Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting iteration of this annual show at the National Theatre for this prize for stage design. I always enjoy this show with its little models of stage designs, costumes and sketches. I was interested to see how many of those on show were speculative designs. It showed how designers have to work, submitting ideas which might never be realised. I loved this costume by Kathy Udaondo for a play called “The Inseparables” which ties two   characters together in a clever way. I also liked this set design but I failed to note what it was or who it was by. It was interesting to read a biography of Lady Anya Sainsbury who instigated the award back in 1987. Closes June 2026

Charming exhibition at the National Theatre highlighting the 12 prize winners in this award for theatre design. The prize is open to graduating designers or those who demonstrate equivalent skills and experience. Each is represented by a display with examples of their work. This was mainly photographs but also included costumes and set models. I loved Biz Sutton’s striking red outfit for “The Duchess of Malfi” set in 1910 which envisaged redesigned the Duchess and Antonio as a chauffeur and his female client. I also liked this set design by Peiyao Wang for “The Exterminating Angel” based on the film by Luis Buñuel. I loved the use of the piano lid as the stage. My favourite piece was a puppet for a play based on “His Dark Materials” by Yijing Chen. It was effectively displayed appearing from around a corner of the display. Closed 30 March 2024  

Disappointing exhibition at the National Theatre showing the best entries in this year’s Linbury Prize for young theatrical designers. I say disappointing as I usual enjoy this show, but this year the write up of the entrants were poor and didn’t always link the people well to the work they had done. Most of the displays were just photographs with not much explanation. There were however some small set models which I always like. I usually come away from the show having learned about performances I wish I’d seen but the only one this year was Hobson’s Choice set in a Sari shop. Closes 9 January 2023  

Interesting exhibition at the National Theatre showcasing the shortlisted designers for the Linbury Award award. Drawn from recent graduates of theatre design course, 20 are chosen by a panel to present their work to one of the four commissioning theatres who each chose three to work with. Each designer was then asked to produce a design for one of their forthcoming productions. The prize is then to see their design realised. It’s fascinating to see three designs for the same show and see the effect of a different set and costumes. Each design was represented by set models, sketchbooks and textiles.   I loved Zoe Hurwtiz’s design for a play called Acid at the Nuffield Southampton Theatre which consisted of a glass box with dancers inside, figures outside and a loan figure on a chair behind the box. Different lighting highlighted the different aspects of the set. I would love to see this in action. I also liked the winner Sami Fendall’s design for a ballet set ...

Interesting exhibition at the National Theatre to present the entrants and prize winners of this award for theatre design. Four companies each asked three designers to design a production for them from the same brief. It was fascinating to see the different idea which they came up with. My favourite were for “Time and the Conways” for Nottingham Playhouse which seemed like an very defined brief but there were three completely different ideas. I loved the way each designer set out their ideas in a different way from small models of the set, sketch books, swatches of material and mood boards.