Not currently on display at the V&A

Set design

Design
ca.1960-1970 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Design for a scene showing the disordered interior of an attic room, from an unidentified production, created by Leslie Hurry, ca.1960-70.

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
TitleSet design (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour, ink and pencil on paper.
Brief description
Design for a scene showing a figure dressed in the uniform of a soldier, from an unidentified production, created by Leslie Hurry, ca.1960-70
Physical description
Design for a scene showing the disordered interior of an attic room, from an unidentified production. The design is executed in wax crayon, ink and pencil. It shows a bedroom, filled with tattered furniture and with papers scattered across the wooden floor. The ceiling is sloped and supported on a central, angled beam. The design is largely black and white, but with highlights added in red, yellow and green.
Dimensions
  • Height: 28.6cm
  • Width: 38.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
'Leslie Hurry' (Handwritten annotation, signature of artist, at the base of the design.)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Summary
Design for a scene showing the disordered interior of an attic room, from an unidentified production, created by Leslie Hurry, ca.1960-70.

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.2424-2014

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Record createdDecember 15, 2014
Record URL
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