MOTLEY THEATRE DESIGN COURSE

 67 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5SP
Telephone: 020 7379 4050
Fax: 020 7240 9735
Email: info@motleytheatredesign.co.uk
Website: http://www.motleytheatredesign.co.uk

Course Title: Motley Theatre Design Course (10 x 1 yr, full time) - no qualification given
Validating Body: Independent
Hours per week: varies: can be intense
Places: 11
Entry requirements: Interview and portfolio.
All students are post-graduates but no degree or diploma is required.
Minimum age: 21
Closing Date: April 30 (applications only considered after 1 January)
Administrator: Catrin Martin
Course Leader: Alison Chitty

Course Description:
The Course
This is an intensive one year course from September to July with breaks at Christmas and Easter. The course caters for students of postgraduate level who wish to specialise in theatre design. The majority of successful applicants will have an art school, academic or theatre background. We are always interested in applicants from other disciplines but they must be able to express themselves visually. We look of course for talent, but also take great account of temperament and attitude and an ability to work independently and as a member of the group.
The course has been recognised nationally and internationally for the quality of its graduates. The teaching is based on a philosophy of respect for the text and the performer and a belief in the integrity of the performance and design. Students are encouraged to develop skills which combine practicality and imagination. Over the years the Motley Theatre Design Course has provided the theatre, film and television industries with many talented designers and technicians. The instructors on the course are all practising professionals.

The Training
Work on the Course is project based. Five or six projects are covered each year, four or five of which are plays and one is always an opera. Every project is lead by a different professional director and focuses on the development and presentation of designs for scenery and costumes.
Students are encouraged not to accept the easy and conventional solution but through rigorous research develop their own interpretation. At the end of each project an experienced professional is invited to review the work. Each student presents their model and costume drawings to the group, the project director and the regular staff, which gives plenty of opportunity for informal discussion and assessment. Parallel with the major projects are regular classes in:

There are additional short intensive courses on textile printing and dyeing, scenic painting, lighting and mask making, Informal discussion on regular theatre and exhibition visits forms an important part of the programme. One session a week provides a further practical introduction to working in the profession; The Horse's Mouth is a forum for discussion with a wide range of theatre and theatre-related professionals from performers to accountants, production managers to costume supervisors, agents to union representatives. Towards the end of the course it is intended that each student will be given the opportunity to design a small production in collaboration with a drama or opera school, TiE or fringe company.

Application and Fees
A maximum of twelve students is selected annually by interview and portfolio. Applicants whose previous experience has not included theatre work may be asked to prepare a special project. We welcome applicants from abroad given adequate notice. The fees are £4,000 for the year with a registration fee of £150 payable on acceptance of a place on the course.

The History
The Theatre Design Course was formerly known as the Sadler's Wells Design Course and the Theatre Design Course of the English National Opera. Throughout these changes of name and place the ideas and training have remained basically the same.
In 1966 Stephen Arlen then Managing Director of Sadler's Wells Opera and Margaret Harris, at that time resident designer of the Company, launched the Design Course based on the approach to design of the Old Vic School where they had both worked under the direction of Michel St. Denis, Glen Byam Shaw and George Devine. The Course started in a small room in a house near Sadler's Wells Theatre with eight students all of whom have made a name in the theatre.
In 1969 the Opera Company moved to the London Coliseum leaving space at the top of Sadler's Wells Theatre. This was taken over by the Design Course and it ran there for a further two years. In 1971 came the move to Camperdown House where it remained under the name and sponsorship of the English National Opera until 1981 when the sponsorship was withdrawn.
In September 1981 the Course moved to Riverside Studios, then under the direction of David Gothard. This move was a most advantageous one as the aims and training were very much in line with the Riverside policies and through which the Course developed further ideas and flexibility. When this period came to an end the Course, after some time at the Almeida Theatre and the National Theatre Studio, became the Motley Theatre Design Course and moved to a warehouse in Covent Garden, where Alison Chitty joined Margaret Harris and Hayden Griffin as co-director. In 1994 the Course occupied its present excellent premises in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.