Evelyn Doreen WarburtonOBE (22 March 1930 – 19 July 2017) was an Australian actress, director, and theatre co-founder.
Biography
Evelyn Doreen Warburton was born in London, England on 22 March 1930.[1] At 18 she began her theatre career with the Theatre Workshop, a company where all performers received equal pay and which toured, not just England but also to Scandinavia and Germany.[2]
In 1953 she migrated to Australia to join her family, who had arrived in 1949 and seeking radio work.[3] She made her Australian stage debut in The Shop at Sly Corner at the opening of the Apollo Theatre in Manly[4] and then toured New South Wales in Love From a Stranger.[5][6]
Warburton became a full-time actress in 1959 when she joined the Young Elizabethans and toured Australia for three years bringing Shakespeare's plays to school children.[3]
With actors Ben Gabriel, Edward Hepple, Robert McDarra, Terry McDermott and Walter Sullivan, she was co-founder of the Q Theatre in 1963. Initially giving lunchtime performances at Circular Quay, the company also visited building sites and factories across Australia to bring theatre to the workers.[3] In 1977 the company moved to a permanent venue in Penrith, opening with the musical Lock Up Your Daughters.[7]
As artistic director, Warburton oversaw 81 productions for Q Theatre from 1977 until her retirement in 1989.[3] In 1979 she was the first woman to direct a play at the Sydney Opera House.[8]
Warburton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1979 Birthday Honours for service to theatre.[9]
Personal
Warburton married fellow actor Ben Gabriel in 1969, who predeceased her in 2012.[10] She died at West Gosford on 19 July 2017.[1]
^ ab"Warburton, Doreen". The Dictionary of Sydney. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
^"No star system in unique stage group". The Sun. No. 13, 441. New South Wales, Australia. 9 March 1953. p. 14 (Late Final Extra). Retrieved 10 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Films and Theatres". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. XVIII, no. 15. New South Wales, Australia. 9 April 1953. p. 24. Retrieved 10 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Love From A Stranger". Lithgow Mercury. New South Wales, Australia. 30 June 1953. p. 4 (City Edition). Retrieved 10 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
