Not on display

Cymbeline

Design
1949 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Preliminary set design by Leslie Hurry for Act IV Scene I of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1949. The design depicts the scene's setting of Wales near the cave of Belarius.

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.

The scenery was built by Fred Jenkins in the Workshops at Stratford and painted by Reg Sayle.

The action of the play takes place Cymbeline’s palace, and in Rome and Wales. Although the critic of The Times found the settings ‘over-elaborate’ the Daily Telegraph noted that ‘Mr. Hurry’s settings achieved a barbaric splendour and Michael Benthall bathed ancient Rome and Britain and Renaissance Italy all alike in a Gothic gloom which seemed somehow quite appropriate.’

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleCymbeline (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Black ink and crayon on paper and cardboard
Brief description
Preliminary set design by Leslie Hurry for Act IV Scene I of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1949. The design depicts the scene's setting of Wales near the cave of Belarius
Physical description
Black ink and crayon preliminary set design on paper and cardboard by Leslie Hurry for Act IV Scene I of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1949. The design depicts the scene's setting of Wales near the cave of Belarius, represented as green hills against a reddish sky.
Dimensions
  • Height: 21.3cm
  • Width: 30.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
Act IV Scene I (On front side in black ink)
Credit line
Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone
Literary referenceCymbeline
Summary
Preliminary set design by Leslie Hurry for Act IV Scene I of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1949. The design depicts the scene's setting of Wales near the cave of Belarius.

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.

The scenery was built by Fred Jenkins in the Workshops at Stratford and painted by Reg Sayle.

The action of the play takes place Cymbeline’s palace, and in Rome and Wales. Although the critic of The Times found the settings ‘over-elaborate’ the Daily Telegraph noted that ‘Mr. Hurry’s settings achieved a barbaric splendour and Michael Benthall bathed ancient Rome and Britain and Renaissance Italy all alike in a Gothic gloom which seemed somehow quite appropriate.’

Collection
Accession number
S.1866-2014

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Record createdAugust 12, 2014
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