Editorial: Lucy Osborne
Dream List: what plays should we be reading, putting on and going to see?For emerging designers: read as much as possible; pick up plays in the National Theatre bookshop because you like the cover and read the first act while you’re standing there, go to the library and borrow all of the Acykbourn and Arthur Miller they have. Queue for day returns at the Royal Opera House and standing tickets at the Donmar, go and see Legally Blonde, Wicked and Billy Elliot, get out of London and see things in Sheffield, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol. Put on plays with writers and directors that challenge and excite you. Think big, and then apply it to the two sheets of plywood you can actually afford. Describe your first theatrical epiphanyOur Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker, it was an amateur production but the moment it finished I wanted to watch it all again, it completely blew me away. I was at an event with Timberlake a few months ago, but I was too nervous to approach her and tell her how crucial that experience with her play had been for me! Who would you invite to your fantasy theatrical dinner party?Tyrone Guthrie, Sir Richard Eyre, Percy Harris, Lilian Baylis, Alfred Hitchcock, Noel Coward, Elizabeth I. What are your career highlights so far?Opening Twelfth Night in Chicago, I was just so proud of that show. Getting a text message from Christopher Oram after he had seen one of my first designs, The Unthinkable by Steve Waters. It just said “You can do it”. That meant so much to me. My involvement with the Bush as a space and a group of people over the last couple of years has been incredibly rewarding and exciting. I have loved engaging with so many wonderful writers, revisiting the room of the theatre again and again and interrogating what you can do in there when you hold it up to the light of a new play. What's the strangest experience you've had in the theatre?Who is your favourite actor of all time?James Stewart and Bette Davis. Both film actors, I know. Who is the greatest influence on your career?Christopher Oram is such an inspiration, I saw all of his shows in Sheffield and the beauty and economy that he and Michael Grandage bring to their work is extraordinary. My art teachers at school would never give anyone 100% because only Rembrandt would score top marks with a piece of work. I think that something in that philosophy has stuck with me, I’m always trying to do better. David Bowie; it’s a cliché but he has spent his career reinventing himself, his love of collaboration and ability to steal like a magpie and put it alongside something that is completely original, his restless work ethic – these are all great attributes for a designer I think! Where do you want to be in 5 years time?My dream would be to design for my hometown stage, the Crucible in Sheffield. It’s a heavenly space. I’d also love to do opera. What' s the best thing you've ever seen at the theatre?In the last few months, Legally Blonde. What are you up to at the moment?I’m currently in snowy Chicago, about to go into rehearsals for Taming of the Shrew. Biography: Lucy OsborneLucy graduated from Motley Theatre Design School in 2003, having also gained a BA in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle. She is an Associate Artist at the Bush. Theatre for the Bush includes: The Whisky Taster, If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet, Wrecks, Broken Space Season, Sea Walls, 2,000 Feet Away, Tinderbox, tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ!. |
