Not on display

Mary Stuart

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

Costume design by Leslie Hurry for the character Mary Stuart in 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
Costume design by Leslie Hurry for the character Mary Stuart in Schiller's Mary Stuart, Old Vic, 1958
Physical description
Ink and watercolour costume design on paper with pencil inscription for the 1958 production of Mary Stuart at Old Vic Theatre. The design is for the character Mary Stuart and shows a woman wearing a long veil over a plain dress.
Dimensions
  • Height: 37.6cm
  • Width: 17.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Leslie Hurry signature MARY STUART [?] costume (on front in black ink)
  • Mary Stuart 14 V M____ [?] c 105 35 [dr?]ess 11 yes 6HT142 V (on reverse side in black ink, pencil, and purple and green ink)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Summary
Costume design by Leslie Hurry for the character Mary Stuart in 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.1560-2014

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Record createdJuly 16, 2014
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