Costume sketch by Cecil Beaton for Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 1945.

Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was an English fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre.

Lady Windermere’s Fan opened on 21 August 1945 and was directed by John Geilgud. It starred Isabel Jeans, Athene Seyler and Denys Blakelock. Cecil Beaton designed the sets and costumes for the production which were ecstatically received by the post-war audience. The Sketch Magazine noted ‘the décor and costumes are a joy to the luxury-starved eyes of today, and the glitter of an age that has gone, though never quite real, is no less fascinating. Outstanding performances is that of Athene Seyler, the whole stage is alive whenever she makes an appearance’.

Beaton researched the 1890s period meticulously, and interviewed Wilde’s son, Vyvvyan Holland, who described the first production of the play in 1892. The London production was a huge success and it transferred to the United States for a national tour with a new cast which included Estelle Winwood and Cornelis Otis Skinner. Beaton was asked to play the part of Cecil Graham and he could not resist the opportunity of make his acting debut. Beaton enjoyed the experience and said ‘the routine of appearing in the theatre for each evening and matinee completely delighted me. I wondered how on earth I had spent my evenings before the opportunity arose for enjoying myself in the most exciting and exhibitionist way.’