After attending Hornsey College of Art, John Napier (b.1944) studied stage design at Central School of Art and designed his first productions for the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester in 1968. He went on to work for the Royal Court, the National Theatre, major British opera companies and the Royal Shakespeare Company, but his breakthrough came in 1980 with the RSC's adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby. Napier demonstrated his flair for re-designing space around performance by building the stage out into the auditorium and devising catwalks and bridges to bring the action to the spectators. The success of the production led to the work for which he is best known: his sets and costumes for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals Cats (1982), set on a rubbish heap; Starlight Express (1984) with its roller-skating arena; Les Miserables (1985) and its famous barricade; Miss Saigon (1989), and Sunset Boulevard (1993).

In 1996 John Napier designed a new production of Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar which re-opened the refurbished Lyceum Theatre. The stage was extended beyond the proscenium arch and the setting, described as resembling an amphitheatre, catacombs and a bullring and including audience seating, incorporated timber walkways which stretched out into the auditorium to create one space for actors and audience.

Most set models are built to a scale of 1:25. This model is to a 1:50 scale, sometimes used by designers working on larger productions, particularly musicals and opera, in order to convey the size of the theatre and the acting area.