Jennifer Craig

Jennifer Craig (1920-2007) was an actress, dancer, choreographer, director, costume designer and specialist in costume construction.

Biography

Born in England in 1920, she moved to South Africa at an early age. She developed a passionate interest in all forms of theatre and trained as an actor, dancer, choreographer, and costume designer in both Cape Town and London.

Her career in all forms of theatre spanned over 60 years. She began acting in plays in the Little Theatre, Cape Town in 1939. Also in Cape Town, in 1940, she and Dorothy Fairlie founded The School of Charm, teaching rhythmic health culture, interpretive dancing and mime. The school staged several dance drama productions featuring her original choreography.

She moved to England in 1947 and while training, joined the Questors Theatre as a performer, director, and costume designer.

She and her husband Peter Curtis moved to Cape Town on a permanent basis in 1952, with their son Craig Curtis, and were actively involved in amateur and professional theatre, until moving to Durban in 1960. During this period, she formed the Studio Ballet Company, which staged productions of modern contemporary dance.

In Durban, she co-founded the Durban Drama and Ballet Association. With a group of local dancers, she formed the Ballet Theatre Company, which presented very successful original modern dance productions. She also designed theatre costumes for a number of local productions. With the beginnings of the professional Performing Arts Councils, she accepted the position Head of Wardrobe and designer for the Transvaal Performing Arts Council (PACT).

In 1966, she moved to Cape Town as head of Wardrobe for the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB), responsible for the execution of costumes for opera, drama, and ballet. She designed 46 productions for the CAPAB English Drama Company, Maynardville and other theatre groups. This established her as one of the leading designers in South Africa. She also choreographed dances for theatrical productions and directed musicals for a number of theatre groups. She was a founder member of Carousel Productions, which was formed to present musicals in Cape Town, after the success of her production of Carousel.

In 1989, she moved back to England and found herself in great demand for design and costume construction, later moving to Canada to also work in the USA and Canada. Over the next twenty years she was Resident Designer and Head of Costume Construction (Head of Wardrobe) for Dallas Ballet and Ballet West. She received high praise for the design of Snow Maiden for the 1988 Olympic Cultural Festival in Calgary.

She passed away in Owen Sound, Canada in 2007

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Theatre Work 1940 to 1952: Cape Town and England

During Jennifer’s early career in Cape Town, she spent two periods in England, where she trained and joined the Questors Theatre Company As an actor she performed in Winter Sunshine (1939), George and Margaret (Little Theatre,1939), Grouse in June (1940), Piccadilly: Comedy Dance Review (1942), Life with Father (1944), Lottie Dundas (1945), The Passion Play (1945), Hands Across the Sea (1946), I Remember Mama (1947), King Lears Wife (1948). She also co-directed Love’s Labour’s Lost (with Peter Curtis, Richmond Shakespeare Society,1947) and Culbin Sands (Allied Arts Drama Festival, Cape Town, 1948). She also devised and performed in the revue By Further Request (with others, Questors Theatre,1951). As a dancer and choreographer, her work included Mime Play and Dance Drama (Cape Town Repertory Theatre Society,1945), The Biblical Pageant (1945), International Pageant (1946), Original Dance Dramas (School of Charm,1946), An Evening of Ballet (Choreography of Enigma, South African National Ballet,1948). As a costume designer she designed her own dance productions as well as Harriet (Little Theatre,1946), I remember Mama (1947), Saint Joan (Cape Town Repertory Society,1948), A Little Dry Thorn (Questors Theatre,1949), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Questors Theatre ,1951),

Theatre Work 1952 to 1960: Cape Town

After moving back to Cape Town, she continued to act, dance, choreograph, design and construct ballet and theatre costumes. She formed her own modern dance group which performed under the banner of Studio Ballet. As an actor she performed in The Young Elizabeth (as Elizabeth Tudor, Cape Town Repertory Society,1953), Yerma (1955), Medea (1955), Peril at End House (Spotlight Theatre,1956). As a dancer and choreographer, her work included An Evening of Ballet (Studio Ballet,1954), Sunday Night Arts Club (Studio Ballet 1954), Swan Lake (as the Princess-Mother, UCT Ballet Company). A Midsummer Night’s Dream (choreography, Maynardville 1957), Modern American Dance to Modern American Music (1957), Ballet Theatre (Maynardville,1958), As You Like It (choreography, Maynardville ,1958) Ballet Theatre: The Choice (1959), Ballet Pastorale (Eoan Group,1959). As a costume designer, she designed all her own dance productions as well as a Midsummer Night’s Dream (Maynardville,1957), As You Like It (Maynardville,1958), The Rape of the Belt (Maynardville,1960).

Theatre Work 1960-1966: Durban and Johannesburg

In Durban she co-founded the Durban Drama and Ballet Association which staged productions of theatre and modern dance. In 1965, she was appointed Head of Wardrobe for PACT in Johannesburg (1965-66). As a choreographer and dancer, she staged the following productions: Trio (1961), Little Mary Sunshine (choreographer,1961), Ballet Theatre (with Joy Shearer,1962), Ballet Theatre (1963), Ballet d’Urban (1963). In 1964 she danced the role of the Queen in Sleeping Beauty (UCT Ballet Company) As a costume designer, she designed all her own dance productions as well as The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1961), Little Mary Sunshine (1961), Much Ado About Nothing (Maynardville,1962), Medea (Lyric Theatre,1962), The Merchant of Venice (Maynardville,1963), Aurora’s Wedding (PACT Ballet, 1965) Theatre Work 1966-1979: Cape Town After moving back to Cape Town, she was appointed Head of Wardrobe for CAPAB and responsible for the costume construction for opera, ballet, and drama. After a career in dance, she found new interest and success in directing and choreographing musical productions. She directed Cox and Box and Pirates of Penzance (Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society,1967) Carousel (1967), Finian’s Rainbow (Camps Bay Operatic and Dramatic society,1967), Sleeping Beauty (Pinelands Repertory Society,1967) Brigadoon (Carousel Productions,1968),Sleeping Beauty (Carousel Productions,1968), Rose Marie (Carousel Productions,1969), The Gondoliers (Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan society,1969), Roundabout (Carousel Productions,1969), Pulse (Carousel productions,1970), Lock up Your Daughters (Carousel Productions, 1972), Bitter Sweet (Carousel productions,1974), The Sound of Music (Carousel Productions,1974), Fings Ain't What They Used T'be (Carousel Productions,1974), The Gondoliers (Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society,1975), Oklahoma (Carousel Productions,1975), Let’s Play it Again: a Musical Review (Carousel Productions,1975).As a director, the reviews credited her in bringing new life to musical productions in Cape Town. Carousel and Brigadoon played to enthusiastic audiences at the City Hall and Lock up Your Daughters was a major success starring Roger Dwyer in the lead role. As a choreographer, apart from her own productions, she choreographed dances in The Beaux Stratagem (CAPAB,1967), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Maynardville,1969), The Winter’s Tale (Maynardville,1971) Dance Spectrum (UCT Dance Drama, 1971), Romeo and Juliet (CAPAB,1972), The White Horse Inn (CAPAB,1972). As a costume designer, she designed and supervised the costume construction of all her own productions. She also designed major productions of Macbeth (Maynardville,1967), Heartbreak House (CAPAB,1967), The King’s Mare (CAPAB,1967), Richard II (Maynardville,1968),Candida (CAPAB,1968),The Lion in Winter (CAPAB,1968),The Rivals (PEMADS,1968), A Suite in Three Keys (CAPAB,1978), Blood Wedding (1968), Antigone (CAPAB,1969), Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead (CAPAB,1969), People are Living There (CAPAB,1969), Othello (Maynardville,1970), The Way of the World (CAPAB,1970), Dear Antoine (CAPAB,1971),The Winter’s Tale (Maynardville,1971), The Real Inspector Hound and Police (CAPAB,1971), Antony and Cleopatra (Maynardville,1972), Macbeth (with Penny Simpson,CAPAB,1972), London Assurance (CAPAB,1974), Pygmalion (CAPAB,1975), Julius Caesar (CAPAB at Maynardville,1976), Blithe Spirit (CAPAB,1976), Much Ado About Nothing (CAPAB at Maynardville,1977), The Misanthrope (CAPAB,1977), Twelfth Night (CAPAB at Maynardville,1978), Private Lives (CAPAB,1978), Hay Fever (CAPAB1978),You Never Can Tell (CAPAB,1979). The design of these productions received almost universal praise. You Never Can Tell was the last production she designed in South Africa before moving to England.

Theatre Work 1979 to 1999, Europe, Canada and USA.

After moving to England, she gained immediate employment working on costume construction for television and later joined the Chichester Festival Theatre, as a costume supervisor and designer.

On visiting Canada, she was invited to join the Citadel Theatre Company in Edmonton and also formed a partnership with Alberta Ballet. Over the next two decades, she was Resident Designer and Head of Costume Construction for The Citadel Theatre, Alberta Ballet, Dallas Ballet, and Ballet West, Salt lake City. She formed a close working relationship with international designers Nadine Baylis, Susan Woodall and Peter Cazalet. At their request, she undertook costume construction for numerous companies including England National Ballet, London City Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Nevada Dance Theatre, Hartford Ballet, Pittsburg Ballet Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, Royal Flanders Ballet, and the Norwegian National Ballet.

As a designer, her major work included A Phoenix too Frequent (Chichester,1980), H.M.S. Pinafore (Edmonton Opera Association,1982), King Charles I: By Divine Right (Citadel Theatre,1982), Cinderella (Alberta Ballet,1983),The Fox (Citadel Theatre,1983), Exposures (Citadel Theatre,1985) Clay (Citadel Theatre,1985) Coppelia (Dallas Ballet,1985), Prince Igor (Dallas Ballet,1986), The Snow Maiden (Alberta Ballet, 1988), The Prisoner Of Zenda (Citadel Theatre,1988), Great Expectations (Citadel Theatre,1988), The Gilded Bat (Ballet West,1989 interpreted), Requiem: A Liturgical Ballet (Salt Lake City,1990), ( Divertissement No.15 (Ballet West, 1990), Three Men in a Boat (Citadel Theatre,1992). Her biggest critical success was the costume design for Alberta Ballet’s production of the Snow Maiden, which was part of the 1988 Olympic Cultural Festival in Calgary.

Awards, etc

She was nominated for a Canadian Sterling Award for her designs for Three Men in a Boat at the Citadel Theatre.

Sources

E-mail correspondence with Craig Curtis, September 2023,

Original production programs and newspaper reviews

South African Opinion, 2(3):24, 1945.

South African Opinion, 3(1):22, 1946.

Burger, 4 January 1978.

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NOTES - still to be processed

She directed Carousel (1967), Brigadoon (1968). She was the costume designer for productions such as People are Living There, Candida, Private Lives, Richard II, 'n Wingerdstok sal Rank.

She has appeared on stage in Lottie Dundass (1945), Hands Across the Sea (1946), Medea (by Robinson Jeffers) in 1955, The Way of the World (1970).

She was responsible for the costumes in Twelfth Night at Maynardville in 1978.

She was a founder member of Carousel Productions.