Ken Campbell
British actor, director and writer (1941–2008) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre.[1] He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre".[2]
Ken Campbell | |
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Born | Kenneth Victor Campbell (1941-12-10)10 December 1941 |
Died | 31 August 2008(2008-08-31) (aged 66) Loughton, Essex, England |
Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1961–2008 |
Spouse | |
Children | Daisy |
Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1970s for his nine-hour adaptation of the science-fiction trilogy Illuminatus! and his 22-hour staging of Neil Oram's play cycle The Warp. The Guinness Book of Records listed the latter as the longest play in the world.[3][4]
The Independent said that, "In the 1990s, through a series of sprawling monologues packed with arcane information and freakish speculations on the nature of reality, he became something approaching a grand old man of the fringe, though without ever discarding his inner enfant terrible."[5] The Times labelled Campbell a one-man whirlwind of comic and surreal performance.[6]
Michael Coveney, in an obituary in The Guardian, described him as "one of the most original and unclassifiable talents in the British theatre of the past half-century. A genius at producing shows on a shoestring and honing the improvisational capabilities of the actors who were brave enough to work with him."[7] The artistic director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse said, "He was the door through which many hundreds of kindred souls entered a madder, braver, brighter, funnier and more complex universe."[8]