Not currently on display at the V&A

The Gates of Summer

Design
1956 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Design for a set created by Leslie Hurry for the touring production The Gates of Summer, 1956.

The Gates of Summer, a comedy set in Greece immediately before the outbreak of the First World War, by John Whiting was directed by Peter Hall. It was created for a regional tour in 1956 and opened at the New Theatre, Oxford on 11 September 1956.

The action of the play is set over two days and takes place in, and around, a country house in the Greece in the early summer of 1913. The three acts take place in the morning, evening and night. No lighting designer is credited in the programmes by the designer, Leslie Hurry, thanks Disley Jones ‘for technical advice’. The scenery was built by Brunskill and Loveday and painted by Alick Johnston.



Object details

Category
Object type
TitleThe Gates of Summer (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Black ink, watercolour and pencil drawing
Brief description
Design for a set created by Leslie Hurry for the touring production The Gates of Summer, 1956
Physical description
Design for a set created by Leslie Hurry for the touring production <i>Gates of Summer</i>, 1956.
Landscape design showing a house, the front cutaway to reveal part of the interior, and the landscape and garden within which it is situated. The house is cream, with ionic columns running across the front. The roof and furnishings of the house are a deep crimson. The sky outside the building is a deep blue and the stylised landscape is executed in graduated shades of green.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25.7cm
  • Width: 35cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Leslie Hurry' (Handwritten annotation in purple crayon, at the bottom right hand corner of the design)
  • 'Gates of Summer, John Whiting' (illegible) (Handwritten annotation in purple crayon on the rear of the design)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Literary referenceThe Gates of Summer
Summary
Design for a set created by Leslie Hurry for the touring production The Gates of Summer, 1956.

The Gates of Summer, a comedy set in Greece immediately before the outbreak of the First World War, by John Whiting was directed by Peter Hall. It was created for a regional tour in 1956 and opened at the New Theatre, Oxford on 11 September 1956.

The action of the play is set over two days and takes place in, and around, a country house in the Greece in the early summer of 1913. The three acts take place in the morning, evening and night. No lighting designer is credited in the programmes by the designer, Leslie Hurry, thanks Disley Jones ‘for technical advice’. The scenery was built by Brunskill and Loveday and painted by Alick Johnston.

Collection
Accession number
S.1743-2014

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Record createdJuly 29, 2014
Record URL
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