Theatre Directors Hand-Pick Stage Design Stars Of The Future

Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design Announces Finalists

17 August 2005, London: The 12 finalists for the 2005 Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design were announced today following a selection process at the National Theatre judged by four artistic directors from leading UK theatre companies.

The selected finalists [listed below] will spend the next three months working in close collaboration with the four artistic directors and their production companies. Three finalists will work with each theatre company on designs and models for forthcoming productions.

The participating theatre companies for 2005 are:

The finalists will display their designs at the Linbury Biennial Exhibition at the National Theatre from 12 November – 10 December, which will be visited by key figures from the theatre industry, allowing finalists to develop contacts and generate future commissions.

At the exhibition, four winners will be selected to have their designs made into productions and the overall Linbury Biennial winner will be announced. The winning designers will share around £50,000 in prize money, design commissions and production sponsorship.

The Linbury Biennial, founded in 1987 by Lady Anya Sainsbury, is the only prize of its kind and gives recently graduated stage designers an unparalleled opportunity to work with professional theatre companies, collaborate with writers, directors and technical teams at a crucial stage in their careers.

Thea Sharrock, Artistic Director, The Gate said: “The Gate has a long-standing reputation for excellence and imagination in stage design over its 26 year history. Working with a Linbury designer allows the Gate to do what it does best: take risks through supporting young talent.”

The 12 finalists for 2005 are:

Company Name Nationality Studied at
Bristol Old Vic James Cotterill British Motley Theatre Design Course
  Christopher Giles British Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
  Ellie Halls Schiadas British Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Nottingham Playhouse Phil Brunner British Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
  Wai Yin Kwok Portuguese/Chinese Rose Bruford College
  Jung Eun Yoo Korean Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Random Dance Patrick Burnier Swiss Motley Theatre Design Course
  Katherina Radeva Bulgarian Wimbledon School of Art
  Tom Rogers British Motley Theatre Design Course
The Gate Hannah Clark British Central School of Speech and Drama
  Carl Davies British Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
  Sibylle Wallum German Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

About the Commissioning Companies

This year’s participating companies include some of the most innovative and exciting theatre and dance organisations in the UK. The diverse range of productions Linbury finalists will be working on present a unique set of challenges that will further their skills in every area of stage design and beyond.

Bristol Old Vic

Linbury Biennial finalists will be creating designs for Not the End of the World, adapted by artistic director Simon Reade from the novel by Geraldine McCaughrean, winner of the Whitbread Children’s Book Award in 2004. It will be staged in the autumn of 2006 and tells the story of Noah’s Ark from the point of view of the women, children and animals on board, addressing questions of how we co-exist with those who might share our humanity but not our beliefs. Bristol Old Vic’s home within a Georgian theatre dating from 1766 adds to the demand for imaginative and innovative design.
www.bristol-old-vic.co.uk

The Gate

Linbury finalists will be asked to design for The Emperor Jones by Eugene O’Neill. A highly political play about power, greed and race, The Emperor Jones provides an exciting opportunity for the three designers to address the expressionistic style of the play as well as take on the challenges of The Gate’s confined space. Richard Hudson, the acclaimed designer, will be designing a production of The Emperor Jones at The Gate in November this year. The winning Linbury finalist will design The Gate’s biannual Translation Award to be staged in the summer of 2006, directed by Thea Sharrock.
www.gatetheatre.co.uk

Nottingham Playhouse

Linbury finalists will be tasked with developing designs and models for a new stage adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque. Adapted for the stage by Robin Kingsland and directed by Giles Croft, the play and the theatre space demand bold interpretation of the text and confidence on the part of the designers in describing First World War trenches within a 1960s building.
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

Random Dance

Resident company at Sadler’s Wells, Random Dance has become a creative frontrunner on the British and international dance scene, renowned the world over for its extraordinary innovations in dance. Working in collaboration with Artistic Director Wayne McGregor and Lighting Designer Lucy Carter, the three Linibury finalists will produce designs for Origin, a new professional full-length dance work for young people that will build on the success of previous shows for children by McGregor. The work will focus on giving young people the opportunity to engage with high quality, multi-disciplinary, nonliteral dance for which Random has gained an international reputation, and as a result will enable young people to access curricular subjects through the creativity of dance.
www.randomdance.org.uk

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Further Information

A dedicated online media resource supports the 2005 Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design. It contains full information about the Linbury Biennial and the competition. All press releases are made available on the site along with high-resolution pictures for download. View the site at: www.kallaway.co.uk/linbury.htm

High-resolution Pictures

Pictures of the selection day, the 12 finalists and the four artistic directors are available on our website. Set designs and commissioning company productions from the 2003 Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design can also be downloaded for your use. View and download images: www.kallaway.co.uk/linbury_picture_library.htm

Linbury Biennial Press And Competition Information

Anna Cusden (media) anna.cusden@kallaway.co.uk 020 7221 7883
David Nagle (competition) david.nagle@kallaway.co.uk 020 7221 7883

Notes To Editors

The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design was founded by Anya Sainsbury in 1987. The prize is open to recent graduates from theatre design courses across the country, many of whom are originally from outside the UK. Twelve finalists get the chance to work with four professional performing arts production companies and exhibit their work at the National Theatre. Four of the 12 win a commission to realise their designs with the commissioning companies and one student is awarded the overall winner's title. The Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design is sponsored by the Linbury Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts.

Lady Anya Sainsbury CBE, Chair of the Linbury Biennial Committee.
After a distinguished career as Anya Linden with the Royal Ballet Company from 1951 to 1965, becoming a ballerina in 1958, she retired from the company and went on to study stage design at the Slade School of Art. She married John Sainsbury in 1963 and has continued to be actively involved in the Royal Ballet School and the Rambert School, both as a teacher and on their governing bodies.

About the Linbury Trust
The Linbury Trust is a charitable trust; it was established by Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG, and his wife Anya, Lady Sainsbury, CBE. The trustees of the Linbury Trust make grants to organisations and towards causes across a broad range of categories, including the Arts and Art Education, Social Welfare, Drug Abuse, Education, Environment and Heritage, Older People, Medical, and Developing Countries. Trustees give priority to causes in which they have a particular interest and where they have particular knowledge and experience, as exemplified by their support for the Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design.