Not currently on display at the V&A

Costume Design

1954 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

John Crockett's costume design for the character Agamemnon for a production of Sacrifice to the Wind (1954) for The Compass Players, a small post-war British touring company dedicated to producing a repertoire of classics. Their work incuded Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, plays by Shaw, Synge, Chekhov, Moliere, Fry, Milton's masque Comus, and exciting versions of Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale, and Jonah and the Whale - both adapted by John Crockett, the company's artistic director as well as a dancer and an accomplished artist.

The Compass Players were based in John Crockett's home, an old house and estate in Gloucestershire, and played wherever they could - in village halls, miners' Institutes and schools across the country, with everything carried in a recycled laundry van called Bertha. It had seats for nine and space behind them for the sets, props, costumes, lighting and sound equipment for the three or four productions for each tour. The entire company acted, stage-managed, lit the show, maintained the costumes and props and put up and struck the set. A school matinee and an evening show daily was normal. Hospitality was offered in many places, and gratefully accepted since everyone in the company existed on 15/- per week plus their keep. Company members might find themselves guests in a miner's cottage one night and in a mansion the next, and Compass players never ever forgot the training they gained or the impact their visits had on the many small communities that welcomed them.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pencil, pen and ink on grey paper
Brief description
Costume design for the character Agamemnon for a production of Sacrifice to the Wind for the Compass Players Company. Designed by John Crockett in 1954. John Crockett Collection.
Physical description
Costume design depicting a male subject in a version of a Classical Greek outfit: long orange toga over long blue tunic. Drawn on grey paper, dated and signed.
Dimensions
  • Height: 48.7cm
  • Width: 31.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Agamemnon / Sacrifice to the Wind' (Signed in black ink, upper left-hand corner)
  • 'John Crockett / 1954' (Signed in black ink, lower right-hand corner)
Credit line
Given by John Crockett
Literary referenceSacrifice to the Wind
Summary
John Crockett's costume design for the character Agamemnon for a production of Sacrifice to the Wind (1954) for The Compass Players, a small post-war British touring company dedicated to producing a repertoire of classics. Their work incuded Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, plays by Shaw, Synge, Chekhov, Moliere, Fry, Milton's masque Comus, and exciting versions of Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale, and Jonah and the Whale - both adapted by John Crockett, the company's artistic director as well as a dancer and an accomplished artist.

The Compass Players were based in John Crockett's home, an old house and estate in Gloucestershire, and played wherever they could - in village halls, miners' Institutes and schools across the country, with everything carried in a recycled laundry van called Bertha. It had seats for nine and space behind them for the sets, props, costumes, lighting and sound equipment for the three or four productions for each tour. The entire company acted, stage-managed, lit the show, maintained the costumes and props and put up and struck the set. A school matinee and an evening show daily was normal. Hospitality was offered in many places, and gratefully accepted since everyone in the company existed on 15/- per week plus their keep. Company members might find themselves guests in a miner's cottage one night and in a mansion the next, and Compass players never ever forgot the training they gained or the impact their visits had on the many small communities that welcomed them.
Collection
Accession number
S.505:D-1980

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Record createdNovember 16, 2011
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