Peter Goffin F.R.S.A. (28 February 1906 - 22 March 1974), was an English set and costume designer and stage manager, known for his work with the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

Biography

Goffin was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England, the son of Willam Earl Goffin and Elizabeth Goffin, née Underwood. From 1922 to 1930 he worked as an interior decorator and mural painter locally.''Who's Who in the Theatre'', fourteenth edition (1967), p. 655, Pitman Publishing, London As a young man, he was taken on by the local repertory theatre in Plymouth as a designer, going on to

Dartington Hall Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "on ...

from 1931 to 1934 where he took over responsibility for staging, costumes and lighting of the Dance-Drama Group. In 1935 and 1936 he was resident director at the Barn Theatre,

Chesham Bois Chesham Bois (traditionally , but now more commonly ) is a village in the Chiltern Hills, in Buckinghamshire, England, adjacent to both Amersham and Chesham. History Initially a hamlet in the parish of Chesham, the manor was assessed at 1½ ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. In 1936, Goffin went to the Westminster Theatre in London, working with

Harley Granville Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

and Michael MacOwan on a range of productions, from classics such as ''

Volpone ''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perform ...

'', ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the direct ...

'' and ''

Troilus and Cressida ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...

'', to modern works including ''

Mourning Becomes Electra ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...

Heartbreak House ''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...

,'' and T. S. Eliot's ''The Family Reunion.'' In 1938 Goffin was invited by the government to supervise a course on stagecraft and to lecture on the subject. During his Dartington days, Goffin met

Bridget D'Oyly Carte Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte DBE (25 March 1908 – 2 May 1985) was head of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1948 until 1982. She was the granddaughter of the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte and the only daughter of Rupert D'Oyly Carte. Thoug ...

. She introduced him to her father, Rupert, who commissioned Goffin to redesign the

's production of ''

The Yeomen of the Guard ''The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid'', is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888 and ran for 423 performances. This was the eleventh ...

'' in 1938. Goffin's new set caused dissent among traditionalists because it did not depict the familiar backdrop of the White Tower.

Martyn Green William Martin Green (22 April 1899 – 8 February 1975), known by his stage name, Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is remembered for his performances and recordings as principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, in t ...

, the reigning principal comedian, was far from happy with his new costume, and he implied in his memoirs that it was one of the reasons why he later left the company. For Rupert and later Bridget D'Oyly Carte, he designed new sets and costumes for ''

Ruddigore ''Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse'', originally called ''Ruddygore'', is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written tog ...

'' (1948), ''

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced ...

'' (1957), ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'' (1958 – sets only, most of the celebrated

Charles Ricketts Charles de Sousy Ricketts (2 October 1866 – 7 October 1931) was a British artist, illustrator, author and printer, known for his work as a book designer and typographer and for his costume and scenery designs for plays and operas. Ricketts ...

costumes being retained), ''

The Gondoliers ''The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria'' is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances (at that time the ...

'' (1958), ''

Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

'' (1959), ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, whic ...

'' (1961), and ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'' (1961). He also created a unit set – a framework on which the sets for each opera could easily be interchanged, which, according to

Frederic Lloyd Frederic Lloyd, OBE (1 July 1918 – 27 July 1995), was an English theatre manager. Most notably, Lloyd was the General Manager of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1951 until its closure in 1982. Biography Lloyd was born into an ecclesiastica ...

, the General Manager of the D'Oyly Carte Company, "saved the management an enormous amount of expense and facilitated taking more operas to more theatres." In addition, Goffin designed a number of posters and other graphic art for the D'Oyly Carte organisation. Goffin wrote books including ''Stage Lighting'' (1938), ''The Realm of Art'' (1946), ''Stage Lighting For Amateurs'' (1947) and ''The art and science of stage management'' (1953). His ''The Realm of Art'', and his meeting

Leon MacLaren Leon MacLaren, born Leonardo da Vinci MacLaren (24 September 1910 – 24 June 1994), was a British philosopher and the founder of the School of Economic Science (SES). MacLaren was inspired by Henry George, Socrates, Dr Francis Roles, Pyotr Ous ...

, led the

School of Economic Science The School of Philosophy and Economic Science (SPES), also operating under the names the School of Philosophy and the School of Practical Philosophy and legally named the School of Economic Science (SES), is a worldwide organisation based in ...

to begin teaching philosophy; Goffin later presented their early public philosophy lectures.. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1948. He was married to Margaret Wallace Dale. Goffin died in

at the age of 68.

References

*''The Savoyard'', obituary notice, September 1974.
Books by Goffin

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goffin, Peter People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan English costume designers 1906 births 1974 deaths