Brian Collins

Brian Collins (19**-) An Irish born theatre technician and designer.

Biography

Career

Started his career as a scenic artist, working under his father, John Collins at the enormous Theatre Royal in Dublin. He then joined the world famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin as resident designer and production manager, where he worked for twenty years. Brought out to South Africa in 1983 by John Slemon to be the Production Manager and Designer for the Baxter Theatre, Cape Town.

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

Brian designed sets, lighting, and/or costumes for numerous productions such as Rustlers, Dearly Beloved, Shirley Valentine, Up 'n' Under, Happy Jack, Beautiful Thing, Buckingham Palace, District Six, Another Country, Beauty Queen of Leenane, Beecham, Bouncers, A Doll House, East, The Elephant Man, The Glass Menagerie, Greek, Guys and Dolls, Madame de Sade, The Shakespeare Revue, Vatmaar, Violations, The Importance of Being Oscar, Master Harold...and the boys, Under Milk Wood, Same Old Moon, Till Debts Do Us Part, Blue Remembered Hills, The Boys Next Door, As the Koekie Crumbles, Crossing the Line, Oleanna, Glassroots, Kvetch, Steel Magnolias, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Whose Life is it Anyway?, American Buffalo, Mrs Kaplan and the Witchdoctor, Driving Miss Daisy, Talk of the Devil, Brothers, The Big Friendly Giant, Rosa, Misery, Juno and the Paycock and Miss Julie.

Other productions include Dancing at Lughnasa, Grace & Glorie and Pinocchio.

Awards, etc

and has won Vita Awards in three categories: Best set for Beautiful Thing (19**) and Grace and Glorie (19**), Most Original Costumes for Greek (19**) and best lighting for The Glass Menagerie (19**). Received the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Contribution to Stage Design for The Elephant Man and Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) and Vatmaar (2002).

1997 in the new Fleur du Cap Stage Design category he was nominated for best contribution to stage design for his set for Greek, and once again this year he received a Fleur du Cap nomination for his set design for Madame De Sade.

Fleur du Cap Award for Best Contribution to Stage Design in The Elephant Man 1998.

He has won Vita Awards in all three design categories, Best Set for Beautiful Thing, Most Original Costumes for Greek and Best Lighting for The Glass Menagerie, as well as receiving a number of Vita nominations.

Sources

Programme notes of the The Elephant Man in 1998.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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