Martin Morley

Designs for Theatre and Television

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Biography

I trained at Wimbledon School of Art (1963-1966). My first job was as a design assistant at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. While there, I designed three productions, including ‘Juno and the Paycock’ and ‘The Ha-Ha’.

From 1969-72 I was first assistant designer and then head of design at the Liverpool Playhouse, designing a wide range of plays from Shakespeare to Bond. There followed a lengthy period as resident designer for Cwmni Theatr Cymru (1973-84). With them I learnt the skills of designing touring productions for a wide range venues. The repertoire was mainly Welsh and ranged from contemporary writing to translations of European classics. It was a very stimulating period.

In 1984 I went freelance and also branched out into TV design which now dominates my output – notably ‘Hedd Wyn’ (BAFTA Cymru 1993 with Jane Roberts for Best Design) and a string of drama series for S4C. During this period I also designed several productions for Theatr Gwynedd, Bangor, including ‘Pwy Sy'n Sal ‘ (a Molière double bill) directed by Graham Laker and Firenza Guidi (exhibited in Time+Space), and ‘Dyn Hysbys’ (‘Faith Healer’) by Brian Friel directed by Sian Summers, (exhibited in Time+Space and the 1999 Prague Quadrennial), and in 1999, ‘Amadeus’ directed by Graham Laker. This was exhibited in the 2D>3D exhibition in Sheffield.

‘Hen Rebel ‘ was my first production for the Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, produced in 2005, (exhibited in Collaborators), followed in 2007 by ‘Cysgod y Cryman’ , both directed by Cefin Roberts.

My most recent design was for ‘Llyfr Mawr y Plant’  produced by Theatr Bara Caws and Theatr Gwynedd. The director was  Tony Llewelyn. It was the final production to be mounted at Theatr Gwynedd in 2008.

Exhibitions

Society of British Theatre Designers  (SBTD) group exhibitions

Designing Stages / Cyllunio Llwyfannau

At Galeri, Caernarfon 16 01 09 - 28 02 09

Model for ‘Y Twr’ by Gwenlyn Parry

Director David Lyn

Theatr Cymru 1978

Part of Designing Stages / Cyllunio Llwyfannau