Costume Design
ca.1949 (designed)
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| Place of origin |
Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s, mastering every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.
Ring Round the Moon, a translation of Jean Anouilh's play L'Invitation au Château by Christopher Fry, was first performed at the Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud Theatre), in 1950. Fry described as a 'charade with music'. It is a poetic fantasy of love and confusion with a fairytale ending. Isabelle, an innocent ballet dancer, is hired by the heartless Hugo to attend a ball and win his twin brother Frédéric away from a millionaire's scheming daughter. Isabelle, who adores Hugo, faces humiliation but triumphs and finds true love with Frédéric.
Isabelle's vulgar mother, played by Mona Washbourne, is a piano teacher who is determined to get her daughter into high society. She attempts to impress by trying to pass herself off as a countess.
Ring Round the Moon, a translation of Jean Anouilh's play L'Invitation au Château by Christopher Fry, was first performed at the Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud Theatre), in 1950. Fry described as a 'charade with music'. It is a poetic fantasy of love and confusion with a fairytale ending. Isabelle, an innocent ballet dancer, is hired by the heartless Hugo to attend a ball and win his twin brother Frédéric away from a millionaire's scheming daughter. Isabelle, who adores Hugo, faces humiliation but triumphs and finds true love with Frédéric.
Isabelle's vulgar mother, played by Mona Washbourne, is a piano teacher who is determined to get her daughter into high society. She attempts to impress by trying to pass herself off as a countess.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Charcoal, watercolour and gouache on paper. |
| Brief description | Costume design by Oliver Messel for Isabelle's Mother disguised as the Countess Funela in Jean Anouilh's play Ring Round the Moon (translated by Christopher Fry), Globe Theatre, London, 1950. |
| Physical description | Costume design by Oliver Messel for Isabelle's Mother disguised as the Countess Funela in Ring Round the Moon, Globe Theatre, 1950. Full length female figure in a black evening dress with a trailing mauve scarf, looking through a lorgnette which she holds in her right hand. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | Ring Round the Moon, a translation of Jean Anouilh's play L’Invitation au Château (1947) by Christopher Fry, was first performed at the Globe Theatre, London (now the Gielgud Theatre), on 26 January 1950. The production, presented by H. M. Tennent Productions Ltd, was directed by Peter Brook, with a cast that included Paul Scofield, Claire Bloom and Margaret Rutherford. Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts. The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan. The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005. |
| Summary | Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s, mastering every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as working in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic concepts were perfectly in tune with the times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, that style was becoming unfashionable, and Messel gradually abandoned theatre and built a new career designing luxury homes in the Caribbean. Ring Round the Moon, a translation of Jean Anouilh's play L'Invitation au Château by Christopher Fry, was first performed at the Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud Theatre), in 1950. Fry described as a 'charade with music'. It is a poetic fantasy of love and confusion with a fairytale ending. Isabelle, an innocent ballet dancer, is hired by the heartless Hugo to attend a ball and win his twin brother Frédéric away from a millionaire's scheming daughter. Isabelle, who adores Hugo, faces humiliation but triumphs and finds true love with Frédéric. Isabelle's vulgar mother, played by Mona Washbourne, is a piano teacher who is determined to get her daughter into high society. She attempts to impress by trying to pass herself off as a countess. |
| Bibliographic reference | Pinkham, Roger (ed.) Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983.
London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. 200p., ill. |
| Other number | ROT 2387 - TM Rotation Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.813-2011 |
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| Record created | August 26, 2011 |
| Record URL |
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