In the mid 20th century, the Royal Opera House continued the tradition of producing special programmes, often printed on silk, for special gala occasions, often performances given in the presence of Royalty or visiting heads of state. In 1953, to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Opera House commissioned Benjamin Britten to write an opera on the subject of Queen Elizabeth I; Gloriana was premiered on 8 June 1953 in the presence of the Queen and the Royal Family. Oliver Messel was commissioned to design a programme for the Royal gala and this drawing was used for the back cover. The subject of the first Queen Elizabeth was not new to him; at the beginning of his career a moulded head of the Queen, set in a splendid huge ruff, attracted much attention at one of his exhibitions.

Great Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, Oliver Messel (1904-1978) won international acclaim for his lavish, painterly and poetic designs informed by period styles. His work spans ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue. Messel’s traditional style of theatre design became unfashionable from the mid 1950s onwards, and he increasingly concentrated on painting, interior and textile design, including designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.