Bill Constable

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WILLIAM HENRY ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE (1906 - 1989)

Bill Constable designed the Melbourne NT set for Showdown 1941, and worked there again in 1945. For Sydney NT he was in 1943 lent by Whitehall Productions to design the set of Counter Attack , followed by A Physician in Spite of Himself 1944 and Enemies (his set on an awkward stage was praised) in 1946.

Constable also worked for the Independent, and designed a trio of plays staged by the Mercury Theatre at the Conservatorium. In 1948 the mobile version was seen in O'Brien's Glass Factory by Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier who were impressed by the ability of Jock Levy and Peter Finch . Soon after, the latter went to England where his stage and screen career took off.

Born at Eaglehawk, Vic., Constable was the son of a clergyman. He was taught watercolour painting and was an apprentice electrician before being laid off in 1926. He then studied art in Melbourne and London, returning to Australia in 1930. His first stage design was in cubist style for Gregan McMahon in 1933. Among his many designs for the Borovansky Ballet were Romeo and Juliet and his best-known work the world premiere of Corroboree. Because the company re-used stage canvases over and over again, Elaine Haxton sometimes painted over his designs. In 1949 he designed Eugene Goosens’ concept of a theatre building at Bennelong Point.

Bill Constable also designed for opera, film and television. His son Bill Constable was in 1945 acting with Rosemarie Benjamin’s Theatre for Children at Mosman.

William Henry Archibald Constable has a Wikipedia entry.