Occupation Actress | Name Jane Arden | |
Jane Arden (fl. since 1980s) is an English actress.
Born in Great Britain, she spent her childhood in Hong Kong and returned to the UK to train for the theatre. After performing her first Shakespearean role as Jessica in The Merchant of Venice, she became a founding member of the British Actors Theatre Company, playing Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew, Celia in As You Like It, and Hoyden in John Vanbrugh's The Relapse. She became an Associate Director for AFTLS - a company that tours Shakespeare plays to universities in the U.S.A. She played Lady Macbeth, Portia, Celia, Ariel and Juliet for the company. Other Shakespearean roles have been Hermia, Perdita, Maria, Lady Capulet. She has played in theatres throughout the UK in roles which have included several Alan Ayckbourn plays.
Arden's musical credits: West End productions Someone Like You, Leonardo the Musical: A Portrait of Love, The King and I, and George and Ira Gershwin's Lady Be Good.
She played Cecile in Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the Wed End opposite Daniel J. Travanti and then went on to tour the play in Europe and South Africa. For the Royal Shakespeare Company Jane played Chorus in Hecuba and appeared in the title role on several occasions when Vanessa Redgrave was indisposed - in the West End and in Washington DC.
Arden's television credits include Lost Empires with Colin Firth and Laurence Olivier, The Strauss Dynasty a biography of Johann Strauss with John Gielgud, and Edward Fox and she played Mary Ellen in the Catherine Cookson's series A Dinner of Herbs.
In 2009 Jane started her own theatre company; British Actors Group touring dinner theatre and bespoke productions. The company is going to the Middle and Far East this Autumn.