{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1221715"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1221715/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011ET5736/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011ET5736/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011ET5736","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum,London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2011FD4224","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum,London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1221715","accessionNumber":"S.2371-1986","objectType":"Set design","titles":[{"title":"Set design by Motley for 'Coriolanus'","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Set design by Motley for <i>Coriolanus</i>, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1952.\r\n\r\nThe design team Motley (sisters Margaret and Sophia Harris and their friend Elizabeth Montgomery) had their first success in 1932 with their sets and costumes for John Gielgud’s production of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> for the Oxford University Dramatic Society. They went on to design more than 300 productions in Britain and America. The Harris sisters and Montgomery worked in a very co-operative way with no one taking credit for individual designs, and the Motley name became something of a brand, used by all three women whether working alone or in collaboration. \r\n\r\nIn 1946 Margaret Harris (1904-2000) designed a West End production of <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i> for director Glen Byam Shaw and this began a working relationship which continued throughout the 1940s and1950s. When Byam Shaw first directed Shakespeare at Stratford in 1952, Harris designed his productions of <i>Coriolanus</i> and <i>As You Like It</i>. <i>Coriolanus</i>, which featured the theatre’s artistic director, Anthony Quayle, in the title role, was a typical example of 1950s Stratford Shakespeare, with attractive period settings and well known players in the principal parts. The cast included Mary Ellis, a star of musical theatre, in her Stratford debut as Volumnia, with Laurence Harvey as Aufidius and Michael Hordern as Menenius. Margaret Harris put the Romans in classically- inspired costume and the Volsces in Cretan dress. As realised on stage, her set was more elaborate than shown in the design, with a permanent feature of steps leading to an arched gateway, and a wall running across the rear of the stage. When open, the gate represented Rome, and when closed, with the addition of a row of spikes topping the wall, it became Corioli. The tall tents, shown in the design, were placed in front of the wall and gate to form Coriolanus’s camp outside Rome, where Volumnia pleads for her city. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Set design showing a stage, the stage floor on three levels, rising to back. Four tall tents are positioned centre back, with a drape on a pole, downstage, to right, and an arch at back, left, against a backdrop of a starry sky. Sketchy figures of Coriolanus (seated right), Volumnia and Aufidius, with attendants and soldiers.  ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Motley","id":"A7449"},"association":{"text":"theatre designers","id":"AAT25681"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour and gouache on paper","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":["2011ET5736","2011FD4224"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES356666"},"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":"ca. 1952","earliest":"1947-01-01","latest":"1956-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the British Council","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"39","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"48","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Set design by Motley (Elizabeth Montgomery, Sophia Harris and Margaret Harris) for <i>Coriolanus</i>, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, opening 13 March 1952","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.2371-1986"],"accessionNumberNum":"2371","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1986,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2011-05-12","availableToBook":true}}