STAGE SET FOR LINBURY BIENNIAL FINALISTS
Prestigious Prize for Stage Design Celebrates 20 Years

9 August 2007, London: The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design, responsible for uncovering some of the UK's leading stage designers in the last 20 years, including Tim Hatley, Anthony Ward and Vicki Mortimer, today announced its shortlist of young design hopefuls for this year's prize.

The 12 finalists for the 2007 Prize were announced today, following an initial entry of 90 recent graduates from prestigious theatre design courses across the country. Finalists were picked by four artistic directors from leading UK theatre companies at the selection process at the National Theatre.

The selected finalists [listed below] will spend the next three months working in close-collaboration with the four artistic directors and their production companies. Three finalists will work with each theatre company on designs and models for forthcoming productions. The participating theatre companies for 2007 are:

Hampstead Theatre - Artistic Director, Anthony Clark
Headlong - Artistic Director, Rupert Goold
The Opera Group - Artistic Director, John Fulljames
The Tricycle Theatre - Artistic Director, Nicolas Kent

The finalists will display their designs at the Linbury Biennial Exhibition at the National Theatre from 10 November - 8 December, which will be visited by key figures from the theatre industry, allowing finalists to develop contacts and generate future commissions.

At the exhibition, four winners will be selected to have their designs made into productions and the overall Linbury Biennial winner will be announced. The winning designers will share around £66,000 in prize money, design commissions and production sponsorship.

The Linbury Biennial, founded in 1987 by Lady Anya Sainsbury, is the only prize of its kind and gives recently graduated stage designers an unparalleled opportunity to work with professional theatre companies, collaborate with writers, directors and technical teams at a crucial stage in their careers.

Nicholas Hytner, Director, National Theatre said: "The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design provides an unparalleled opportunity for young theatre design talent to be discovered, launching their careers at a crucial moment. We look forward to welcoming the designers to exhibit at the National Theatre in November and to celebrating twenty years of achievement.

Nicolas Kent, Artistic Director, The Tricycle Theatre: "We are delighted to be involved in this year's 20th anniversary. The excellent calibre of the 12 finalists chosen today reflects the high standard of young theatre designers the prize consistently attracts. We are looking forward to working with our three finalists on a challenging and innovative production at the Tricycle Theatre."

The 12 finalists for 2007 are:

HEADLONG
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Tom Scutt British Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Maureen Freedman South African Wimbledon College of Art
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Holly Waddington British Laban
TRICYCLE THEATRE
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Helen Goddard British Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Sophie Mosberger British Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Claire Winfield British Nottingham Trent University
HAMPSTEAD THEATRE
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Alyson Cummins Irish Motley Theatre Design
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Mika Handley British/Australian Motley Theatre Design Course
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Garance Marneur French Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
THE OPERA GROUP
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Will Holt British Motley Theatre Design
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Rhys Jarman British Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
	Name: Nationality: Studied at:	Lorna Ritchie British RADA

About the Commissioning Companies
This year's participating companies include some of the most innovative and exciting theatre and opera organisations in the UK. The diverse range of productions Linbury finalists will be working on present a unique set of challenges that will further their skills in every area of stage design and beyond.

Headlong
Linbury Biennial finalists will be creating designs for Gulliver, a newly co-written adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels by artistic director Rupert Goold and Ben Power. Madness, colonialism, creativity and the inherent isolation of the human condition all find expression in Swift's hilarious and disturbing tale. Headlong Theatre's piece aims to harness the spirit of the novel by finding a vivid theatrical equivalent for the scale and ambition of his vision. State-of-the-art video design, puppetry and music will be used to explore how we define and change ourselves. Headlong Theatre is one of the UK's leading large-scale touring theatre companies.
www.headlongtheatre.co.uk

Tricycle Theatre
Linbury finalists will be asked to design for Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley. Set in 1964, at a Bronx Catholic School, where a strong-minded nun wrestles with her conscience in the face of concerns about one of the priests and his inappropriate behaviour with the school's first black student. Doubt ran for 2 years on Broadway and in 2005 won a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best New Play. For over 25 years, The Tricycle Theatre has enjoyed a unique reputation for high artistic achievement and inclusive education and community work. In 2006 Tricycle received an Evening Standard Theatre Award for pioneering work in political theatre.
www.tricycle.co.uk

Hampstead Theatre
Linbury finalists will be tasked with developing designs and models for a new stage adaptation of the British premiere of Brecht's Turandot by Ed Kemp. Brecht's last play Turandot, never before professionally performed in the UK, is an old folktale serving as the basis of Puccini's opera. It focuses upon the intelligentsia's complicity with authoritarianism and inability to stand up against regressive forces, something that resonates in today's Britain just as it did in pre- and post-war Germany. Hampstead Theatre is one of the UK's leading new writing venues.
www.hampsteadtheatre.com

The Opera Group
Linbury finalists will design sets and costumes for a dazzling new work of musical theatre Varjak Paw by Julian Philips, touring in Autumn 2008. Varjak Paw, based on the acclaimed books by Lebanon-born Londoner, SF Said, tells the story of a Mesopotamian Blue kitten growing up in an urban world of street gangs. The story explores the process of growing up, finding one's personal and ancestral identity and discovering friendship and community along the way. The Opera Group has built a reputation for commissioning new opera which uses visually rich storytelling.
www.theoperagroup.co.uk

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Further Information

A dedicated online media resource supports the 2007 Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design. It contains full information about the Linbury Biennial and the competition. All press releases are made available on the site along with high-resolution pictures of the finalists for download.
View the site at: http://www.kallaway.co.uk/linbury.htm

Linbury Biennial Press Information
Anna Cusden
anna.cusden@kallaway.co.uk
020 7221 7883

Jo Williamson
jo.williamson@kallaway.co.uk
020 7221 7883


Notes To Editors
The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design was founded by Anya Sainsbury in 1987. The prize is open to recent graduates from theatre design courses across the country, many of whom are originally from outside the UK. Twelve finalists get the chance to work with four professional performing arts production companies and exhibit their work at the National Theatre. Four of the 12 win a commission to realise their designs with the commissioning companies and one student is awarded the overall winner's title. The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design is sponsored by the Linbury Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts.

Lady Anya Sainsbury CBE, Chair of the Linbury Biennial Committee.
After a distinguished career as Anya Linden with the Royal Ballet Company from 1951 to 1965, becoming a ballerina in 1958, she retired from the company and went on to study stage design at the Slade School of Art. She married John Sainsbury in 1963 and has continued to be actively involved in the Royal Ballet School and the Rambert School, both as a teacher and on their governing bodies.

About the Linbury Trust
The Linbury Trust is a charitable trust; it was established by Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG, and his wife Anya, Lady Sainsbury, CBE. The trustees of the Linbury Trust make grants to organisations and towards causes across a broad range of categories, including the Arts; Education; Environment and Heritage; Medical; Social Welfare; Developing Countries and Humanitarian Aid. Trustees give priority to causes in which they have a particular interest and where they have particular knowledge and experience, as exemplified by their support for the Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design.

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