Jocelyn Herbert (1917-2003) was one of Britain’s leading theatre designers. She transformed earlier assumptions about the relationships between designers, directors and writers, and had a huge influence on younger designers. Her career began with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court, where she designed the first British production of Ionesco's The Chairs (1958). She collaborated closely over… Continue reading The Jocelyn Herbert Archive
Playing with Scale – now online
An online version of the National Theatre exhibition 'Playing with Scale' is now available on Google Arts and Culture. It includes an animation of the internal workings of the Olivier's drum revolve, a film of Bunny Christie working with the set model for The Comedy of Errors and a film specially made for the exhibition showing… Continue reading Playing with Scale – now online
People of Theatre
'People of Theatre' is a lovely video project devised by Giuliano Levato in which he interviews people who work behind the scenes. He came along to the experimental tour of the 'Playing with Scale' exhibition that I ran with Liz Porter, in which participants described set models collaboratively. A few months later we met at… Continue reading People of Theatre
A hands-on process
How do you access the Jocelyn Herbert archive? What difference does it make to look at original drawings and sketchbooks? In this short film by George Pritchard, students from the Theatre, Screen and Performance Foundation course at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon and the BA Theatre Design at Rose Bruford College talk about their discoveries in… Continue reading A hands-on process
Describing set models
An audio descriptive guide to the exhibition 'Playing with Scale' can be downloaded from the National Theatre's exhibition page. The guide is designed for blind and partially sighted visitors and includes all the caption text on the walls and descriptions of the visual elements of the exhibition, as well as basic information about navigating around… Continue reading Describing set models
Precursors of Performance
What remains of a production that was never performed? I discuss an unrealised production of Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra, directed by John Dexter, designed by Jocelyn Herbert, and scheduled for the 1984/85 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in an article published in the special issue of Theatre and Performance Design: On… Continue reading Precursors of Performance
Playing with Scale
'Playing with Scale' is a major new exhibition at the National Theatre from November 2018 to March 2019 on how theatre designers use set models. The exhibition explores why designers make scale models and brings attention to their collaborative work with directors, scenic artists, actors and designers of lighting and projection. The exhibition 'Playing with… Continue reading Playing with Scale
Galileo out of the shadows
Some of the model props and figures from Jocelyn Herbert's 1980 production of The Life of Galileo have been away from the archive for a few months, in the care of the Conservation department of Camberwell College of Arts. MA student Tabitha Austin carried out a detailed review of their condition, discovering that some of the… Continue reading Galileo out of the shadows
The paint frame and the floor
‘Visiting the paint frame that first time had been like stepping back to another age, and Rex had suddenly seen the theatre not just as a building or a place, but also as a kind of machine for telling stories.’ Tony White, The Fountain in the Forest, 2018. Tony White’s novel opens with the police… Continue reading The paint frame and the floor
Talking with David Storey
Thanks to Cathy Courtney for some additional information about David Storey's collaboration with Jocelyn Herbert, following this post about the designs for Early Days. David Storey talks at length about working with Ralph Richardson and Lindsay Anderson on Early Days in an interview for the National Life Stories collection. National Life Stories is an oral… Continue reading Talking with David Storey
Programmes from Berlin
Among the several hundred programmes in the Jocelyn Herbert archive there are a dozen from Berliner Ensemble productions between 1952 and 1967. It’s a small but richly rewarding resource, especially in terms of graphic design and changing ideas about what printed programmes might bring to the whole event of a theatrical performance. In November, Brecht… Continue reading Programmes from Berlin
From the Jocelyn Herbert Archive 