Fact 13: Why “The Maria?”

Fact 13: The Maria is named after Maria Bjornson, the set designer who famously designed The Phantom of the Opera.

Apart from the Main House, we have two smaller spaces called The Maria and The Clare. The Maria opened in 2006 after our refurbishment and we named it The Maria in recognition of Maria Björnson’s achievements (costumes and set design for 120+ productions!) and remarkable commitment to developing and enhancing the careers of younger theatre practitioners. We have the same commitment here at the Young Vic.

Björnson is probably most known for designing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera (winning her the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design). She’s also done set and costume design for Royal Shakespeare Company as well as Trevor Nunn’s production of Aspects of Love.

Björnson was also the course director for Theatre Design at Central St Martins College Of Art & Design.

She was, and is, an inspiration to all of us.

Other Young Vic facts >>

‘An account of my former life as an ape’!

‘Esteemed members of the academy! You have done me the great honour of inviting me to give you an account of my former life as an ape.’

We are absolutely ecstatic to bring Kafka’s Monkey back to the Young Vic this May. It sold out when it premiered here in 2009 and has since travelled the world – Paris, Athens, Melbourne, Sydney…

Featuring the Olivier award-winning Kathryn Hunter. Check out some of the production photos from last time…

‘To say Kathryn Hunter plays this part is an understatement; she lives this strange tale with every cell of her being.’ (Le Monde, France)

We also recorded it with the Digital Theatre.  So come see the show live and maybe you’ll want to buy a copy to watch at home? Buy your tickets here.

Photos (c) Keith Pattison

Rain, rain..

Fevered Sleep’s And the Rain Falls Down. Photo by Keith Pattison

And the Rain Falls Down has been playing for the past 3 weeks to full-houses here at the Young Vic… it’s been such a delight seeing children, parents, teachers and guardians coming in all dressed up in wellies and rain gear! With only a few performances left, we will be very sad to see it go. If you haven’t managed to buy a ticket, it’s not too late – the show will be touring to Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool over the next month.

Some of the things we’ve overheard in the theatre…

It’s going to rain The water! He got some boots What that lady doing? It’s raining Puddle!! Uh-oh They’re having lots of fun aren’t they? She needs a towel Water finished now It’s all full of water Her hair’s wet Whoa! Fishes! Quack Quack Quack I wanna to do that That’s funny It doesn’t matter if my boots get wet An Umbrella, an Umbrella, an Umbrella Drip-drop, drip-drop Umbrella in the sky Little ducks She wants the water Haha, I got wet Wow! The sun! It’s a rainbow This show’s about getting wet and deception is about goodies and baddies

Were you there too? Let us know what you thought of the show!