British Stage Designer Sally Jacobs Dies at 87

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that British stage designer Sally Jacobs has died at age 87.

Jacobs made her Royal Opera debut in 1984 creating set and costume designs for Turandot, directed by Andrei Serban. She has since returned to The Royal Opera to work on Fidelio, also directed by Serban, and for Last Tango on the North Circular (designs and direction), performed at The Donmar Warehouse as part of the Royal Opera House Garden Venture.

Jacobs was born in 1932 and studied at the Central School of Art and Design in London. She is best known for her designs for productions by Peter Brook, including Theatre of Cruelty, The Screens, Marat/Sade, U.S., A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra and The Conference of the Birds. From 1967 to 1982 she lived in the USA, working as a designer and director for theatre and opera companies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and New York. She has taught stage design across the USA and in London, including at the Slade School of Fine Art.

Her other opera credits include designs for Die Fledermaus (Paris Opéra) and Die Soldaten and Eugene Onegin (English National Opera). She co-directed and designed The Dancing Room, which was also filmed by the BBC.