Other livesTheatreObituaryLinda Dobell obituary
As an actor, my friend Linda Dobell, who has died of peritonitis aged 55, appeared all over the place, from the original Rocky Horror Show in the King's Road, London, in 1973, when she was still in her teens, to panto at Stratford East, and experimental and mainstream work at the Royal Court, National Theatre, Young Vic and King's Head, as well as many regional theatres.
More recently her work as a choreographer and director (largely in collaboration with Richard Jones) was seen all over the world; in Britain from Glyndebourne to Glasgow, in Europe from Milan to Helsinki, and as far away as San Francisco and New York. Despite the apparent glamour of her work in cutting-edge opera, she was passionate about grassroots theatre and had special relationships with the London Bubble Theatre Company under Jonathan Petherbridge and Cardboard Citizens, a company of homeless actors who were the last people she worked with.
Linda's mother, Gladys, was Welsh, her father, Doug, from Norfolk, but Linda was a Londoner to her bones. Her childhood was spent in Soho, and it is clear that the relaxed bohemianism of her father's shop in the Charing Cross Road, Dobell's Jazz Record Shop, influenced the sensibilities of his daughter. At a very young age she expressed a wish for dance lessons and from the age of 11 attended the Arts Educational School in Chiswick.
She would watch other people's movements intensely and store ideas that she liked. Her acute observations of human behaviour resulted in choreography and acting bristling with intelligence. Linda bridled at vanity in performing and would often talk about her own work dismissively. And as much as she loved performing, it meant nothing to her without a political point. She was habitually subversive, and rumour has it that when Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opened in the West End she went around with a big black pen, crossing out the Cs on the posters and replacing them with Ss.
Linda had a special talent as a friend and mentor. She couldn't suffer fools, but could be hugely generous with her time, talent and energy. She dressed stylishly, with a strong sense of irony. As a bridesmaid for one friend, she tripped up the aisle in floaty lavender, accessorised with a rucksack, DMs and a little ciggie. She was fearless, generous and loyal, and, for her friends, to be loved by Linda felt absolutely and completely grand.
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