Patrick Robertson and Rosemary Vercoe

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Born to an Anglo-Irish father, Robertson was a night-time navigator during the Second World War and went on to study architecture at Cambridge, where his involvement with student theatrical productions introduced him to theatre design.

In 1950 he moved to Bristol and began working as a scene painter at the Old Vic Theatre, for a while living in the same house as Peter O'Toole. He became resident designer at the Old Vic, developing a signature style of sparse, economic sets which allowed key details to stand out. Some notable productions from this period include Much Ado About Nothing (1954) and The Crucible (1954). During this period the British designer Rosemary Vercoe was also working at the Old Vic as a scenery and costume designer. They eventually married after the breakdown of Robertson's first marriage.

Rosemary Vercoe worked as a theatre designer, predominantly working in costume design. Prior to her time in Bristol she had worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1940s as costume designer for productions such as The Taming of the Shrew and as a some-time performer.

The couple moved to Nottingham, where they both started working at the Playhouse Theatre. Here they were first introduced to Jonathan Miller, beginning a series of collaborations which would run to over 20 productions, including King Lear (1969), Danton's Death (1971), The School for Scandal (1972), The Cunning Little Vixen (1975) and The Turn of the Screw (1979).

Robertson and Vercoe relocated to London with their family and worked together on such productions as A Streetcar Named Desire, The Doctor's Dilemma and The Three Sisters .

Perhaps their best known collaboration was for the English National Opera's landmark 1982 production of Verdi's Rigoletto, taking inspiration from 1950s Italian-American mafia, New York tenements and Art Deco. The production has been revived a dozen times.

Robertson died in 2009.

From the guide to the Patrick Robertson and Rosemary Vercoe theatre design collection, c. 1950s-1980s, (V&A Department of Theatre and Performance)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Patrick Robertson and Rosemary Vercoe theatre design collection V & A Department of Theatre and Performance
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Beckett, Samuel., 1906-1989 person
associatedWith Britten, Benjamin., 1913-1976 person
associatedWith Büchner, Georg., 1813-1837 person
associatedWith English National Opera corporateBody
associatedWith Giuseppe, Verdi., 1813-1901 person
associatedWith James, Henry., 1843-1916 person
associatedWith Janáček, Leoš., 1854-1928 person
associatedWith Miller, Jonathan., b. 1934 person
associatedWith Robertson, Patrick person
associatedWith Shakespeare, William., 1564-1616 person
associatedWith Steinbeck, John., 1902-1968 person
associatedWith Vercoe, Rosemary person
associatedWith Wilde, Oscar., 1854-1900 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Set designers
Occupation
Activity

Person

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