Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2019 - Public - 37

'Engineer of the
IMAGINATION'
Remembering Ralph Koltai, CBE, RDI (1924-2018),
celebrated theatre designer and sculptor

A

s the curator of Koltai's exhibitions since
his first retrospective
in 1997 at the Lethaby Galleries, Central
School of Art, London,
I have had a unique insight into his point of view and creativity
in his constant search to find "the visual
metaphor." His great interest was working with experts and finding the way to
realize his visions. He was ever open to
new materials and experiments, and although he did not fully enter the digital
world, he was wise enough to have good
assistants who could do so. This memorial tribute includes interviews with
many who were able to work with him
throughout his career.

Ambitious Creativity
Koltai's close relationship with Charles
Woolff of Talbot Designs, specialists in
plastics fabrications that developed the
famous acrylic tubes creating the Forest
of Arden in Shakespeare's As You Like
It at the Old Vic in 1967, was the start
of a long working relationship. Woolf

BY PAMELA HOWARD
recalls: "I acquired my connection with
Ralph Koltai by a takeover bid. In August 1968, I purchased Talbot Designs
and Ralph had already commissioned
Talbots to make the now very famous
all-plastic sets for the National Theatre
production of As You Like It in 1967.
This very early use of plastics on stage
consisted of simple flat fabrication that
was rolled and seamed into tubes that
were hung from the flies and lit to create the magical forest.
"A tragic incident, in the summer
of 1973, changed everything for designers and suppliers of plastics for public
spaces. A fire occurred in the Summerland Fairground on the Isle of Man,
killing 50 people. The immediate effect
was the introduction of the strict requirement for all plastics used in public
spaces to be a self-extinguishing grade
plastic. Polycarbonate, new to the market in the '70s was the answer, but PC
was primarily for flat application use,
such as unbreakable windows.
"I would often receive calls from
Ralph asking the frequent question,
'Charles, can you make this?' On one
occasion, sitting in front of me in my

office, Ralph took an A4 sheet of paper,
carefully crushed it and said, 'I want
this-10 meters high.' This, after a lot
of R&D, became the set for Shaw's Too
True to Be Good in 1976, using a combination of cold and heat treatment to
create these structures. With Tippett's
The Ice Break in 1977, Ralph started
to design sets using large areas of
plastic. The problem of expansion and
contraction became a serious one and
affixing to a stage flat created unacceptable distortion. By the time the RSC's
Much Ado About Nothing had arrived
in 1982, we were hanging all sheets
like drapes, from the top, allowing free
side movement. Polycarbonate in the
'80s was only available in clear or opal,
and Ralph, whilst in our factory one day,
spotted some bronze acrylic and said, 'I
want this for the flooring. Can you do it?'
The challenge was mind-blowing and
was going to require some very creative
and lateral thinking. But I agreed, because I knew, that between us, we could
find an answer. We produced the flooring in 6mm clear PC with bronze tinted
polyester mirror film applied to the underside. The finished effect was stunSPRING 2019

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