Theatre Design
1971
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Set model for Act I of Kenneth MacMillan's ballet "Anastasia". The setting shows a white stage with imitation birch tree-trunks, trestle tables & chairs etc, in front of a white cyclorama curving outwards in scrolls towards the front of the stage
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Set model by Barry Kay for Act I of Kenneth MacMillan's ballet "Anastasia", The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, 1971. |
| Physical description | Set model for Act I of Kenneth MacMillan's ballet "Anastasia". The setting shows a white stage with imitation birch tree-trunks, trestle tables & chairs etc, in front of a white cyclorama curving outwards in scrolls towards the front of the stage |
| Production type | Unique |
| Gallery label | Model designed by Barry Kay for Act I of Kenneth MacMillan's ballet Anastasia, premiered by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, 1971.
The post-war period saw the small Sadler's Wells Ballet move from north London to become resident company at the Royal Opera House and, in 1957, become The Royal Ballet. Once the Sadler's Wells Ballet moved to Covent Garden in 1946, it had to build up a repertory suited to a larger theatre and stage and show off the full company. Frederick Ashton's Cinderella in 1948 was the first to establish a British tradition of full-evening ballets and a tradition continued by Kenneth MacMillan.
MacMillan originally created Anastasia as a one-act ballet - a psychological investigation into the mind of the alleged survivor of the Russian Imperial family. In 1971 he used this work as the third act of a three-act ballet of the same name - expanding the action to show the Imperial family and the disintegrating society of the pre-Revolutionary period. Kay's designs for Act I perfectly captured the atmosphere of the sepia photographs of the period (the Russian Imperial family were enthusiastic amateur photographers) and of the Russian seaside. The curved spirals then became the architecture of the ballroom in Act II and the hospital walls-cum-projection screen for Anastasia's memories in Act III.
Sarah Woodcock. |
| Production | Reason For Production: Commission |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Associations | |
| Literary reference | Anastasia |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.1468-1986 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | March 19, 2004 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
