Theatre director Claire van Kampen dies aged 71
Getty ImagesBritish theater director and composer Claire van Kampen has died aged 71, her husband, actor Sir Mark Rylance, has confirmed.
Van Kampen, the first female musical director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, died on Saturday after being diagnosed with cancer, a statement from Sir Mark and her daughter Juliet said.
They described her as “one of the most interesting and (most) inspiring women we know.”
Her theater credits also include writing the play Farinelli and the King, which starred her husband and was nominated for several Olivier Awards, including Best New Play and multiple Tony Awards.
She died in the German town of Kassel, surrounded by her family, the statement said. Saturday is also Sir Mark’s 65th birthday.
“We thank her for filling our lives with her magic, music, laughter and love,” it added.
“Ring the bells, sound the trumpets, meditate, something is done, something is begun. A great wise man has died.”
Van Kampen and Sir Mark married in 1989, the same year she composed the music for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet, starring Van Kampen.
public mediaShe went on to write original scores for Broadway productions including True West, Boeing-Boeing and La Bete, as well as adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays Twelfth Night and Richard III.
Van Kampen joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 after studying music theory and piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
The following year she joined the Royal National Theater and went on to work as Sir Mark’s artistic assistant at Shakespeare’s Globe in the capital.
Most recently, van Kampen worked as an associate and senior fellow in early modern music at The Globe, and as a creative assistant at London’s Old Vic Theatre.
She also served as Tudor music consultant and arranged BBC TV series Wolf Hall.
Van Kampen has two daughters from her previous husband, architect Christopher van Kampen.
Her daughter Natasha, a film producer, died in 2012 at the age of 28 After cerebral hemorrhage.
