{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O124281"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O124281/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL9909/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL9909/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BL9909","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O124281/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O124281","accessionNumber":"S.77-2006","objectType":"Set design","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Great Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, Oliver Messel (1904-1978) won international acclaim for his lavish, painterly and poetic designs informed by period styles.  His work spans ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue. Messel’s traditional style of theatre design became unfashionable from the mid 1950s onwards, and he increasingly concentrated on painting, interior and textile design, including designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.\r\n\r\nChristopher Fry’s verse play <i>The Dark is Light Enough</i> (1954) is set in the Countess Rosmarin Ostenburg’s country house at the time of the Hungarian rebellion against the Austrians, 1848-1850.  The dying Countess with pacifist principles selflessly harbours Gettner, her former son-in-law and deserter from the Hungarian army.  The play received mixed reviews following its transference to Broadway, New York in 1955.  Critics praised the acting and sets but objected to the play’s obscure meaning.\r\n\r\nMessel's first step in stage design was to create a set story board.  The top sketch shows the Countess’s lavish drawing room, the setting for Acts I and III. The staircase on the left is a key part of the final scene, when the Countess descends the staircase majestically for the last time.   The sketch below shows the setting for Act II: Gettner hides from Hungarian soldiers in the Countess’s stables.","physicalDescription":"Set designs by Oliver Messel for  <i>The Dark is Light Enough</i>, 1954.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Messel, Oliver Hilary Sambourne","id":"A4929"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"ball point pen","id":"x33404"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pen and pencil on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2007BL9909"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES356273"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"set design","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1954","earliest":"1954-01-01","latest":"1954-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"S.201-2006","id":"O126276"},"association":"Model"}],"creditLine":"Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"55.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"mount","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"40.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"mount","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"38","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"25.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Dark is Light Enough'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Pencil inscription on the back of the mount."},{"content":"Associate Member, United Scenic Artists USA LOCAL 327 / NO.30 DESIGNER AND PAINTER OF COSTUMES / SIGNATURE","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Ink stamp on the back of the board."}],"objectHistory":"<i>The Dark is Light Enough</i> is a verse play in three acts by Christopher Fry.  Oliver Messel’s production was first produced by H. M. Tennent Productions Ltd. on 30 April 1954 at the Aldwych Theatre, London.  It was directed by Peter Brook with music by Leslie Bridgewater and featured Edith Evans as the Countess and James Donald as Gettner.  The play ran for seven months in London and then went to New York where it opened in 1955 with Katharine Cornell as the Countess and Tyrone Power as Gettner.\r\nLord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts.  The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan.  The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Set designs by Oliver Messel for Christopher Fry's play <i>The Dark is Light Enough</i>, Aldwych Theatre 1954.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pinkham, Roger (ed.) <u>Oliver Messel: an exhibition held at the Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, 22 June - 30 September 1983.</u> \r\nLondon: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.  200p., ill\r\nISBN 0905209508)"}],"production":"Reason For Production: Commission","productionType":{"text":"Design","id":"THES48872"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.77-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"77","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"TM Rotation Number","id":"THES50368"},"number":"ROT 698"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-05-24","availableToBook":true}}