Not currently on display at the V&A

Set Design

1955 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Shanks, Alec (Mr) (theatre designer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (painted)

Design for the Prologue for an unidentified production, showing a street corner in a Middle Eastern town with, to left of centre, a vendor with plates and flasks sitting outside a flat roofed building, and, to right, a minaret. The design is signed and dated on the lower right hand side. At the back an additional strip of card is attached to the top of the design and extends beyond the upper edge.


Object details

Categories
Entertainment & Leisure
Theatre
Designs
Object type
Set design
Materials and techniques
Gouache and crayon on card
Gouache
Crayon
Card
Painting
Brief description
Design by Alec Shanks for an unidentified revue, London Hippodrome, 1955
Physical description
Design for the Prologue for an unidentified production, showing a street corner in a Middle Eastern town with, to left of centre, a vendor with plates and flasks sitting outside a flat roofed building, and, to right, a minaret. The design is signed and dated on the lower right hand side. At the back an additional strip of card is attached to the top of the design and extends beyond the upper edge.
Dimensions
  • Does not include additional mount height: 356mm
  • Width: 523mm
  • With mount height: 377mm
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'ALEC / SHANKS / '55' (Signature; Lower right hand side; Handwriting; Paint)
  • 'PROLOGUE' (Textual information; Lower right hand corner; Handwriting; Paint)
  • 'ORIGINAL SCENE DESIGN / FOR A BALLET / FOR A / LONDON HIPPODROME REVUE / BY ALEC SHANKS [1955]' (Textual information; Reverse, upper centre, on attached mount; Handwriting; Ink)
Credit line
Given by Dame Margaret Booth
Object history
The inscription on the back of this design states that it was made for an unidentified revue at the London Hippodrome in 1955. However, the design may be connected to the production of Kismet which opened at the Stoll Theatre on 20 April 1955, for which Alec Shanks designed the lighting.
Collection
Theatre and Performance Collection
Accession number
S.175-1999

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Record createdDecember 6, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O12486/set-design-shanks-alec-mr/
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