Johan Engels

ENGELS, Johan. (19*-) Designer. ** Studied Fine Arts and Design at the University of Pretoria. In 1971, during his time as army conscript, he worked in the SA Police archives and designed sets and costumes for the Suid-Afrikaanse Polisie Toneelgeselskap. After finishing his studies he worked extensively from 1975 - 1980 in opera, ballet and theatre including designs for PACT and the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. Whilst working for PACT Johan designed many classical ballets, and plays and musicals such as ****. In 1980 he took a sabbatical year, doing four terms as observer at the Deutsche Oper , Berlin; Glyndebourne Festival, England; Bayreuth Festspiele, Germany; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. 1981 he settled in the UK to build an international reputation, staying there till 1986, when he returned to South Africa for three years and worked on several productions at The Market Theatre with Janice Honeyman, Robert Whitehead and Janet Suzman (shows include ***) In 1987 he returned to the UK, working internationally. However he still on occasion returned to the country to do designs for his friends, including Janet Suzman’s productions of Othello (the Market Theatre, 1987) and The Cherry Orchard: Free State (1997), and Janice Honeyman’s productions of Die Fledermaus (2004), Showboat (2005), and The Boys in the Photograph (2010), ***. *** (Tucker, 1997)

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