{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1222352"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1222352/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FD7630/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011FD7630/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011FD7630","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1222352","accessionNumber":"S.2416-1986","objectType":"Set design","titles":[{"title":"Pericles","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Set design by Loudon Sainthill for Shakespeare's play<i> Pericles</i>, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1958.\n\nStratford's 1958 <i>Pericles</i> was a spectacular affair. Directed by Tony Richardson (1928–1991), it had a cast of 39, led by Richard Johnson as Pericles and Geraldine McEwan as his daughter, Marina. The design, inspired by Greece and Byzantium, was by Tasmanian-born artist Loudon  Sainthill (1918–1969). Sainthill came to England in 1949. He had designed for the stage in Australia but it was in Britain that his theatrical career developed and  flourished. His lavish sets and costumes for Michael Benthall’s 1951 production of <i>The Tempest</i>  at Stratford established him as a leading designer and he became  associated with a flamboyant and fantastical style, though he could also create a convincing everyday reality, as demonstrated by his interiors for the film version of John Osborne’s <i>Look Back in Anger</i> (1959).\r\n\r\nRichardson wanted to give unity to the play’s wide-ranging action by imagining it as a shipman’s tale brought to life. Edric Connor, the first black actor to appear at Stratford, played the narrator, Gower, as a sailor who related Pericles’s adventures to his fellow shipmates. The action took place within a permanent setting in the form of a ship. The V&A Theatre and Performance Department also holds Sainthill’s initial design for the set (S.2414-1986) as well as this, the final design, in which the ship has become more stylised, making more space for the actors.\n\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Sainthill, Loudon","id":"A12971"},"association":{"text":"theatre designers","id":"AAT25681"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Shakespeare","id":"THES253244"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2011FD7630"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES356662"},"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. 1958","earliest":"1953-01-01","latest":"1962-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the British Council","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Set design by Loudon Sainthill for Shakespeare's play <i>Pericles</i>, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 8 July 1958","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.2416-1986"],"accessionNumberNum":"2416","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1986,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-07","recordCreationDate":"2011-05-12","availableToBook":true}}