JILL FRASER, MBE 15.04.46 – 10.02.06
Jill Fraser MBE, Artistic and Executive Director of The Watermill, died on Friday 10 February of pneumonia, in part a result of her long battle with a breast and bone cancer.
Those of us who were privileged to know and work with her can testify to her indomitable courage, particularly when fighting to realise her artistic vision for The Watermill.
You only had to meet Jill once to be fired by her blazing honesty, her deep morality and her obvious passion for her family and friends and also for her beloved theatre. She inspired the deepest loyalty from everyone who worked with her, a loyalty which she returned in abundance.
Jill Fraser’s early years in the theatre were spent with the RSC, Welsh Opera, Actors Company and Cambridge Theatre Company. In 1981 Jill, together with her husband James Sargant, purchased The Watermill Theatre. She led the development of the theatre from a local rep, opening 26 weeks of the year, into a nationally and internationally respected all year round producing house.
Over the last 25 years The Watermill has toured to 21 countries including the UK, particularly with the hugely successful all-male ensemble company Propeller, which Jill co-founded with Edward Hall.
It was in the last 8 years that the success of Jill’s vision was recognised with many productions winning national awards as the best in their field. Shows such as The Gondoliers, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rose Rage, and Sweeney Todd transferred into the West End with the latter also transferring to Broadway. Jill was particularly proud last November to attend two consecutive opening nights in New York for shows that originated at The Watermill. The most recent Watermill musical, Mack & Mabel, opens at the Criterion Theatre, London in April.
She fought tirelessly to ensure that The Watermill would receive funding to safeguard its future. Richard Price, Chairman of the board of The Watermill Theatre said: “We will miss her and the greatest memorial we can give her is the continuation of her vision for the Watermill for the future. We want it to grow in her memory”.
Jill was also deeply passionate about the preservation of the environment. During the building of the A34 by-pass she regularly took food to the protesters to show her support.
Music Theatre director John Doyle, director of Sweeney Todd said “Jill personified The Watermill, courageous, innovative, nurturing, embracing and unique. She, like her theatre, touched the heart of all who knew her. As a privileged friend and colleague I know that nothing would matter more to Jill now than that we all carry her beloved Watermill to a bright new future.”
Edward Hall, said “Jill Fraser was one of the greatest forces in British Theatre. She was an inspiration to all my work and a rock whenever times were hard. I have never met a more courageous person, or somebody who managed to focus with such energy and determination on putting challenging work on the stage. As a young director she took a risk on me and has stuck by me even when I made mistakes. Loyalty such as this is rare. The sense of loss at this time is immeasurable.”
Jill's foresight had mapped the future of her theatre right up until her planned retirement in April 2008. In Jill’s absence James Sargant and The Watermill's Board of Directors, together with the theatre’s Associate Directors, Edward Hall and John Doyle will oversee those plans.