Not on display

Mary Stuart

Set Design
1958 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Set design by Leslie Hurry for Set I of Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958.

Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleMary Stuart (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Ink, pencil and watercolour on paper.
Brief description
Set design by Leslie Hurry for Set I of Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958
Physical description
Ink, pencil and watercolour set design on paper with ink inscription for the 1958 production of Mary Stuart at Old Vic Theatre. This design depicts set one, which is a corridor or large room with large archways.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17cm
  • Width: 23cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Set I Mary Stuart Leslie Hurry (Front side in ink)
  • V (On reverse side in purple ink)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Summary
Set design by Leslie Hurry for Set I of Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958.

Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Collection
Accession number
S.1535-2014

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

Record createdJuly 11, 2014
Record URL
Download as: JSON