{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1605051"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1605051/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HJ5398/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2015HJ5398/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2015HJ5398","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1605051","accessionNumber":"S.241-2021","objectType":"Set design","titles":[{"title":"The Tempest","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Set design by Leslie Hurry for Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest</i>, produced by Oliver Neville for the Old Vic Theatre, London, 1962.\r\n\nLeslie 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 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 Preserv'd</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.\n\nThis production of <i>The Tempest</i> opened on 29 May 1962. <i>The Tatler</i> complained that Hurry's set for <i>The Tempest</i> was deliberately hideous: \"it is meant to be ironical, a mockery of the enchanted isle idea.\" Phillip Hope-Wallace in <i>The Guardian</i> 30 May 1962 described it as a dull \"dun-coloured foreshaw.\"\r\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"Set design by Leslie Hurry in ink, watercolour and crayon on paper. The design is for Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest,</i> produced by Oliver Neville for the Old Vic Theatre, London, 1962. Stylized rocks to each side and central sun above the horizon, with a foreground of curving and interlocking shapes.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Hurry, Leslie","id":"A9404"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25681"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Old Vic Theatre (London, England)","id":"AUTH318659"},"association":{"text":"producer","id":"AAT197742"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"text":"crayon","id":"x30605"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"},{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Ink, watercolour and crayon on paper ","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre","id":"THES250537"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2015HJ5398"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"009","id":"THES356600"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"design","id":"AAT102051"}],[{"text":"set design","id":"THES284798"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1962","earliest":"1962-01-01","latest":"1962-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Leslie Hurry 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":"Lower right hand corner, black ink"},{"content":"'The Tempest'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Lower left hand corner, black ink"},{"content":"'[?] for 'Tempest' Old Vic - Alastair Sim / 'Prospero' /H / Tempest / 3 / Semi abstract sun etc V / 6HT23'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On reverse in pencil and black and purple ink, in Hurry's and other hands"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Set design by Leslie Hurry for Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest,</i> produced by Oliver Neville for the Old Vic Theatre, London, 1962","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["The Tempest"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.241-2021"],"accessionNumberNum":"241","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2021,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-19","recordCreationDate":"2021-04-13","availableToBook":true}}