The Linbury Prize for Stage Design Exhibition Opens at the National Theatre

The 2023 Linbury Prize for Stage Design Exhibition is now open at The National Theatre, showcasing the next generation of exciting theatre designers from across the UK. 

The free exhibition displays the innovative work of twelve emerging designers who have been selected as recipients of the 2023 Linbury Prize, featuring exhibits including model boxes, costumes, life-sized puppetry, sketches, digital stage designs and production photography. 

The Linbury Prize is the nationwide prize for stage design in the UK, supporting designers to develop a sustainable career in the creative industry. The construction of the exhibition is created from 90% recycled materials. This exhibition is an opportunity for designers to showcase their work before the public and industry professionals. 

As part of the prize, the twelve recipients are also awarded a bursary prize of £5,000 and a design placement with an established industry designer or producing organisation, gaining first-hand experience of the production process. Previous recipients of the Linbury Prize include Es Devlin, Peter Butler, Cat Fuller and Rose Revitt. 

This year’s recipients of the award and exhibiting as part of the exhibition are Ania Levy (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), Bethan Wall (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), Biz Sutton (Edinburgh College of Art), Finlay Jenner (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), Jodie Jew Yates (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), Nitin Parmar (London College of Fashion UAL), Ola Kłos(Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), Peiyao Wang (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama), Tallulah Caskey (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), Tiffany Fraser Steele (London College of Fashion UAL), Yijing Chen (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) and Yimei Zhao (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama).  

Kate Varah, Executive Director of The National Theatre, said “We are delighted that The Linbury Prize for Stage Design Exhibition opens at The National Theatre for free this week, showcasing the next generation of theatre designers from across the UK. As the creative industries continue to grow faster than any other sector in the wider economy, it is vital that we are all doing our part to open pathways into the industry and welcome everyone's unique experiences, talents and skills to this sector. We hope everyone who visits this exhibition will be inspired by the brilliant creations and we can’t wait to see what these talented designers do next!”

The exhibition opening also coincides with this year’s Discover! Creative Careers Week, an industry-wide initiative to inspire and inform young people about careers in the creative sector. The National Theatre aims to work at scale to inspire creativity in young people across the UK, opening awareness of career pathways and access to training opportunities. 

Current opportunities for young people to take part in include the Nationwide Young Technicians Programme, the How to be a Producer course and In Focus: theatre-making workshops. These free courses and workshops offer young people the opportunity to develop practical skills and learn about the variety of careers that exist within theatre. 

The 2023 Linbury Prize for Stage Design exhibition is free to visit in the Lyttelton Lounge at the NT and Will Close on 30 March 2024. 

For more information about current training opportunities for young people, please visit the National Theatre’s website.

The Linbury Prize exhibition will also be available to explore virtually from Friday 17 November via the Linbury website. The digital exhibition will include images of the work on display, information about the recipients and associated audio descriptions.

Main Photo: Designs by Biz Sutton (c) Ian Tillotson 

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