Costume Design
ca.1955 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Costume design by Audrey Cruddas for Harold Kasket as the Duke of Orleans in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, Old Vic, 13 December 1955.
Audrey Cruddas (1914-1979) was born in South Africa and came to England in 1923. She studied art at St John's Wood School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools and then began a career as a painter, travelling widely in Europe and North Africa. During World War II illness forced her to rest for a year and during this time, for her own amusement, she produced designs for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth. On recovering her health she took the designs to London where they were eventually seen by the director, Michael Benthall, who commissioned her to design his production of The White Devil at the Duchess Theatre in 1947. This was the beginning of Audrey Cruddas's theatrical career: she went on to design productions of Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon and the Old Vic, West End plays, and operas. Her designs for Caesar and Cleopatra, which starred Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, won the 1952 Donaldson Award for outstanding achievement in the theatre when the production toured in America.
Cruddas designed the costumes and settings for Henry V, which was directed by Michael Benthall, with Richard Burton in the title role.
Audrey Cruddas (1914-1979) was born in South Africa and came to England in 1923. She studied art at St John's Wood School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools and then began a career as a painter, travelling widely in Europe and North Africa. During World War II illness forced her to rest for a year and during this time, for her own amusement, she produced designs for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth. On recovering her health she took the designs to London where they were eventually seen by the director, Michael Benthall, who commissioned her to design his production of The White Devil at the Duchess Theatre in 1947. This was the beginning of Audrey Cruddas's theatrical career: she went on to design productions of Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon and the Old Vic, West End plays, and operas. Her designs for Caesar and Cleopatra, which starred Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, won the 1952 Donaldson Award for outstanding achievement in the theatre when the production toured in America.
Cruddas designed the costumes and settings for Henry V, which was directed by Michael Benthall, with Richard Burton in the title role.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour, ink, gold and silver ink and pencil on paper. |
| Brief description | Costume design by Audrey Cruddas for the Duke of Orleans in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, Old Vic, 13 December 1955. |
| Physical description | Costume design for the Duke of Orleans. Full length figure with a bowl haircut, wearing an early 15th-century style costume of grey-blue belted doublet with wide pale pink sleeves, the sleeves decorated with a pattern of gold crosses and dots and trimmed with ermine, white hose and white pointed shoes trimmed in grey-blue. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Summary | Costume design by Audrey Cruddas for Harold Kasket as the Duke of Orleans in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, Old Vic, 13 December 1955. Audrey Cruddas (1914-1979) was born in South Africa and came to England in 1923. She studied art at St John's Wood School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools and then began a career as a painter, travelling widely in Europe and North Africa. During World War II illness forced her to rest for a year and during this time, for her own amusement, she produced designs for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth. On recovering her health she took the designs to London where they were eventually seen by the director, Michael Benthall, who commissioned her to design his production of The White Devil at the Duchess Theatre in 1947. This was the beginning of Audrey Cruddas's theatrical career: she went on to design productions of Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon and the Old Vic, West End plays, and operas. Her designs for Caesar and Cleopatra, which starred Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, won the 1952 Donaldson Award for outstanding achievement in the theatre when the production toured in America. Cruddas designed the costumes and settings for Henry V, which was directed by Michael Benthall, with Richard Burton in the title role. |
| Other number | SH.15 - Previous loan number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.317-2011 |
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| Record created | August 19, 2011 |
| Record URL |
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