Theatre
Connellan, Patrick (7 of 9) An Oral History of Theatre Design
- Add a note
Log in to add a note at the bottom of this page.
- All notes
- My notes
- Hide notes
- Add to playlist
Log in to add this item to one of your personal lists.
- Add to favourites
Log in to add and display this item in your personal list of favourites on the right hand side of this page.
The British Library Board acknowledges the intellectual property rights of those named as contributors to this recording and the rights of those not identified.
Legal and ethical usage »
Type
sound
Duration
00:39:19
Shelf mark
C1173/09
Recording date
2007-09-20, 2007-11-30, 2008-01-11, 2008-02-15
Recording locations
Interviewee’s Home, Coventry
Interviewees
Connellan, Patrick 1961- (speaker, male)
Interviewers
Wright, Elizabeth (speaker, female)
Abstract
Part 7: Meaning of term “commercial” referring to touring and West End work; mention of working with John Adams at BR and West Yorkshire Playhouse [WYP] which was picked up by commercial producers. [0:01:12] [Pause] First commercial design an adaptation of ‘Misery’ by Stephen King at the Criterion theatre; use of revolve for this design; staging the moment when a foot is chopped off; working with lighting designer, Tim Mitchell; creating horror and suspense; being paid well for this work. Not enjoying producer-led theatre; working with famous actors, such as Sharon Gless on ‘Misery’. Working with television producers, who would give extensive notes after the preview. [0:05:30] ‘A Passionate Woman’ [APW] by Kay Mellor; working with Ned Sherrin [NS] for the first time; design challenges of APW; working within a small amount of space and being blamed for this; success of the play and its tours; mention of reviving this production in Athens and in the round at NV. Working on ‘Salad Days’ with NS; feeling drawn towards musical theatre but hating it on each occasion; feelings about ‘Salad Days’. [0:10:51] Notable productions designed by PC at WYP including ‘The Atheist’s Tragedy’ [AT] which had only been done once before in the twentieth century at BC in 1974; success of the WYP production; learning to deal with period costume; Peter Stein approach to historical plays; multi-historical approach to costume; using this again on ‘Julius Caesar’ [JC]; finding a parallel moment in history; approach to costume for JC; using multi-historical method on AT; difficulty that this can pose for actors; description of AC’s term “leotarding”. [0:21:11] Description of set for AT, which was part of the winning British exhibit at the Prague Quadrennial in 1995; themes of the play; staging of brothel scene; dislike of surrealism. Work with AC revealing the themes of the play gradually through the interaction between set and costumes; “total” theatre approach. Working on Christmas plays written by AC; design for version of ‘Pygmallion’ at BR; supernumerary actors; response of the cast to the design; criticism of the design by one of the actors on the “Front Row” radio programme, giving PC no opportunity to respond; problems of collaborating with actors within short timescales; growing interest in directing because of this. [0:33:03] Approach to costume on ‘Pygmallion’; new writing at BR; learning to like the work of George Bernard Shaw, including ‘Saint Joan’; frustrations of working on new plays as a designer; working with writers; tendency for new writing to be staged in small spaces; success of The Door theatre at BR; writing by Paul Lucas; favourite play of his, ‘All That Trouble That We Had’, directed by AC but not designed by PC; other favourite new writing including ‘Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishman And Paddy..?’
Description
Life story interview with Patrick Connellan (1961-), theatre designer.
Metadata record: