Publisher's Synopsis
This book is the first to examine in depth the work of a contemporary British stage designer. It follows the career of Jocelyn Herbert from her student days at the London Theatre Studio in 1936 to her productions at the Royal National Theatre in 1992. In 1956 she joined The Royal Court where she developed her long working relationships with the directors George Devine, Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson and John Dexter. Thanks to The Court's championship of new playwrights, she designed the first performances of plays by John Arden, Arnold Wesker, John Osborne and David Storey, and in the 1950s began a close association with Samuel Beckett, which lasted until his death. She first designed for the National Theatre at the Old Vic in 1964 and was on the building committee for the South Bank site, where she has recently collaborated with poet and playwright Tony Harrison. By including, where appropriate, comments from writers, directors, and actors, this book seeks to recapture some of the chemistry at work in the process of bringing a text alive on stage, examining the problems posed by each play and the degree to which the chosen solutions succeeded.
