{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1221441"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1221441/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FD4223/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FD4223/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011FD4223","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum,London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1221441","accessionNumber":"S.2214-1986","objectType":"Set design","titles":[{"title":"Preliminary set design for <i>Cymbeline</i>","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Preliminary set design by Leslie Hurry for <i>Cymbeline</i>, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1949.\r\n\r\nArtist Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet</i>. The success of his <i>Hamlet</i> designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation.  He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably <i>Swan Lake</i> for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; <i>Venice Preserved</i>  for Peter Brook  (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and <i>Troilus and Cressida</i>  at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit. Although he did design contemporary drama, it was the classics of the British stage that were most suited to Hurry’s imagination. Using a distinctive colour palette dominated by dull reds, yellows, greys and muddy greens, he created elaborate costumes and oversized architectural settings. \r\n\r\nMichael Benthall worked with Hurry on <i>Hamlet</i>, the play, at the Old Vic (1944) and <i>Turandot</i> at Covent Garden (1947), and in 1949 brought Hurry to Stratford to design <i>Cymbeline</i>. Together they devised a production on an operatic scale, set in a fantastical distant past. ","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Hurry, Leslie","id":"A9404"},"association":{"text":"theatre designers","id":"AAT25681"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Shakespeare","id":"THES253244"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2011FD4223"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES356664"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"set design","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1949","earliest":"1949-01-01","latest":"1949-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the British Council","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Preliminary set design by Leslie Hurry for <i>Cymbeline</i>, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 21 May 1949","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.2214-1986"],"accessionNumberNum":"2214","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1986,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-06-11","recordCreationDate":"2011-05-12","availableToBook":true}}