Not currently on display at the V&A

Mary Stuart

Set Design
1958 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Set design by Leslie Hurry for Act III Scene II of Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958.

Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleMary Stuart (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Ink and watercolour on paper.
Brief description
Set design by Leslie Hurry for Act III Scene II of Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958
Physical description
Ink and watercolour set design on paper with ink inscription for the 1958 production of Mary Stuart at Old Vic Theatre. This design is for Act III Scene II and depicts a possible dungeon with doorway.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17.5cm
  • Width: 20.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mary Stuart Leslie Hurry Act III Sc II (Front side in black ink)
  • A (Reverse side in green ink)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Summary
Set design by Leslie Hurry for Act III Scene II of Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958.

Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Collection
Accession number
S.1547-2014

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Record createdJuly 11, 2014
Record URL
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