The three women who became the celebrated design team of Motley were unique in several ways. First, they were a design team. They always worked together on productions during the first eight years of their careers, from 1932 to 1940. Second, they had a very long working life as Motley, from that first combined production in 1932 to Sophie Devine's death in 1966. Margaret Harris and Elizabeth Montgomery continue working to this day, but under their own names. Third, the three women were at the center of what can be termed another Renaissance of English theatre. Their friends, all young, not-too-experienced theatre practitioners, included John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Alec Guinness, Glen Byam-Shaw, George Devine, Michel St.-Denis and Peggy Ashcroft. The meeting place for friendship and exchange of ideas on theatre was the Motley studio. These women acted as a catalyst; they brought people together who later achieved greatness in the theatre. / The Motleys designed both sets and costumes, and had a hand in building both when they began their careers. When they split up, Montgomery to work in the United States, Harris to work mainly at Stratford-upon-Avon and Devine to do films, West End productions and shows for the Royal Court, they divided labors too. Montgomery did only costumes for Broadway, where the division of labors in theatre design is encouraged. Devine did only costumes, too, in London. Harris was the only one of the trio who continued to design both sets and costumes on her own. This emphasis on costumes rather than sets left many more costume renderings that could be incorporated into an in-depth study like this one. / In their early days of working together, Harris became the technician of the group, Montgomery the one who provided the artistic impetus and the costume designs, and Devine the builder and worker. Harris maintained a constant quest for answers as to how something worked on stage, and seldom took another person's word on the subject, especially if that word was "it can't be done." She made many new things happen on the stage by not being tied in to the standard, accepted format of stage design. / Montgomery had been a painter for years when she met Harris and Devine at art school. Her's was the sense of color and the excitement of using fabrics and textures in a new way: to paint with materials on a three-dimensional figure. Harris said, many years later, that if it hadn't been for Montgomery, they would not have pursued their careers with anything near the vigor she possessed. / Devine was the detailer of the trio. She added the individual touches, the costume accents and set props that made the designs of the other two real and complete. Her costume designs, especially those for film, were minutely detailed and rendered. She was also the best at character rendering. She brought her figures to life with a more careful, surer hand. / The costume designs of Harris, Montgomery and Devine are analyzed and studied through the use of many black and white photographs and color slides. A total of 223 renderings and production photographs are duplicated in the body and appendix of the dissertation. The Appendices also include a total production list with director, theatre and opening date of every known Motley production, and a list of students of the Motleys who went on to have careers in the theatre. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-07, Section: A, page: 2832. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74205 |
| Contributors | COSTA, BARBARA JEAN., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 358 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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