Barry Kay (1932 – 1985) was an Australian stage and

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...

of international renown. After having studied painting at the Académie Julian in Paris and theatre design in Melbourne, he settled in London in 1956. In the course of his career, lasting almost four decades, he designed for the ballet, opera and theatre alike, working with established directors and choreographers at major theatres and opera houses and their companies worldwide. Kay's emphasis 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 Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, an ...

in the early part of the 20th century. Among others, he designed for the choreographers

Walter Gore Walter Gore (8 October 1910 – 16 April 1979) was a British ballet dancer, company director and choreographer. Early life Walter Gore was born in Waterside, East Ayrshire Scotland in 1910 into a theatrical family. From 1924, he studied a ...

Peter Darrell Peter Darrell (''né'' Skinner; 16 September 1929 – 2 December 1987) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Scottish Ballet. For almost four decades Darrell was one of the most productive and imaginative talents in Br ...

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

and

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

, as well as for ballet companies such as Western Theatre Ballet (now

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

, the Ballet of the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the D ...

,Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German Reunification, the ballet companies of both the 'Deutsche Oper' (formerly West Berlin) and the 'Staatsoper' (formerly East Berlin) have merged on 1 January 2004, operating at both opera houses under the new name of ' Staatsballett Berlin', the Stuttgart Ballet, the

Vienna State Opera Ballet Vienna State Ballet, ''Wiener Staatsballett'', is considered one of the world's top ballet companies. It was formerly named the Vienna State Opera Ballet as it is based at the Vienna State Opera building. In 2005 the ballets of the Vienna State ...

, Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris and American Ballet Theatre. Some of the drama and opera directors for whom he worked included

Margaret Webster Margaret Webster (March 15, 1905 – November 13, 1972) was an American-British theater actress, producer and director. Critic George Jean Nathan described her as "the best director of the plays of Shakespeare that we have." Life and care ...

Colin Graham Colin Graham OBE (22 September 1931 in Hove, England – 6 April 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a stage director of opera, theatre, and television. Graham was educated at Northaw School (Hertfordshire), Stowe School and RADA. Early in his ...

, John Copley, Peter Dews and Rudolf Hartmann - with productions staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

, London; Sadler's Wells Opera Company (since 1974

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) 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. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

), Sadler's Wells Theatre, London; The Royal Opera at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) 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. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, 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. His photo essay ''As a Woman'', published in 1976, is an extensive portrait of the unique transvestite and transsexual community of Sydney, Australia. 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 Australian Performing Arts Collection,

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...

;

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Theatre Collections, London;

Collections, London;

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, Canberra;

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

, Canberra; State Library of New South Wales, Mitchell Library, Sydney; Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek,

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...

;

Österreichisches Theatermuseum The Theatermuseum is a federal museum of national theatre history. Since 1991 it is situated in the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna. History The museum has its origins in the theatre-related collections of the Austrian National Library, dating back t ...

, Vienna;

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

, 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 by the National Library of Australia in its PANDORA web archive.

Honours

Live Performance Australia, the premiere body for Australia's live entertainment and performing arts, posthumously selected Kay as one of eighty theatre artists awarded a place in its newly established virtual Hall of Fame. Launched on 30 November 2007, Live Performance pays tribute to a collection of people on the occasion of its 90th anniversary.

References

External links

Barry Kay Archive
- Online publication of Kay's works and itemized biography

- Kay's pursuit of constructed sets for the theatre

- Hall of Fame biography

- Photo essay by Kay {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Barry Australian scenic designers Ballet designers Australian costume designers Australian photographers 1932 births 1985 deaths People from Melbourne People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) Académie Julian alumni