WORLD-renowned theatre set and costume designer Anne Curry has died after a courageous battle with pulmonary fibrosis, aged 66.
Anne, who was born in Redditch and lived here all her life, was known for her creative brilliance, and in design education for her ability to inspire.
Friends and colleagues will vividly remember Anne’s infectious enthusiasm, humour and kindness, and her quiet devotion to her faith.
Anne was best known for her beautiful theatre costume drawings that she used powerfully in her design teaching work to instruct and stimulate students.
She recently donated a large collection of her drawings to the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) to perpetuate this benefit.
She gained a 1st Class Honours degree in Theatre Design at the then Birmingham Polytechnic (now BCU), receiving the Sir Barry Jackson Memorial Scholarship.
During postgraduate study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London she was awarded a Royal Society of Arts Bursary for costume design enabling her to undertake costume studies in Italy.
For the resulting research report she received the Jacobs Memorial Medal.
She began her career as costume designer at the Palace Theatre in Redditch before going on to wide acclaim, successfully combining set and costume design work in productions including ‘Dreams of San Francisco’ for the Bush Theatre that went on to win the Thames Television Award for Best Production, 1986.
She also made significant contributions in higher education, leading the degree course in Theatre Design at BCU and later developing Costume Design and Interpretation at Nottingham Trent University.
Her designs have been exhibited widely from the National Theatre Tokyo, to the V&A London, the Prague International Quadrennial and at the World Stage Design 2017 Exhibition, hosted in Taipei.
