According to a statement from her family, theater director and composer Claire van Kampen passed away on Saturday at the age of 71 from cancer.
According to the statement, van Kampen was referred to as one of the funniest, wickedest, and most inspirational people we have ever encountered by her husband, playwright and actor Mark Rylance, and her daughter, Juliet. On her husband’s 65th birthday, Van Kampen passed away in Germany amid her family.
The family expressed gratitude to her for bringing her magic, music, love, and laughter into their lives. Something is done, something is starting; ring the bell, play the trumpets. One of the great wise men is no longer with us.
In addition to being nominated for five Tony Awards, Van Kampen’s production Farinelli and the King was nominated for best play in 2018. In addition, she composed music for other Broadway shows, such as True West in 2000.
However, van Kampen’s work in the UK, where she participated in multiple productions of William Shakespeare’s plays, is probably what made her most famous. According to her biography on the Globe Theatre’s website, she started her theatrical career in 1986 with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
According to her biography, Van Kampen was the first woman to hold the position of musical director for both the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1987, while they were both working on a performance of The Wandering Jew at the Royal National Theatre, she met Rylance. On the first day of their rehearsal, Rylance showed interest in her, the couple told The New Yorker in 2013.
It took him a little longer to get van Kampen’s attention, but he told the magazine that he greatly appreciated her gait.
According to van Kampen, by the third month or so, someone had noticed that the young man was spending a lot of time near the piano and that perhaps he was not just memorizing his song.
After that, they collaborated on a number of plays, including as The Tempest, As You Like It, and Hamlet. Two years after meeting, the pair got married in a ceremony in Oxfordshire, England.
In addition, Rylance has acted in a number of movies. In 2016, he costarred with Tom Hanks in Bridge of Spies, for which he won the Oscar for best supporting actor.
He took on the role of stepfather to van Kampen’s two daughters, Natasha and Juliet. According to People magazine, Natasha van Kampen passed away in 2012 due to a brain hemorrhage that occurred during a journey from New York to London.