2009

A competition was established by Peter Farley for Theatre Design students at Wimbledon to submit proposals. Each winner was asked to curate an exhibition of Jocelyn’s work in the lobby outside the archive. A final year BA Design for Performance student, David Harris, was the first winner. His choice of work was based around the theme of “the city and political protest” and was inspired by two particular productions designed by Jocelyn, the opera The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and the play St Joan of the Stockyards, both texts by Bertolt Brecht. As part of his exhibition, David commissioned fellow students from theatre and fine art courses to produce new work in response to Jocelyn’s designs. Other WCA projects included second year BA costume students recreating costumes from Jocelyn’s archive, which became an annual option.

The Jocelyn Herbert Award has been given bi-annually on the prize-giving evening at the National Theatre for The Linbury Prize for Stage Design to one of the students shortlisted in the Linbury Awards. The Jocelyn Herbert Award is funded through a grant made to WCA by the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation and by Jocelyn’s family. The winner in 2009 was Christopher Fauld. External researchers using Jocelyn’s archive included Susannah Clapp (theatre critic for the Observer) who researched in relation to a publication she was preparing on postcards; an MA student from the University of Leeds; and a freelance lighting designer researched the history of lighting design, particularly at the Royal Court.