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Paule Constable

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paule Constable is a British lighting designer. She is an Associate Director for the National Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith and Matthew Bourne's company New Adventures.

Early life and education

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Originally from North Devon and grown up in a military family, Constable moved across various countries in her youth.[1] Constable thought about pursuing her studies in architecture, then pursuing an English degree at Goldsmiths' College, London.[2] Influenced by the art scene in London in the 1980s, she then decided to combine English with Drama, graduating in 1989,[3] while working in the music business.[4] She has since become a Goldsmith fellow, as well as of Rose Bruford College and Central School of Speech and Drama.[5]

Theatre career

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Constable started her career while studying, working for Midnight Design on rock' n' roll concerts design, while starting to develop an interest in the theatre.[6][7]

Her "big break" came with show The Street of Crocodiles at the National Theatre, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design at age 26. She also worked on operas, as well as in the theatre, and collaborated extensively with the Royal Opera, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera North, Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera.

Constable won the 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2020 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design.[8] She was also a nominee for four further productions and for a 2007 Tony Award on Broadway. In 2011 she won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a play for War Horse.

Abroad she has worked in Paris, Salzburg, Strasbourg, Berlin, Brussels, New Zealand, Dallas and Houston. For the Metropolitan Opera in New York she has designed lighting for Satyagraha, Anna Bolena, Don Giovanni, Giulio Cesare, The Marriage of Figaro, and others.[9]

She has created fifteen productions at the National Theatre, including Paul. Her lighting designs are regularly seen at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Donmar Warehouse, the Royal Court Theatre and with Théâtre de Complicité. In the West End she lit Evita, Don Carlos, The Weir and Amadeus (also Broadway, 1999 LA Critics' Award winner).[citation needed]

Theatre-dance productions in Britain and abroad include productions for Matthew Bourne, Will Tuckett and Adam Cooper.[citation needed]

Constable was the lighting designer for the 2010 25th Anniversary Touring Production of Les Misérables, staged at the Barbican Centre in London. A DVD of the live concert performance at the O2 on 3 October has been released. In 2011, this production performed at the Ahmanson Theatre and Constable won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Lighting Design.[10]

Constable won Tony awards for her work on War Horse in 2011 and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2015.[4]

Select stage work

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For the National Theatre:

  • The Normal Heart
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane
  • Follies
  • Angels in America
  • The Light Princess
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • War Horse

In London's West End:

  • Les Misérables
  • Don Carlos (also at Sheffield Crucible)
  • The Glass Menagerie
  • Cock

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
1993 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Lighting Design Street of Crocodiles Nominated
1999 Amadeus Nominated
Uncle Vanya Nominated
2001 Play Without Words Nominated
2005 His Dark Materials Won
2006 Don Carlos Won
2007 Tony awards Best Lighting Design in a Play Coram Boy Nominated
2008 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Lighting Design War Horse Nominated
2009 The Chalk Garden Won
2011 Love Never Dies Nominated
Tony awards Best Lighting Design in a Play War Horse Won
2012 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lighting Design Won
2013 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Lighting Design The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Nominated
Laurence Olivier Awards Best Lighting Design in a Play Won
2014 The Light Princess Nominated
Tony awards Best Lighting Design in a Play The Cripple of Inishmaan Nominated
2015 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lighting Design The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Won
Wolf Hall Nominated
Laurence Olivier Awards Best Lighting Design Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies Nominated
Tony awards Best Lighting Design in a Play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Won
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two Nominated
2017 Tonic Award - Won
2018 Tony awards Best Lighting Design in a Play Angels in America Nominated
Laurence Olivier Awards Best Lighting Design Nominated
Follies Nominated
2019 Critics' Circle Award Special Award - Won
2020 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Lighting Design The Ocean at the End of the Lane Won

Advocate for women in theatre

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Constable is also well known for being an advocate and supporting women working in theatre. She is only one of two women who have received the Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design. In an interview she commented: “Women still aren’t represented as well as they should be in theatre. It’s a very male-dominated industry and we need to change that."[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Leading Light with…Paule Constable". HireWL. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Paule Constable – arc". www.arc-magazine.com. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Paule Constable". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b "People: Paule Constable". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Paule Constable". New Adventures. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Midnight Design Archives". White Light. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  7. ^ Dickson, Andrew (27 March 2017). "From War Horse to Wolf Hall: the secret alchemy of stage lighting". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  8. ^ Staff (8 March 2009). "Speeches: And the Laurence Olivier Winners Said". WhatsonStage.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
  9. ^ Paule Constable, Operabase
  10. ^ Ng, David (19 March 2012). "'Margo Veil,' 'Raisin in the Sun' top L.A. Drama Critics awards". Culture Monster. Los Angeles Times blogs. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
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