Rae Smith is an Artist & Theatre Designer best known for her stunning multi award-winning designs for the National Theatre, The Old Vic and numerous West End Theatres as well as Glyndebourne Opera and Internationally, in a career that spans nearly 30 years.
Her ground-breaking design for the National Theatre production Warhorse (2007 became a global theatrical phenomenon and is touring the UK again this Summer. Most recently, Rae has wowed audiences with her flamboyant design for The Importance of Being Earnest (transferring to the Noel Coward Theatre in September & starring Olly Alexander), her set design & costumes for Oedipus (Rami Malek & Indira Varma), Waiting for Godot (Ben Wishaw) and Hello, Dolly! in which Imelda Staunton blew the roof off the London Palladium and the Observer declared that ‘Rae Smith’s set was sumptuous!’
She has collaborated many times with multi-award winning playwright Conor McPherson and their Tony and Olivier awarded Girl From the North Country with music & lyrics by Bob Dylan returns to the The Old Vic this Summer for a 9 week run.
But behind the glory of the full stage show is the hard graft and shear talent of the creatives that breathe life into everything the audience is invited in to witness. This unique exhibition explores that process, with never before seen works - drawings, sketches and art works that allow us to glimpse inside the mind of a creative genius.
Of this exhibition, Rae says "These are drawings that represent ‘moments’ in the design of productions, usually hidden behind the scenes, now exhibited as snapshots from the creative process…’
Drawing from her extensive work with some of our greatest directors and writers, in some of the worlds best venues, this exhibition features work from the wonderful Barbershop Chronicles at the National Theatre and on tour, the extraordinary Wonder.land which was co-created with Damon Albarn to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Don Giovanni (Welsh National Opera), The Importance of Being Earnest and Girl From the North Country as well as many extraordinary drawings from the inception of Warhorse itself. ‘Bloody Shoes’ is an image taken from the critically acclaimed opera Rusalka
which Rae Smith designed for Glyndebourne Opera, where she will return in 2027 to work on Le
Cenerentola (Cinderella).