{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1093415"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1093415/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MR8634/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MR8634/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2020MR8634","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT8074","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1093415/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1093415","accessionNumber":"CIRC.69-1954","objectType":"Set design","titles":[{"title":"Macbeth","type":"assigned by artist"},{"title":"Macbeth","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This production of Shakespeare's <i>Macbeth</i> for which this backcloth was designed starred John Gielgud in the title role and Gwen  Ffrangcon-Davies as Lady Macbeth. It was directed by Gielgud, who said on the opening night at  Manchester that he had been: 'moved in his choice of the play that its stern theme would match  our stern times'. Leon Quartermaine played Banquo and Ernest Thesiger the First Witch, or Weird  Sister, with Dorothy Green and Annie Esmond. It opened at the Manchester Opera House on 16th  January 1942 for a two-week run, part of a long tour that culminated in its opening at London's  Piccadilly Theatre on 8th July 1942. The young designer Michael Ayrton (1921-1975) had been  given leave from the Forces to work on the design for the production in collaboration with John  Minton (1917-1957) who had worked and travelled with Ayrton in France in the late '30s.\r\n\r\nA review in <i>The Guardian</i> , 17th January 1942, noted that: 'Gielgud has been splendidly served by the settings of Mr. Michael Ayrton and Mr. John Minton and by the lighting of Mr. Stanley  Earnshaw. The banquest scene, which made a gorgeous and unexpectedly spacious picture, and  the darkened hall at Dunsinane where Macbeth \"'gins to be a-weary of the sun and where his  lady walks in shadows which no sun would ever lighten\", should be long remembered.'","physicalDescription":"Design for a stage stet showing a small building (possibly a chapel) flying two flags in blue and white on the right side of the page, a pavement in the foreground and a bank of trees on the left. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Michael Ayrton","id":"A31259"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"John Minton","id":"A7021"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"indian ink","id":"x32680"},{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"bodycolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[{"text":"20th century","id":"x36093"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2020MR8634","2006AT8074"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLD","id":"THES49658"},"free":"","case":"DT","shelf":"34","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"design","id":"AAT102051"}],[{"text":"theatre design","id":"AAT54190"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1941-early 1942","earliest":"1941-01-01","latest":"1942-06-30"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"CIRC.68-1954","id":"O1220251"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"CIRC.70-1954","id":"O1220248"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"CIRC.71-1954","id":"O1220249"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"CIRC.72-1954","id":"O1220250"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.49-1943","id":"O726915"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.50-1943","id":"O726914"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.51-1943","id":"O726913"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.52-1943","id":"O726912"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.53-1943","id":"O726911"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.54-1943","id":"O726910"},"association":"Object"},{"object":{"text":"E.55-1943","id":"O726909"},"association":"Object"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"353","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/11/2020","earliest":"2020-11-18","latest":"2020-11-18"},"part":"Image","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"457","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/11/2020","earliest":"2020-11-18","latest":"2020-11-18"},"part":"Image","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"478","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/11/2020","earliest":"2020-11-18","latest":"2020-11-18"},"part":"Sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"585","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"18/11/2020","earliest":"2020-11-18","latest":"2020-11-18"},"part":"Sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken in 1943: Height 14 inches x Width 19.5 inches.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Design by Michael Ayrton (1921-1975) for a backcloth for Shakespeare's <i>Macbeth</i>, Act II, scene 4, Manchester Opera House, 16th January 1942, on tour, and at London's Piccadilly Theatre London, 8th July 1942, Bodycolour","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Taken from Departmental Circulation Register 1954"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Design","id":"THES48872"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["CIRC.69-1954"],"accessionNumberNum":"69","accessionNumberPrefix":"CIRC","accessionYear":1954,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-08","recordCreationDate":"2009-07-01","availableToBook":false}}