Designer Susan Benson
Susan Benson was born in Kent, England, trained as a fine artist but as a member of a theatre family moved quickly in to theatre design. I met with Susan in Victoria in December of 2018 and she recounted her early life and training in England and her development of a robust training environment at the Stratford Festival, where she was the head of design for many years. Susan defends the idea of a theatre designer as an artist and the need of support of traditional theatre spaces to insure we train a future generation of theatre artists. You can follow along visually by finding a copy of Patricia Flood’s new book about Susan’s design career here. You can also find visual references online from Susan’s work here.
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Links
Christopher Timothy - Road Program on Benson on the Knowledge network - Guildhall School of Music and Drama
LAMDA London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts or RADA Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Sunday Times Drama Festival , Harold Hobson
National Diploma of Design in Britain
ADD
Theatre Museum Canada, Alice Through the Looking Glass by Susan Benson
The Krannert Centre for the Performing Arts
Manotti’s The Medium 1974 at the Stratford Festival starring Maureen Forrester, directed by Michael Bawtree
The Summoning of Everyman, by Charles Wilson in 1974 at Stratford Festival - search for the title
Twelfth Night, Stratford Festival, 1975 directed by David Jones
Tyrone Guthrie and Michael Langham
Maggie Smith in As You Like It at the Stratford Festival
Garth Drabinsky and Live Entertainment
The Mikado at the Stratford Festival 1982 a great archival video
The Duchess of Malfy at the Stratford Festival NYT review from 1971
The Sarducci’s in the Scene Shop at stratford festival
Caberet at the Stratford Festival 1987
As You Like It by the National Theatre of Britain 2016
The Wooden “O” of the original Globe Theatre
Two Planks and a Passion - its origins in theatre language
Robin Dunn designer for La Forza del Destino directed by John Copley
Madam Butterfly at the Canadian Opera Company designed by Susan Benson
The Golden Ass by by Randolph Peters with libretto by Roberston Davies
Taming of the Shrew at the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Maureen Forester in Iolanthe at The Stratford Festival
Midsummer’s Night Dream directed by Robin Phillips at The Stratford Festival
Cynthia MacLennan, cutter at Stratford Festival
Susan’s Portrait work is also published in a book called Portrait of an Island