An Outsider’s Eye: The Art of Designing for Theatre

Abstract

Part memoir, part theatre history, in this illustrated essay Joe Vaněk invites us to an inside-view on the design process. Choosing key performances of European plays (Brecht, Ibsen) adapted by Irish writers, Vaněk takes us through the thought processes and work practices that bring a play from page to stage, with descriptions and photographs to illustrate his design choices and thinking. Additionally, he offers us insights into working with Irish playwrights who examine Ireland’s relationship to Europe, for example in his designs for Frank McGuinness’s Innocence: The life of Caravaggio, and the work of Brian Friel and Hugo Hamilton. Vaněk traces his own influences, from the theatre work of the Czech designer Josef Svoboda to painters, architecture, and landscape. His reflections reveal the complexity of the role of the designer and the intricate workings of theatre practice

Keywords

• theatre design
• costume design
• irish playwrights
• brian friel
• frank mcguinness
• hugo hamilton
• gate theatre