Overview

Alan Tagg (1928-2002) was a British theatre designer who literally set the scene for 20th century theatre, with his designs for the ground-breaking play Look Back in Anger.

Having trained at Mansfield School of Art and the Old Vic Theatre School in London, he was soon working in the West End, joining the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. It is here that he made his name creating the stage setting for Look Back in Anger (1956) and other productions such as The Entertainer (1957), Cards of Identity(1956), Live Like Pigs (1958), American Dream(1961) & Bent (1979).

In the early 1960s Laurence Olivier asked Tagg to join him at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and throughout his career he also had a long association with the work of Alan Ayckbourn, including his work on the plays Absurd Person Singular (1973), Confusions (1976), & Joking Apart (1979).

What the collection holds

The Alan Tagg Collection consists of original theatre designs, set models, set notes, prop lists, stage plots, programmes and correspondence with directors and producers for over 80 productions. The collection not only provides an insight into the professional requirements of a theatre designer, but the work of one of the foremost theatre designers of his generation.

The online catalogue for this collection can be viewed here: 
AT - Alan Tagg Collection