Costume design by Maise Meiklejohn for Michael Golden as The Devil in "Don Juan in Hell", Arts Theatre, March 17th 1943, and Continental tour 1946-7.

Costume design for Michael Golden as The Devil . The design depicts a full length male figure wearing a 16th century style theatre costume representing the Devil. The costume consists of a stylised red doublet, hose, tights and cloak. To the right of the design are two small pencil drawings showing the front and back view of the costume.

This costume design by Maise Meiklejohn is part of an extensive collection of designs by the artist purchased by the Theatre Museum in 1990. The design was executed for a production of George Bernard Shaw's play "Don Juan in Hell" (extracted from "Man & Superman") performed at the Arts Theatre, March 17th 1943. The production was produced by Alec Clunes, and the cast included Alec Clunes as Don Juan, Malya Nappi as Dona Ana de Ulloa, and Michael Golden as the Devil.

Historical significance: This design was executed for a production by the actor/producer Alec Clunes, whose greatest achievement was his direction of eight seasons of plays at the Arts Theatre during a period when money and actors were scarce and scenery hard to get. He introduced an ambitious and intellectually demanding repertory of unearthed English classics and promoted the staging of foreign plays, as an alternative to the usual West End fare of "leg shows" and average drawing room pieces, which earned him the status, according to one critic of "pocket national theatre". He also put on a series of Shaw revivals, including "Don Juan in Hell" which was performed at the Arts Theatre and then toured the Continent under the auspices of the British Council in 1946-7.

Leela Meinertas, 1990.

Reason For Production: Commission

S.158-2002