The Role of the Theatre Designer

The Role of the Theatre Designer webpage resources are the result of a collaboration between theatre designer Sophie Jump and the National Theatre. The webpages are aimed at design students but accessible to the general public and those with a general interest in backstage theatre.

The webpage resources, described as an ‘online exhibit’ focus on case studies of iconic National Theatre designers Jocelyn Herbert (The Oresteia 1981), William Dudley (The Mysteries 1977-1999) and Rae Smith (War Horse 2007 to present).

The webpages themselves are full of useful information about the role of a designer and how designers work with other creatives. They are clearly aimed at design students but I can also see them being useful for A level Theatre Studies candidates, or those studying Classical Civilisation at A Level. I found the section on Jocelyn Herbert particularly fascinating and it reminded me of an extended essay I wrote myself for A level which focused on Greek drama and for which this would have been ideal!

What's great about the webpages is the source materials: there are plenty of photos, designer's notes, programmes and video footage. Most of the photos are black and white (except for the War Horse ones) which really gives the feeling that you are poring through archive material which I think is the aim of this ‘online exhibit’. It does feel a little like a museum – in a good way!

It's a great idea to shine a light on backstage careers and what's involved as I do feel that there's always a been a tendency for young people only to think about onstage performance careers. The information on these pages will help both GCSE and A Level drama students, although probably more useful for the higher level exams or higher achieving students as I found the text content quite academic. The images however, are great and give a brilliant insight into the rehearsal process which, as a teacher, I felt that students didn't always understand the depth of – that it's more than just time to learn your lines. It's a website that could be used to enhance a teacher's presentation, given out for exploration by students at home or used for more independent study to complement someone working i a backstage role for an assessment.