Barry Kay
Encyclopedia
Barry Kay who studied arts at the Académie Julian
in Paris
, was a stage and costume designer
of international renown. In the course of his career, lasting almost four decades, he designed for the ballet
, drama
and opera
alike, working with established directors and choreographers at major theatres and opera houses and their companies worldwide. Kay's emphasis, however, lay in pioneering three-dimensional stage set designs for the ballet. By breaking away from the traditional use of "flat wings" scenery, in designing for the theatre
he expanded on the revolutionary ideas of the Russian Constructivists
and the Italian Futurists
in the early part of the 20th century.
Among others, Kay designed for the choreographers Walter Gore, Peter Darrell
, Kenneth MacMillan
and Rudolf Nureyev
, as well as for ballet companies such as Western Theatre Ballet (now Scottish Ballet
), The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet, The Ballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, The Stuttgart Ballet, the Vienna State Opera Ballet
and American Ballet Theater.
Some of the drama and opera directors for whom he worked included Margaret Webster
, Colin Graham
, John Copley
, Peter Dews
and Rudolf Hartmann - with productions staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company
at the Old Vic
, London; Sadler's Wells Opera Company (since 1974 English National Opera
), Sadler's Wells Theatre
, London; The Royal Opera
at the Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden
, London; and numerous other national and international houses.
Later in his career Kay also became a photographer of subjects with socio-anthropological contents.
Kay's artistic contributions to the performing arts
are well-represented and documented at national museums, state galleries, art libraries, theatre collections and archives globally. Public collections include: the Performing Arts Collection
, Arts Centre, Melbourne
; Victoria & Albert Museum Theatre Collections, London; Royal Opera House
Collections, London; National Gallery of Australia
, Canberra; State Library of New South Wales
, Mitchell Library, Sydney;Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Österreichisches Theatermuseum, Vienna; University of Calgary
, Library, Special Collections, Alberta, Canada; MacNay Museum, Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, San Antonio, Texas.
In November 2006, the Barry Kay Archive website was archived in the PANDORA web archive.
Frank van Straten OAM, theatre historian and founding director (1984–1993) of the Victorian Arts Centre's Performing Arts Museum in Melbourne, provided a short biography on each artist, constituting the cornerstone of the Hall of Fame. (In 1993 the Victorian Arts Centre was renamed the Arts Centre, Melbourne.)
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, was a stage and costume designer
Costume Designer
A costume designer or costume mistress/master is a person whose responsibility is to design costumes for a film or stage production. He or she is considered an important part of the "production team", working alongside the director, scenic and lighting designers as well as the sound designer. The...
of international renown. In the course of his career, lasting almost four decades, he designed for the ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
alike, working with established directors and choreographers at major theatres and opera houses and their companies worldwide. Kay's emphasis, however, lay in pioneering three-dimensional stage set designs for the ballet. By breaking away from the traditional use of "flat wings" scenery, in designing for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
he expanded on the revolutionary ideas of the Russian Constructivists
Constructivism (art)
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...
and the Italian Futurists
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
in the early part of the 20th century.
Among others, Kay designed for the choreographers Walter Gore, Peter Darrell
Peter Darrell
Peter Darrell CBE, a ballet choreographer, dancer and founder of the Scottish Ballet, was born Peter Skinner at Richmond, Surrey, on 16 September 1929 and died in Glasgow on 2 December 1987. For almost four decades he had been one of the most productive and imaginative talents in British ballet...
, Kenneth MacMillan
Kenneth MacMillan
Sir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977.-Early years:...
and Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
, as well as for ballet companies such as Western Theatre Ballet (now Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the four leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet...
), The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet, The Ballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, The Stuttgart Ballet, the Vienna State Opera Ballet
Vienna State Opera Ballet
The Vienna State Opera Ballet, like the opera company, is based at the Vienna State Opera House in Vienna, Austria. The original building was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945....
and American Ballet Theater.
Some of the drama and opera directors for whom he worked included Margaret Webster
Margaret Webster
Margaret Webster was an American-born theater actress, producer and director. Through her parents, she held dual US/UK citizenship.-Career:...
, Colin Graham
Colin Graham
Colin Graham, OBE was a British-born stage director of opera, theater, and television.Graham was educated at Northaw School , Stowe School and RADA...
, John Copley
John Copley
John Michael Harold Copley is a British theatre and opera producer.He was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, son of Ernest Harold Copley and Lilian Forbes, and attended King Edward VI Five Ways. After a brief career as an actor, he became stage manager at Sadler's Wells in 1953 and resident...
, Peter Dews
Peter Dews
Peter Kenneth Dews is a British philosopher, in the fields of critical theory and continental philosophy. He made his name with the Logics of Disintegration, on the limitations of post-structuralism. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex.His first degree was in English, at...
and Rudolf Hartmann - with productions staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
, London; Sadler's Wells Opera Company (since 1974 English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
), Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, London; The Royal Opera
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, London; and numerous other national and international houses.
Later in his career Kay also became a photographer of subjects with socio-anthropological contents.
Kay's artistic contributions to the performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
are well-represented and documented at national museums, state galleries, art libraries, theatre collections and archives globally. Public collections include: the Performing Arts Collection
Performing Arts Collection
The Performing Arts Collection at the Arts Centre, Melbourne is the largest specialist performing arts collection in Australia, with over 450,000 items relating to the history of circus, dance, music, opera and theatre in Australia and of Australian performers overseas.- Highlights of the...
, Arts Centre, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
; Victoria & Albert Museum Theatre Collections, London; Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
Collections, London; National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
, Canberra; State Library of New South Wales
State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales is a large public library owned by the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Macquarie Street, Sydney near Shakespeare Place...
, Mitchell Library, Sydney;Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Österreichisches Theatermuseum, Vienna; University of Calgary
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
, Library, Special Collections, Alberta, Canada; MacNay Museum, Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, San Antonio, Texas.
In November 2006, the Barry Kay Archive website was archived in the PANDORA web archive.
Live Performance Australia awards Barry Kay a place at its Hall of Fame
Live Performance Australia, the peak body for Australia's live entertainment and performing arts industry, posthumously selected Barry Kay as one of eighty theatre artists awarded a place in its newly established virtual Hall of Fame. This Hall of Fame, launched on 30 November 2007, is Live Performance Australia's way of paying tribute to a remarkable collection of people on the occasion of celebrating its 90th anniversary.Frank van Straten OAM, theatre historian and founding director (1984–1993) of the Victorian Arts Centre's Performing Arts Museum in Melbourne, provided a short biography on each artist, constituting the cornerstone of the Hall of Fame. (In 1993 the Victorian Arts Centre was renamed the Arts Centre, Melbourne.)
External links
- Barry Kay Archive - Online publication of Barry Kay's works and itemized biography
- Breaking with Traditions in Stage Design for the Ballet - Barry Kay's pursuit of constructed sets for the theatre
- Live Performance Australia - Hall of Fame, biography about Barry Kay by Frank van StratenFrank van StratenFrank Van Straten is a notable performing arts historian, author and former director of the Performing Arts Museum.Straten was the first archivist of the Performing Arts Museum , at the Arts Centre, Melbourne, and its director from 1984 until 1993.Between 1986 and 2001 Frank researched and...
OAM - Peter Darrell - for whom Barry Kay worked extensively, and the Peter Darrell Trust