Navigation menu

University set designer adds 'Evening Standard Best Play' to his portfolio

Gary McCann, an acclaimed set and production designer at the School of Drama, Film & Visual Arts (SDFVA), University of Kent, has added the 2008 Evening Standard Best Play - The Pitman Painters - to his already extensive portfolio of theatre and opera commissions.

The Pitman Painters, a co-production between Live Theatre (Newcastle) and the National Theatre (London) debuted in Newcastle in 2007. The play, which was written by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) and directed by Max Roberts (Cooking with Elvis), transferred from Newcastle to the Cottesloe Theatre at the National earlier this year, where it received considerable critical and popular acclaim. It will be remounted in the larger Lyttelton space at the National in January 2009. A new translation of the play, also featuring Gary's original designs, will open in Vienna in 2009.

Gary McCann's credits include designs for opera, theatre, television and corporate events in the UK and abroad. He has recently returned from Germany where he worked on a production of Guys and Dolls, and is currently designing Beethoven's Fidelio for Garsington Opera in summer 2009; he is also production designer on a short film, Apollo and the Continents, commissioned by the Kimbell Collection in Texas. He has worked as associate and assistant designer on projects at the Royal Opera House, The Met (New York) and for K Ballet in Tokyo.

Two of Gary's designs were recently on display at the V&A museum as part of the Collaborators Exhibition, organised by the Society of British Theatre Designers.

Gary McCann said: 'Lee Hall is an amazing writer and it has been fantastic collaborating with him. The play examines the transformative power of culture, and how art can transcend class; subjects which mean a lot to me. It's great to be involved in a production which can speak to audiences in this way, and the Evening Standard award is a terrific acknowledgement of everyone's hard work on the production.'

To see more of Gary McCann's work, including the designs for The Pitman Painters, go to: www.garymccann.com

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 3:58pm 9 December 2008