John Napier

Designer

John Napier was born in London and studied at the Hornsey College of Art (Sculpture) and the Central School (Theatre Design). After assisting several designers he became Head of Design at the Pheonix Theatre, Leicester. After a free-lance period, he became Associate Designer to the RSC, where designs include Richard II, King John, Cymbeline, Macbeth (twice), Richard III, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, A Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, Fortune in Men’s Eyes, Edward Bond’s Lear, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, The Three Sisters, Once in a Lifetime, The Greeks, Nicholas Nickleby, Hedda Gabler (which he also designed for Australia and the USA).

For the West End he has designed The Ruling Class, Children’s Day, Cancer, Mister, The Foursome, Dr Who and the Daleks, The Party and Equus for the National Theatre. His designs for Equus have also been seen in America, Germany and South Africa.

His work in opera includes The Devils of London for the English National Opera, Lohengrin for the Royal Opera, for which he won a Society of West End Theatre Award, and recently the new production of Macbeth. For television he has designed Hedda Gabler, Comedy of Errors (RSC), Macbeth and The Three Sisters.

Some sculpture by John Napier was exhibited at Expo 1970 in Tokyo.

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