Christopher Hampton gives third annual Jocelyn Herbert Lecture

The often under-celebrated profession of stage design takes a turn in the spotlight when renowned playwright, screenwriter and film director Christopher Hampton gives the third annual Jocelyn Herbert Lecture on Friday 11 January 2013 at London’s National Theatre.

The annual lectures were set up by University of the Arts London, which holds the Jocelyn Herbert Archive, to raise the profile and stimulate debate about the profession of stage design, and to honour Herbert (1917-2003) for her role in revolutionising the look and feel of post-war British theatre.

Acclaimed for her apparently simple and sometimes sparse designs and her use of light and shadow to create mood, Herbert is particularly remembered for her groundbreaking productions at the Royal Court Theatre, where she worked on the world premieres of scripts by Samuel Beckett, Arnold Wesker, David Storey and John Osborne.

She was a member of the Building Committee for the National Theatre on the South Bank and won renown for her use of the Olivier Theatre in collaborations with the director John Dexter and the playwright and director Tony Harrison. She worked in spaces as diverse as the New York Metropolitan Opera House, the amphitheatre at Epidaurus in Greece, and the small studio at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester.

“Jocelyn Herbert defined the look of plays that became 20th-century classics and to a large extent re-drew the relationship between the writer, the director and the designer,” said Professor Eileen Hogan, who manages the archive. “Through these lectures we want to remember an astonishingly creative and influential woman, but also uncover the role of designers today. As audiences, we tend to remember the director and the actors; designers are less visible even though their role is pivotal.”

Christopher Hampton (born in 1946) became the youngest writer to have a play performed in London’s West End in 1966. He was Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre (1968-70) and received an Academy Award nomination in 1988 for the film adaptation of his own play Dangerous Liaisons. He received another Academy Award nomination in 2007 for the adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement.

“It’s a huge honour to have Christopher Hampton give this year’s lecture,” said Professor Hogan. “He will be able to give an insight into the vital place of the designer in helping to mould and achieve a writer’s vision.”

Simplifying The Jungle by Christopher Hampton takes place on Friday 11 January at 6pm in the National Theatre’s Olivier auditorium.

Tickets are available from the National Theatre’s website.

This article originally appeared on the UAL news and events website 12 December 2012