Designers Take Centre Stage At The National Theatre
- Linbury Prize for Stage Design announces 2007 winner
- Prize celebrates 20 years of success -
- New National Theatre relationship announced -

16 November 2007: Garance Marneur has won the Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design 2007, the world's leading prize for young stage designers, it was announced to a 100-strong audience at the National Theatre last night.

Nicholas Hytner, Director of the National Theatre, presented Garance with the award which she won for her designs for Brecht's Turandot, a forthcoming production at Hampstead Theatre. Hosting the awards ceremony was the prize's founder Lady Anya Sainsbury; attending were Alastair Spalding, artistic director, Sadler's Wells; David Lan, artistic director, Young Vic; actors Simon Russell Beale and Sir Donald Sinden; and the artistic directors from this year's participating companies, Anthony Clark (Hampstead Theatre), John Fulljames (The Opera Group), Rupert Goold (Headlong Theatre) and Nicolas Kent (Tricycle Theatre).

The Linbury Biennial Prize celebrates 20 years of success in 2007. The Prize is responsible for uncovering some of the UK's most well-known stage designers including Tim Hatley, winner of an Olivier award for Humble Boy and a Tony for Private Lives; Vicki Mortimer, designer for Closer, Jumpers and A Matter of Life and Death at the National Theatre; Anthony Ward, designer for Mary Stuart, Macbeth and Glengarry Glen Ross; and Es Devlin who recently worked with Kanye West on his US tour and with director Sally Potter on a ground-breaking production of Carmen at the English National Opera.

It was also announced at the awards ceremony that management and administration of the Prize is soon to be handled by the National Theatre. This follows a long and close relationship between the Linbury Prize and the National Theatre which has hosted the exhibition of designs by the twelve Linbury finalists since 1989. However, the Prize will continue to be artistically independent and will continue to work with theatre, opera and dance companies from around the country, to provide young stage designers with an unparalleled opportunity for development and exposure at a crucial moment in their career.

There are two other opportunities open to designers entering the Linbury Prize:

  • The Jocelyn Herbert Award is given by the family of this ground-breaking designer to a Linbury applicant who most epitomises the spirit of Jocelyn's work. This year Tom Scutt, a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is the recipient of the award.

  • The Royal Opera House offers two bursaries to applicants each lasting three months, creating an opportunity to become familiar with the creative process of staging opera or dance in a large-scale house.The recipients of these two bursaries will be announced shortly.

Lady Anya Sainsbury, founder and chairman of the LInbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design said: "I am delighted that Garance Marneur has won the overall Linbury prize 2007 as indeed I am for three other winners who will each receive a commission to design a production. We all look forward to seeing the fruit of their labours in the coming year. The standard has been high amongst all the finalists and I wish them successful careers in the future. Working with and for young designers for the past 20 years has been a wonderfully rewarding experience which I hope continues for many years to come."

"Our relationship with the National Theatre has always been a close one and we are delighted that the relationship will be closer still when they take on the management and administration for the Linbury Prize "

Nicholas Hytner, Artistic Director, National Theatre said: "The Linbury Biennial is an irreplaceable asset to British stage design. It encourages the most promising young designers by awarding them the most valuable prize of all: the opportunity to work at the highest level. I'm delighted that the National will be more closely involved in years to come."

David Pritchard, Head of Production, Royal Opera House. said: "The Linbury Prize has established itself as a byword for talent, quality and imagination in stage design. Our previous collaborations with Linbury designers has proved to be enormously interesting and we look forward to working with two new designers this year."

In total four Linbury winners were announced. These were:

1. Garnace Marneur (overall winner) for Hampstead Theatre
2. Tom Scutt for Headlong Theatre
3. Rhys Jarman for The Opera Group
4. Helen Goddard for the Tricycle Theatre

The Linbury Prize is worth £66,000 in prize money and design commissions which is shared between the four winners and the companies they work with. Designs and models by the four winners and the eight other finalists can be seen at:

Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design Exhibition
Until 5 January 2007
Lyttleton Circle Foyer
National Theatre SE1

Opening Hours: 0930hrs - 2300hrs. Closed Sundays.
Admission free
http://www.linburybiennial.org.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 for download.
View the site at: http://www.kallaway.co.uk/linbury.htm

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

Notes To Editors
Garance Marneur
Garnace Marneur is the overall winner of the Linbury Prize 2007. She won for designs created for Brecht's Turandot at Hampstead Theatre. Originally from Chartres, France, Garance graduated this year from Central St Martin with a first class honours degree in Design for Performance. She has already designed work for number of productions and events including an exhibition at Bankside Gallery and a short film, The Shooting, which was screened as part of the East London Short Film Festival in 2006.

About the Prize
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 designer 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 with the Royal Ballet School and the Rambert School, as a teacher and on the latter's governing board. She retired this year from the board of the Royal Opera House.

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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