Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1984 - 4

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William Ritman

by Mel Gussow

William Ritman, the prolific scenic designer of Morning's al 7
and plays by Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter,
among others, died Sunday in his New York apartment. He was 56
years old and had been ill with cancer for more than 18 months.
In a New York career that spanned almost 25 years, he designed
the original sets for most of Mr. Albee's plays including Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Tiny Alice and A Delicale Balance and
for a number of Beckett's American premieres. Many of his designs
were for productions directed by Alan Schneider, who died last week
in London.
f\1r. Ritman was celebrated for his detailed theatrical versions of
apartments and houses-the mysterious man ion-within-a-mansion
of Tiny Alice; the warm, middle American environment of Morning's al 7; Six Rms Riv VII; and the rummage-filled student apartment of Moonchildren. He also created the lovers' rendezvou of
Same Time, NexI Year, the elegant estate for Noel Coward in Two
Keys, and Neil Simon's cliff-dweller lair in Chapler Two. Theatregoers often felt as if they could move right in to a Ritman set.
As Elizabeth McCann, co-producer of Morning's al 7, said yes-

terday about that show: "When the curtain went up, I wanted the
audience to know we loved the play. I think Billy put everything he
had into that set. It was very very important to that revival. He was
an extraordinary designer."
Beckett, Albee and Stoppard
At the same time, Mr. Ritman frequently extended himself beyond naturalism-into the abstraction of Beckett (the sand-heap of
Happy Days), the stark cube of Mr. Albee's Box-Mao-Box and the
Magritte-inspired world of Tom Stoppard's Afler Magrille.
A native of Chicago, he studied design at the Goodman Theatre
and then worked on Broadway, orr Broadway and in regional theatre. In one sea on, 1964, he designed 10 shows, including :-'Ir.
Pinter' Lo\'er, Beckett' Play, f\1r. Albee's Tiny Alice and A Midsummer ighl's Dream. He also worked as a lighting designer.
For eight yers, he was the producer of the Rebekah Harkness
Dance Festival at the ew York Shakespeare Festival's Delacorte
Theatre in Central Park. He taught set design at Buffalo and Yale
Universities. He lived in New York City and in Sag Harbor, L.1.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1984