hit stage farce Tons of Money[27] and Lovers Meeting.
[29] She had a season at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in which notable parts included Richard III with Alan Badel and Diary of a Scoundrel.
[31] Seasons at Salisbury Arts Theatre and Bristol Old Vic followed, including appearing in Christopher Fry's The Lady's Not for Burning.
[32] In 1951 the London production of Storks Don't Talk, with White opposite the Hollywood star Mischa Auer, closed after five performances, having delighted audiences and critics on tour.
[34]) After a season at Dundee Repertory Theatre and appearing in I Capture the Castle in London,[35] White began to direct more, first at Salisbury and then at Cardiff as well.
It was not long before White was cast as Mrs Higgins in the US national tour of the Broadway historic success My Fair Lady.
In 1960, White and Grose were engaged to run the summer-stock season at the long-established Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge in western Massachusetts, a popular resort area.
These included Come Blow Your Horn, A Streetcar Named Desire, My Fair Lady, The Teahouse of the August Moon, and Night Must Fall.
[43] The Silver Cord, a revival from the 1920s, was presented as celebrating the work of a local playwright; Sidney Howard lived nearby.
For 1965 they bought the Yarmouth Playhouse on Cape Cod and presented a mix of fare including The Night of the Iguana, The Boy Friend, George Washington Slept Here, and plays for children in the daytime.
[46] White spent part of that summer in Boston rehearsing and previewing the much-anticipated new musical by Lerner and Lane, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.
Roaming performances followed: Major Barbara in Boston, Serjeant Musgrave's Dance and Hugh Leonard's Stephen D in New York, and The Importance of Being Earnest and Misalliance in Cincinnati.
[47] In 1968 White spent a season at Nottingham Playhouse in England, including Queen Elinor in King John and, as described by the critic Alan Strachan, Mrs Candour, dripping cloaked venom, like prussic acid on sugar cubes, in Jonathan Miller's pox-and-all reappraisal of The School for Scandal.
[49] White appeared with the Seattle Repertory Company in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and in Hadrian VII and The Heiress (an adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square) at ACT Theatre.
She then had a long national tour of Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, followed by another production of the same play in Barrie, Ontario.
In 1982 White was asked to understudy Eva Le Gallienne in a tour of To Grandmother's House We Go, bearing in mind the star's advancing age.
This was followed by a revival (after 50 years) of Le Gallienne's production of Alice In Wonderland, including her performance as the White Queen.
In addition to sending out résumés and attending auditions, they need a way of practising their craft, working with audiences and providing means for agents and producers to see them.
Other playwrights included Mike Leigh, Alan Ayckbourn, James Bridie, Noël Coward, Sean O'Casey, Neil Simon, Lillian Hellman, Chekhov, Vanbrugh, Shaw and Shakespeare.
A notable coup for Next Stage was the premiere production in Chelsea Old Church of Christopher Fry's play One Thing More, about Caedmon, the Northumbrian shepherd turned monk who is known as the father of English sacred song.
[61] In 1995 the Next Stage Company presented its last show, a revival of Housemaster, and White moved to Denville Hall, the actors retirement home in Northwood.
