Not currently on display at the V&A

Cato Street

Set Design
ca. 1971 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Design by Michael Annals for a set detail in Robert Shaw's play, Cato Street, proposed for production by the National Theatre Company, 1971.

Michael Annals (1938-1990) trained at Hornsey College of Art and began his career designing sets and costumes for the Old Vic. In 1963 the newly formed National Theatre Company moved into the Old Vic and Annals joined them, having his first major success with his designs for Peter Shaffer's historical epic, The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964). He went on to have an international career, designing for the theatre and for ballet, opera and film, but is most closely associated with the National Theatre, where he created notable settings for a range of productions, including O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night starring Laurence Olivier, Hecht and MacArthur's The Front Page and Shaw's Heartbreak House. Annals frequently worked in the United States and was Associate Professor of Scenic Design at Yale in 1966-1967. In 1984 he gave up the stage and took up photography and illustration.

Cato Street was commissioned for production by the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, but financial constraints caused its cancellation. It was staged by the Young Vic in November 1971 with set designs by William Dudley and costumes designed by Deirdre Clancy. The play dramatises the events of the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820, a plot to murder the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and members of his cabinet.



Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCato Street (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted balsa wood and printed paper on art board
Brief description
Design by Michael Annals for a set detail in Robert Shaw's play, Cato Street, proposed for production by the National Theatre Company, 1971
Physical description
Design for a set detail in Cato Street. Panel with sloping top, made from short lengths of balsa wood, painted brown as though slightly scorched, covered with pieces torn from newspapers and prints, with text, images of workers at machines, and a head and shoulders portrait of a man. Mounted on art board.
Dimensions
  • Height: 50.1cm
  • Width: 21.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
Transliteration
Credit line
Bequeathed by Michael Annals
Summary
Design by Michael Annals for a set detail in Robert Shaw's play, Cato Street, proposed for production by the National Theatre Company, 1971.

Michael Annals (1938-1990) trained at Hornsey College of Art and began his career designing sets and costumes for the Old Vic. In 1963 the newly formed National Theatre Company moved into the Old Vic and Annals joined them, having his first major success with his designs for Peter Shaffer's historical epic, The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964). He went on to have an international career, designing for the theatre and for ballet, opera and film, but is most closely associated with the National Theatre, where he created notable settings for a range of productions, including O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night starring Laurence Olivier, Hecht and MacArthur's The Front Page and Shaw's Heartbreak House. Annals frequently worked in the United States and was Associate Professor of Scenic Design at Yale in 1966-1967. In 1984 he gave up the stage and took up photography and illustration.

Cato Street was commissioned for production by the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, but financial constraints caused its cancellation. It was staged by the Young Vic in November 1971 with set designs by William Dudley and costumes designed by Deirdre Clancy. The play dramatises the events of the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820, a plot to murder the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and members of his cabinet.

Collection
Accession number
S.468-1991

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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