Maria Björnson was an acclaimed theatre stage designer, born in Paris to Norwegian and Romanian parents.

Björnson worked for many theatres around the world, designing sets and costumes both for straight drama and for opera. Some of her more notable commissions were for 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...

, Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

's The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...

, which won her the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee composed of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

, and the Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn

Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...

 production of Aspects of Love

Aspects of Love

Aspects of Love is a musical/chamber opera with a book and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart. It is famous for the song "Love Changes Everything."...

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Björnson also worked as a tutor at Central St Martins College Of Art & Design. She was course director for "Theatre Design".

In 2006, the refurbished Young Vic opened a new theatre named The Maria in recognition of the designers achievements and remarkable commitment to developing and enhancing the careers of younger theatre practitioners. The first performance in The Maria was Love and Money by Dennis Kelly

Dennis Kelly

Dennis Kelly is a London-based writer for both the theatre and television. Oberon plays have published a volume of Dennis Kelly Plays; Debris, After the End, Osama the Hero and Love and Money...

, directed by Matthew Dunster and designed by Anna Fleischle.

Her great-grandfather was the Nobel prize-winning Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...

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