William Dudley : Stage Designer

Dull exhibition at the National Theatre looking at the set designs of William Dudley who has worked with the theatre at the Old and New Vic plus on all three stages in the current theatre.

Dudley has designed the exhibition himself and it looks stunning as a piece of interior design for a foyer but just consists of photos and sketches. It is quite muddling to work out which show is being shown and the sections running into each other and overlap. The booklet which goes with it helps the narrative but I would have liked to see a bit more commentary on the pictures plus maybe some objects or models to break up the display.

It did however remind me of some of the wonderful productions I’d seen that he theatre such as “The Mysteries” and “Lark Rise to Candleford” in the Cottesloe and “The Real Inspector Hound and The Critic”. It also showed me shows which I can’t belief I missed such as “The Coast of Utopia” which looked visually stunning.

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