Linbury Prize 2015 finalist to stage design A Winter's Tale in Ukraine
Minglu Wang chosen to stage design Les Kurbas Theatre’s first-ever Ukrainian adaptation of Shakesepeare's The Winter’s Tale, which premiered on 27 March 2016 at Lviv’s Les Kurbas Theatre as part of Shakespeare Lives.
In March 2015, the British Council offered Ukrainian theatres an opportunity to produce a new – to Ukraine – production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, in co-operation with a UK stage designer who will be selected from the finalists of the 2015 Linbury Prize.
Eight theatres from all over Ukraine participated in the open call submission competition to find a theatre company to stage this new production. In May, a panel of Ukrainian experts reviewed the entries and selected the Lviv based Les Kurbas Theatre.
In July the Director of the future production, Levgen Khudzyk, travelled to London to meet all twenty four finalists of the Linbury Prize 2015 face to face and identify one designer whose style matches the Ukrainian director’s vision for the production.
The chosen stage designer is Minglu Wang, a Scenographer who explores body, space and performance in a bold, ritual way. She trained in scenography at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, with a background of theatre, film and Television art designing at Communication University of China (Beijing). She has worked with designers and directors from UK and China on many productions, and her work has been featured in a number of renowned festivals, including the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2011, London Art Biennale 2015.
In October, Wang went to Lviv on a scoping visit and returned in February 2016 to be involved in the production and rehearsals process.
Les Kurbas's A Winter’s Tale premiered on 27 March (International Theatre Day) as part of British Council Ukraine’s activity for Shakespeare Lives, a global programme of events and activities celebrating Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. To find out more about Les Kurbas's A Winter’s Tale visit the British Council Ukraine website.
The Lindbury Prize for Stage Design brings together the best of emerging designers with professional theatre, dance and opera companies. The winners of competition receive a cash prize together with a professional commission to design a production for a major company. Companies that have collaborated with the Prize in recent years include Birmingham Opera, Headlong, National Theatre of Scotland, Lyric Hammersmith and Scottish Dance Theatre.
Minglu Wang explains how to design a theatre stage set in her interview for British Council Voice.
Watch and listen to Shakespeare related programmes on the BBC Shakespeare Lives minisite.
