{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O168612"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O168612/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011ET6683/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011ET6683/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011ET6683","copyright":"©The Estate of Sean Kenny/© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BW2640","copyright":"©The Estate of Sean Kenny/© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O168612","accessionNumber":"S.855-1981","objectType":"Set design","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Sean Kenny (1932-1973) trained as an architect, studying first in Dublin, then in America under Frank Lloyd Wright. He assisted Wright in the creation of the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum's spiral design, with its interconnecting rooms and interior views of different levels, had a great influence on his work in the theatre. Kenny had no interest in creating painted scenery for a picture frame stage. He became famous for his solid three-dimensional settings which incorporated separate acting areas and allowed the action to flow from one location to another, unbroken by long pauses for scene changes.  \r\n\r\nKenny's theatre career began in 1957 when he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. His first designs were for Sean O'Casey's  <i>The Shadow of a Gunman</i>. His next production was Brendan Behan's <i>The Hostage</i> (1958). The play takes place in a ramshackle Dublin lodging house where a young British soldier is held hostage by the Irish Republican Army. Kenny's settings simultaneously suggested the exterior and interior of the decayed building, with platforms and stairs creating the interiors and doors, windows and walls leaning at exaggerated angles. His success at Stratford East led to his commission to design Lionel Bart's musical <i>Oliver!</i> at the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) in 1960. The structural set with its practicable houses, stairways, and bridges, was a triumph and established Kenny as a major, and influential, stage designer. He went on to design 32 West End productions in the next ten years.","physicalDescription":"Design showing a stage set consisting of a raised platform reached from stage level by three steps, with a second staircase leading off left to a 'bridge'. On three sides of the platform are interior walls with doors, all at exaggerated angles. Beyond, a backdrop of the upper storeys of houses and to left an exterior wall with a sign of a hotel.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Kenny, Sean","id":"A22667"},"association":{"text":"set designer","id":"x33230"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Kenny, Sean","id":"A22667"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"felt tip pen","id":"x32044"},{"text":"crayon","id":"x30605"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing (image-making)","id":"AAT54196"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Felt pen and crayon on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2011ET6683","2008BW2640"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES356667"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"set design","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1958","earliest":"1958-01-01","latest":"1958-12-31"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the British Council","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"35.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"unmounted","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'THE HOSTAGE'","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"}],"objectHistory":"Set design by Sean Kenny for Brendan Behan's play <i>The Hostage</i>, directed by Joan Littlewood, Theatre Royal, Stratford East, 1958. This was Behan's second stage play. Originally written in the Irish language, Behan translated it into English for this production.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Set design by Sean Kenny for Brendan Behan's play <i>The Hostage</i>, directed by Joan Littlewood, Theatre Royal, Stratford East, 1958","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"4\r\nSet design for The Hostage\r\n1958\n\r\nSean Kenny trained as an architect and his stage\r\nsettings have an architectural solidity. The Hostage uses\r\na permanent set which simultaneously suggests both\r\nthe inside and outside of the ramshackle Dublin\r\nlodging house in which a British soldier is imprisoned.\r\nThe different levels create separate acting areas and\r\nenable the action to proceed without interruptions for\r\nscene changes.\n\r\nPlay by Brendan Behan, 1958\r\nTheatre Royal, Stratford East, London\n\r\nFelt pen and crayon on paper\r\nDesigned and painted by Sean Kenny (1932-73)\r\nGiven by the British Council\r\nMuseum no. S.855–1981\n","date":{"text":"March 2009 - September 2013","earliest":"2009-03-01","latest":"2013-09-30"}}],"partNumbers":["S.855-1981"],"accessionNumberNum":"855","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1981,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN9356","2019LR3052","2019LV0947","2019LW0773"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-18","recordCreationDate":"2008-10-03","availableToBook":true}}