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 |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Maureen Freedman |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Holly Waddington |
| TRICYCLE
THEATRE |
||
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Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Helen Goddard |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Sophie Mosberger |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Claire Winfield |
| HAMPSTEAD
THEATRE |
||
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Alyson Cummins |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Mika Handley |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Garance Marneur |
| THE
OPERA GROUP |
||
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Will Holt |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Rhys Jarman |
 |
Name: Nationality: Studied at: |
Lorna Ritchie |
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
END
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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