Alex Marker - Set Designer

Alex Marker, critically acclaimed theatre designer.

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The Fifth Column

By Ernest Hemmingway

Southwark Playhouse

Director – Tricia Thorns

Set Designer – Alex Marker

Costume Design – Emily Stuart

Lighting Design – Neill Brinkworth

Sound Design – Dominic Bilkey

Cast: Elliot Brett, Elizabeth Jane Cassidy, Catherine Cusack, Simon Darwen, Alix Dunmore, Michael Edwards, James El-Sharawy, Sasha Frost, Carl Gilbey-McKenzie, Joshua Jacob, Harvey Steven Meneses, Michael Shelford and Stephen Ventura

Madrid, 1937 – the height of the Spanish Civil War. In a hotel during the bombardment by Franco’s artillery, two American war correspondents fall passionately in love.

Around them, people are struggling, often comically, to survive; and the idealism of the young men who came to fight with the International Brigades is contrasted with the ruthlessness of civil war.

Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls is the great classic of the Spanish Civil War. The Fifth Column too, a life and death story of counter-espionage, speaks with his own inimitable voice, seen for the first time on the London stage.

Based on real events, and real people – Hemingway was there, with his lover Martha Gellhorn, one of the first women war correspondents – the play appears in London for the first time and marks the 80th year since the Spanish Civil War began.

Press

'Alex Marker's meticulous set' Michael Billington – the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/apr/03/the-fifth-column-review-southwark-playhouse

'Alex Marker's stand-out design' David Ralf – The Stage

www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/the-fifth-column-review-at-southwark-playhouse-2/

'Alex Marker’s expansive set' David Fargnoli – Exeunt Magazine

http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/review-the-fifth-column-at-southwark-playhous/

'The sets and costumes are the stars of the first half' Newsdesk – Southwark News

http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/lifestyle/love-on-the-frontline/

'The set recreates the ravaged Hotel Florida and is dominated by a cutaway recreation of two adjacent rooms. It is a triumph of attention to detail, right down to the sandbags under the stage struts. ' Samantha Simmonds – Everything Theatre

http://everything-theatre.co.uk/2016/04/the-fifth-column-southwark-playhouse-review.html

'The strengths of this production lie in the impressive historical detail of the set (Alex Marker) and period costumes (Emily Stuart)' Lettie Mckie – The Londonist

https://londonist.com/2016/04/review-hemingway-s-spanish-civil-war-drama-5th-column-gets-a-patchy-revival

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The Crucible

by Arthur Miller

The Questors Theatre

Director: Pam Redrup

Set Designer: Alex Marker

Lighting Designer: Nigel Lewis

Costume Designer: Claire Malyon

Composer/Sound Designer: Daniel Beilby

Photographs by Carla Evans

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The Meeting

by Andrew Payne

Hampstead Theatre

Director – Denis Lawson

Designer – Alex Marker

Lighting Designer – Neill Brinkworth

Sound Designer – John Leonard

Cast: Mark Hadfield, Rebecca Night, Malcolm Sinclair and Sam Swainsbury

Stratton and Cole are waiting to meet Jack to finally seal the deal, a contract that will make or break their careers. But it soon becomes clear that Jack isn’t going to make it. He’s been escorted out of the building by security following ‘an incident’ and now they’re negotiating with his female deputy instead.

The men can’t quite believe their luck. But far from proving an easy ride, Jack’s stand-in turns out to be an unexpectedly astute opponent and a much tougher nut to crack than her male predecessor…

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The Cripple of Inishmaan

by Martin McDonagh

The Questors Theatre

Director – Anne Neville

Set Designer – Alex Marker

Costume Designer – Jenny Richardson

Lighting Designer – Andrew Dixon

Sound Designer – Daniel Beilby

'Alex Marker's set is West End Standard'

Helen Higgins – Irish World

13/2/2016

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Can't Buy Me Love

by Gareth Machin

Salisbury Playhouse

Devised and Directed by – Gareth Machin

Musical Director and Arranger – Kate Edgar

Choreographer – Jo Redman

Designer – Alex Marker

Lighting Designer – Peter Hunter

Cast: Kieran Buckeridge, Susannah Van Den burgh, Christine Holman and Tomas Wolstenholme

Press

'The whole thing looks a million dollars on Alex Marker's gilded set with its giant dice, roulette wheel and financial graphs running round the gallery.'

Lesley Bates – The Stage

https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2015/cant-buy-me-love-review-at-the-salisbury-playhouse-energetic-but-patchy/

'Money, of course, and sets don’t convey a sense of affluence more convincingly than this one, with its impressive illuminated staircase, grand piano, downstage floor with its roulette table markings and, above all the opulence, that vast starlit sky.'

'...the most lavish set the Salberg’s ever seen…'

Anne Hill – The British Theatre Guide

http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/can-t-buy-me-lo-salisbury-playh-12417

'It sounds great – Kate Edgar returns to the Playhouse again as musical director and arranger – and looks a million dollars on Alex Marker’s set with its illuminated staircase, giant dice, roulette-wheeled floor and gilded stage.'

Barbara Steele – Musical Theatre Review

http://musicaltheatrereview.com/cant-buy-me-love-salisbury-playhouse/

'The stylish set, designed by Alex Marker, makes for an elegant evening'  

Gay Pirrie-Weir – The Fine Times Recorder

http://www.theftr.co.uk/cant-buy-me-love-salberg-studio-salisbury/

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Flowering Cherry

By Robert Bolt

Troupe in association with Neil McPherson for

The Finborough Theatre

Director – Benjamin Whitrow

Set Design – Alex Marker

Costume Design – Janice Hudson-Holt

Lighting Design – Peter Harrison

Sound Design and Original Composition – Lucinda Mason Brown

Cast: Ashley Cook, Catherine Kanter, Liam Mckenna, Hannah Morrish, James Musgrave, Phoebe Sparrow and Benjamin Whitrow

The first London production in over fifty years

“Fifteen acres of apple trees in blossom, with a few white hens on the grass, perhaps, and some high white clouds in a blue sky...it’s a sight for the gods, it’s Shangri-la.”

The first London production in over fifty years of Robert Bolt’s first West End play, Flowering Cherry.

Suburbia, 1957. Jim Cherry sells insurance, but wants to sell apples instead. He dreams of owning an orchard in Somerset and quitting the job he hates. But Cherry is a fantasist and his wife Isobel is at breaking point. As his dream begins to spiral out of control and the gulf between them widens, can she force him to face reality?

Hailed at its première as the British Death of a Salesman, and from the writer of A Man for All Seasons and the screenplays of Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, Flowering Cherry is the heart-breaking story of a man seduced by his own imagination. This rediscovery marks the first London production since its première in 1957, starring Sir Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson.

Nomination for an Off West End Award for Best Set Design

Press

**** Four Stars – Evening Standard

'Outstandingly designed by Alex Marker...'

Michael Billington – The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/nov/23/flowering-cherry-review-robert-bolt-liam-mckenna-catherine-kanter

'Bolt’s writing catches the everyday details of family life well, while the kitchen-cum-dining room that is the play’s single space fits the Finborough nicely, with Alex Marker’s design – flowered wallpaper, dresser with crockery – depicting the crowded environment of a family house where the children have grown up and are about to leave home.'

Tom Birchenough – The Arts Desk

http://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/flowering-cherry-finborough-theatre

'How this marks only its first London production since the premiere, which starred Celia Johnson and Ralph Richardson, baffles me. Nonetheless, hats off — and hung up neatly in an immaculately recreated Fifties design — to the Finborough for its richly rewarding rediscovery.'

Fiona Mountford – Evening Standard

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/flowering-cherry-theatre-review-exquisite-revival-of-a-fifties-jewel-a3120841.html

'Cherry suppresses his awful self-knowledge in drink and bluster, stretching his wife’s tolerance to the point where at one startling moment the neat split set – a sliver of garden alongside the suburban kitchen – sees them momentarily separated, each speaking.' 

Libby Purves – TheatreCat

http://theatrecat.com/2015/11/20/flowering-cherry-finborough-sw10/

 'Alex Marker’s set and Janet Hudson-Holt’s costuming are excellent and they have both clearly paid a great deal of attention to detail vis-à-vis historical accuracy.'

Tom Evans – A Younger Theatre

http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/review-flowering-cherry-finborough-theatre/

'The Finborough’s black-box space is beautifully transformed into a realistic late 50s home by Alex Marker and, while it’s deeply alien from today’s mod-con residencences, the familiarity of elderly relatives’ clocks and tableware lends a kind of hotline to who these people are.'

Sally Hales – Everything Theatre

http://everything-theatre.co.uk/2015/11/flowering-cherry-finborough-theatre-review.html

'They also happen to be the only family members who figure out how to escape Alex Marker’s beautifully designed naturalistic (read: no imagination required) set.'

Emma Smith – Exeunt Magazine

http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/flowering-cherry/

'Alex Marker's elaborate set takes us into the kitchen/living room of the Cherrys with tulips and roses lining the pathway to the house. '

Carolin Kopplin – UK Theatre Network

http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html

'Alex Marker's design convincingly creates their little world in slavish detail, right down to – yes – the kitchen sink.'

Gabriella Restelli – WhatsonStage

http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/reviews/flowering-cherry-finborough-theatre_39180.html

'The design is nicely detailed in the family's suburban kitchen with the willow pattern china displayed in the dresser and I loved the magazines coming through the post wrapped in brown paper and tied with string.'

Lizzie Loveridge – www.curtainip.com

http://www.curtainup.com/floweringcherrylon15.html

'The set is outstandingly conceived by Alex Marker and features a kitchen, a passageway behind the house and a garden, making exceptionally good use of the space available.'

Heather Jeffery - Pubtheatres1

http://pubtheatres1.tumblr.com/

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The Sweethearts

By Sarah Page

The Finborough Theatre

Director – Daniel Burgess

Designer – Alex Marker

Lighting designer – Paul Comerford

Sound Designer – Edward Lewis

Producer – Ian Melding

Cast: Jack Bannon, Joe Claflin, Jack Derges, Laura Hanna, Stevie Raine, Sophie Stevens, Doireann May White, Maria Yarjah

(All photographs for this post by Scott Rylander)

A world premiere, originally seen as a staged reading as part of Vibrant 2014 – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights.

Coco, Mari and Helena are The Sweethearts, a manufactured girl band who are rarely off the front page of the tabloids. In need of some positive publicity, they travel to Afghanistan to do a special gig for the troops at Camp Bastion before the base is handed over to Afghan officials. A group of battle weary soldiers, chosen to protect these three beautiful celebrities, eagerly await their arrival. But when there's an attack on the base, The Sweethearts and the soldiers are thrown together and forced to wait it out in very close quarters...

Marking the first anniversary of the departure of British Troops from Afghanistan after a thirteen year campaign and the deaths of 453 British service personnel, The Sweethearts is a new play about the people we choose to make into our heroes and how we tear them back down…

'A superbly detailed, claustrophobic set'

Mathew Lunn – Britishtheatre.com

http://britishtheatre.com/review-the-sweethearts-finborough-theatre-4stars/

'All set in an office converted into sleeping quarters for the pop group, the set perfectly portrays the claustrophobia of war...'

Joe Hodgson -  A Younger Theatre

http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/review-the-sweethearts-finborough-theatre/

'Edward Lewis’ atmospheric sound design, the noise of battle is never far away, just outside the claustrophobic confines of Alex Marker’s set.'

Ed Nightingale – Exueunt

http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/the-sweethearts/

'The set (Alex Marker) transforms the Finborough’s tiny space into a tent in the camp barracks, perfectly re-creating a claustrophobic atmosphere under canvas.'

Lettie Mckie – Playstosee.com

http://playstosee.com/the-sweethearts/

'the set and sound design gave a wonderful reality to this claustrophobic and unpredictable world.'

Rachel Knighley – remotegoat

http://www.remotegoat.com/uk/review/12339/tragicomedy-of-war-and-hero-worship/

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Asking Rembrandt

By Steve Gooch

The Old Red Lion Islington

Director – Jonathan Kemp

Producer – Damien Tracey

Set and Costume Designer – Alex Marker

Lighting Designer – Philip Jones

Cast: Liam McKenna, John Gorrick, Esme Patey-Ford, Loz Keystone

Based around the few known facts of Rembrandt’s relationship with patron Jan Six, as well as mistress Hendrickje Stoffels, this incisive new play looks at the perils of the commissioning process through the working life of this most formidable artist.

“Some people can’t bear to be caught wearing last year’s idea”

***** (Five stars) Britishtheatre.com

***** (Five stars) Playstosee.com

**** (Four stars) The Stage

**** (Four stars)Downstagecentre.com

**** (Four stars) TheatreTourist.com

'The star of the show, though, is Alex Marker’s beautiful set, surrounded by vast gilt frames. It’s a detailed mock-up of an artist’s studio where everything is smeared with paint, and knick-knacks – cups, feathers, fruit – adorn the shelves, ready to be plucked at random and arranged for a still life.'

Tim Bano – Time Out

http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/asking-rembrandt

'Scealta Mora's production is atmospherically designed by Alex Marker.'

Paul Vale – The Stage

www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2015/asking-rembrandt/

'The set looks like it could be the subject of one of Rembrandt’s paintings. The tiny theatre is transformed into a dimly lit studio with beautiful fabrics thrown over chairs and half-finished canvasses spilling from paint-encrusted shelves. The costumes evoke the 1700s with rich colours and attention to detail. The stage itself is edged by broken life-sized golden frames, eliciting comparisons between painting and theatre as art.'

Saskia McCraken – playstosee.com

http://playstosee.com/asking-rembrandt/

'The designer, Alex Marker, has done an impressive job with the setting, which is both carefully detailed and flexible for the players. He works hard to hold the  audience’s attention as the space remains unchanged throughout, with exception of a few dressings.'

Eloise Hodder – DownStageCentre.com 

http://downstagecentre.com/the-dsc-team/eloise-hodder/asking-rembrandt/

'...the set (designed by Alex Marker) was fantastic – huge, ornate gilt frames draped about the stage in a very artistic manner, sketches scattered around and paintbrushes tossed aside on the workbench – not to mention the art itself, which was pretty incredible. In fact it’s probably the best set I’ve seen at the Old Red Lion.'

Michaela Clement- Hayes

http://www.westendwilma.com/asking-rembrandt-old-red-lion/

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TheCutting of the Cloth

By Michael Hastings

Southwark Playhouse

Director – Tricia Thorns

Set designer – Alex Marker

Lighting Designer – Neill Brinkworth

Costume designer – Emily Stuart

Sound Designer – Dominic Bilkey

Stage Manger – Linda Hapgood

Deputy Stage Manager – Claire Litton

Producer – Graham Cowley

Cast: Alexis Caley, Andy de La Tour, Paul Rider, James El-Sharawy, Abigail Thaw.

The work-room of a Savile Row tailors, 1953. Two master craftsmen at daggers drawn: Polish-born Spijak insists that nothing can beat the excellence of a hand-sewn suit, while Eric uses his machine to work at twice the speed and earn twice the money. Sparks fly as each fights his own corner with biting wit and vicious humour. Into this battleground steps Maurice, a teenager at the very start of his apprenticeship. Will he survive the gruelling training to become a master tailor? Or will he, as Spijak’s daughter urges him to, escape?

**** Fours Stars – The Financial Times

**** Four Stars – The Evening Standard

**** Four Stars – The Public Reviews

'Tricia Thorns’s production and Alex Marker’s design, however, are immaculate in their detail.'

Michael Billington – The Guardian

'Alex Marker's excellent set perfectly recreates the tailors' basement, complete with treadle sewing machines, hissing irons, flashing scissors and spools of thread…'

Sarah Hemming – The Financial Times

'There’s some strong comic playing from the cast and Alex Marker’s set is lovingly cluttered, a visual approach which complements the language of the play, dense as it is with the terminology of tailors.'

Natasha Tripney – The Stage

'Discovered by Two’s Company, it is sensitively directed by Tricia Thorns on Alex Marker’s set, which is so realistic you can almost feel the loose threads tickle your nose.'

Aleks Sierz – The Arts Desk

'The late Michael Hastings wrote this play in 1973. Tricia Thorn’s beautifully staged, finely acted production makes one amazed that it has never before been staged and could have lain in a drawer forgotten, even though listed in reference books.'

'It is a beautiful play given a production that couldn’t be bettered. It is moving, almost tragic and also very, very funny. It deserves to be seen much more widely but catch it now while you can.'

Howard Loxton – British Theatre Guide

'The real joy of director Tricia Thorn’s production is the care she has taken to depict the art of tailoring in 1950s London. Alex Marker’s set hums with industry -- steamers hiss, sewing machines whirr, and cloth is ripped, sewn and hammered within an inch of its life.'

Miriam Gillinson – Time Out

'The play is supported by the loveliest set I’ve seen at Southwark Playhouse, with three big workbenches strewn with offcuts, steaming irons, and blinking fluorescents above.'

David Ralf – Exeunt

'Alex Marker’s set design provides a wealth of convincing visual detail, complemented by the sizzle of the iron, the treadle of the sewing machine and by plenty of Savile Row expressions.'

Jon Wainwright - The Public Reviews

'Alex Marker’s set is so vivid and detailed that, sitting three rows back, I half expected to be taken to task for slacking.'

Stephen Bates – The Beast's Pen (Blog)

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Around the World in 80 Days

Adapted by Toby Hulse from the novel by Jules Verne

 The Theatre, Chipping Norton and National Tour

 Director – John Terry

Set and Costume Design – Alex Marker

Lighting Design – Amy Southeard

Composition and Sound Design – Eamonn O’Dwyer

Movement Direction – Bronya Deutsch

Company Stage Manager – Colin Newton

 Cast: Gareth Cassidy, Richard Hurst, and Anna Tolputt

 **** (Four stars) – The Stage

***** (Five Stars) – The Public Reviews

 ‘But what of the film’s 112 locations? Admittedly some scenes are omitted, but Alex Marker’s set design is a miracle of ingenuity, with bits that fold out and roll down to provide different backdrops’

 Giles Woodforde – Oxfordshire Times

http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/theatre/theatre/reviews/11510049.Around_the_World_in_80_Days___Chipping_Norton_Theatre/

 ‘The first thing the audience may notice on stage is a giant suitcase. While it initially plays the part of the Bank of England safe, it soon transforms into the play’s repository of props. It’s a typically simple but clever idea, suggesting that with increased ability to travel comes increased ability to perform different roles or embody different personae, and this production never lets up on that promise.’

Andrew Blades – The Stage

http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/40224/around-the-world-in-80-days-img

 ‘Well done, too, to set designer Alex Marker for the multi-compartmented suitcase from which this delightful production springs. Moonlighting as a bank vault, a consulate and Fogg’s own wardrobe, it’s a compact yet endlessly expansive solution to the challenge of putting eight countries on a modestly sized stage.’ 

Matt Dicks – The Public Reviews

http://www.thepublicreviews.com/around-the-world-in-80-days-the-theatre-chipping-norton/

 'Just as the Victorians were great inventors, so this show is ingenious in its presentation. The actors portraying the principle protagonists also become an array of other characters, often with wonderfully inventive use of props and accents, and great comic effect. It’s a very physical production with some great set pieces, and all three actors are hugely entertaining. The set, too, is very clever. It’s largely an over-sized trunk which opens up to become a set within a set, containing a multitude of props, drawers and doors. Part of the fun is seeing how each prop is re-used in different situations. If you’ve ever wondered how to pull an elephant from a trunk, you might get a few tips here. As one audience member said, ‘It was the best elephant ever!’

Gillian Lowe – Chippywordpress

http://chippynews.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/review-around-the-world-in-80-days-at-chippy-theatre/

[alexmarker]

Macbeth

By William Shakespeare

The Questors Theatre

Directors: Dan Martin and Anne Neville

Set Design: Alex Marker

Costume Designers: Jenny Richardson and Jennie Yates

Lighting Designer: Richard Mead

Composer and Sound Designer: Daniel Beilby

Cast: Jolene Howorth, Elena Zagalia, Claudia Carroll, Robin Ingram, Christian Search, Roberto De Domenici, Simon Higginson, Iain Reid, Mathew Brett, Anthony Curran, Richard Graylin, Scott Drummond, Nina Flitman, Jennifer Quille, David Hovatter, John Dobson, Tim Pemberton, Hannah Webster, Quinn Goodliffe, Adam Marshall, Idris Driver and Ollie Overy-Jones.

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New CV for 2014!

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What the Women Did

Luck of War by Gwen John

Handmaidens of Death by Herbert Tremaine

The Old Lady Shows Her Medals by J M Barrie

  Southwark Playhouse

  Director Tricia Thorns

Set Design Alex Marker

Costume Design Emily Stuart

Lighting Design Duncan Coombe

Sound Design Dominic Bilkey

  Cast

Mia Austen, Emily Bowker, Matthew Cottle, Simon Darwen, Alix Dunmore, Polly Eachus, Victoria Gee, Joseph Miller, Lucy Shaw, Fiona Sheehan, Alex Stuart, Jack Swift, Beatrix Taylor, George Taylor, Andrew Watkins, Susan Wooldridge

  Revived to mark the 1914 Centenary, Two’s Company’s has mounted a collection of forgotten gems written during WW1.

  The talented cast features BAFTA award-winning actress Susan Wooldridge, best known for her role as Daphne Manniers in The Jewel in the Crown as well as many successful TV drama series, together with Matthew Cottle who played Martin Henson in the long-running sitcom Game On and more recently played alongside Rowan Atkinson in the West End in Simon Gray’s Quartermaine’s Terms.

  Review Quotes

  **** Four Stars – Time Out

‘Tightly and fluidly directed by Tricia Thorns, with an excellent, versatile set of men-less homes from Alex Marker, this is a complex and funny evening. It’s a snapshot of some of the unlikely issues faced by women during that brutal conflict, which still speak to us today, 100 years on.’

 Daisy Bowie Sell – Time Out

 http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/what-the-women-did#.Uuj4QZQGnI0.twitter

  ‘Set designer Alex Marker has devised a set that intriguingly adapts to fit all three plays, the transitions becoming part of the action and the whole production team contributes to a time machine switch that captures the attitudes and feelings of our forbears.’

 Howard Loxton – British Theatre Guide

http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/what-the-women-two-s-company-9825

  ‘Get seated ten minutes early. In Alex Marker’s humbly clever set, a bricky terraced house,  the cast sing casually round a piano and the long, long trail of the century winds backward:   Pack up your Troubles, a soldiers’ jokey “If you were the only Boche in the trench..” and the  sinister jollity of  “We don’t want to lose you but we think you ought to go..”.  So before any theatre has even taken place, tears spring for the dead boys of long ago.  Director Tricia Thorns has craftily primed us.’

 Libby Purves - TheatreCat.com

http://theatrecat.com/2014/01/29/what-the-women-did-southwark-playhouse-se1/

  ‘Between the first and second plays, the stage undergoes a transformation. Whilst in the first scene we are in the kitchen, in the second we are outside of a house. The set, designed brilliantly by Alex Marker, moves like sliding doors to show the change from inside to outside. I expected a similar change to happen between the second and third plays but, keeping us on our toes, the stage is changed part way through the action.’

Eleanor Baggley – Whats on London

http://www.whats-on-london.co.uk/review/women-southwark-playhouse/

  ‘The set by Alex Marker is a triumph’

Aline Waites – Remotegoat.com

http://www.remotegoat.com/uk/review_view.php?uid=10648

  ‘Alex Marker’s fluid design is also interesting and inspired, moulding itself perfectly to the three different settings.’

 Helen Elizabeth Macdonald – Girloutside.com

http://girloutside.co.uk/2014/02/01/what-the-women-did-southwark-playhouse-january-2014/

  ‘With three plays taking place in the span of just over two hours, an audience might expect a very simple set with minimal props and changes, but Set Designer Alex Marker was more ambitious than that. What at first appeared a simple box set of the inside of a home, changed quickly to the outside of a tea and lemonade café for the second piece. The set gain transformed before the audiences’ eyes to the interior of a London apartment similar to, but with noticeable differences from, the first interior at the beginning of the third piece. By creating three noticeably different sets, Marker gave the audience a clear distinction from piece to piece, so that even if an audience member had not received a programme, they would have still understood the transition to a completely different work.’

 Elena Robertson – Robertson Reflections (Blog)

http://robertson-ramblings.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/reviews-what-women-did-southwark.html

[alexmarker]

Salisbury Playhouse

 London Calling

Writer and Director: Gareth Machin

Designer: Alex Marker

Musical Supervisor and arrangements: Kate Edgar

Choreographer: Joanne Redman

Lighting: Dave Marsh

Sound: Mark Noble

Production photographs: Richard Davenport

A musical journey through the streets of London - perfect entertainment for the festival season.

Piccadilly Circus, The East End, The West End, Carnaby Street, The Thames, a London bus… each one evokes something about our capital city.

London Calling is an affectionate celebration of the city in all its guises. From the stillness of dawn, to the excesses of its nightlife – the sights and sounds, style and romance – all told through words and music.

Songs include A Foggy Day, A Transport of Delight, Underneath the Arches, Baker Street, Waterloo Sunset and many more.

The company of performers includes Glyn Kerslake (The Phantom of the Opera, Merrily We Roll Along), Stuart McLoughlin (Brief Encounter for Kneehigh Theatre) and Lauren Storer (Dreamboats & Petticoats).

Review Quotes:

**** Four Stars – Whats On Stage

‘Picture the scene; a dim lamp light flickers on a damp, foggy night close to the banks of the River Thames and here we find our trio of highly accomplished and versatile performers, who sing, play numerous instruments, act and dance through nearly two hours of sheer enchantment. They weave us through an eclectic assortment of songs describing the many diverse aspects of London town. The intimate atmosphere of the Salberg Studio is perfect for this original piece of theatre.’

Veronica Crowley – Whats On Stage

http://www.whatsonstage.com/bournemouth-theatre/reviews/12-2013/london-calling-salisbury_33051.html

  ‘THIS is yet another superb show produced by Salisbury Playhouse.

In the intimate Salberg Studio, this hugely enjoyable musical has a simple yet effective set, including an atmospheric background of historical London, a red telephone box, a lamp-post, and an Underground sign with its map picked out on the stage floor and walls.’

Brendan McCusker – Southern Daily Echo

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/stage/10894651.REVIEW__London_Calling__Salisbury_Playhouse/

‘The show, devised and directed by Gareth Machin, with designer Alex Marker, and music arranged by Kate Edgar, is a total delight.’

‘Waterloo Sunset, a ’60s hit, and the Piccadilly Line Song, complete with illuminated map around the balcony, are among many treats in a great night out.’

Stella Taylor – This is Wiltshire

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/leisure/theatreandarts/10910937.Review__London_Calling__Salisbury_Playhouse/?ref=rss

[alexmarker]

The White Carnation by R.C.Sherriff - Finborough Theatre

The White Carnation by R.C.Sherriff

  The Finborough Theatre

  Directed by Knight Mantell

  Set Designed by Alex Marker

  Costume Design by Janet Hudson Holt

  Lighting Design by Peter Harrison

  Sound Design and Original Composition by Lucinda Mason Brown

  Cast: Robert Benfield, Daisy Boulton, Ashley Cook, Lynette Edwards, Aden Gillett, Harriett Hare, Josie Kidd, Bruce Panday, Joss Porter, Benjamin Whitrow, Derek Wright, Philip York.

  November – Saturday, 21 December 2013

The first production in sixty years

“There have been strange rumours about this house. Although it was in a state of ruin, lights were seen in the windows every Christmas Eve: music was heard: voices and laughter...”

With a superlative cast led by Aden Gillett (Winner of the OffWestEnd Award for Best Actor for Accolade at the Finborough Theatre) and Benjamin Whitrow.

Christmas Eve, 1951. As Britain rebuilds itself after the war, John Greenwood has it all – a successful business, a beautiful house and an aristocratic wife. But as he bids farewell to the guests leaving his annual Christmas party, a gust of wind slams the front door shut, starting a chain of events that makes him doubt everything he has ever known...

From the writer of one of the 20th century's most acclaimed plays, Journey’s End, The White Carnation is a ghostly tale of one man’s chance to do things differently. This rediscovery marks the first production since its premiere, starring Sir Ralph Richardson, in 1953.

Review Quotes:

‘Alex Marker, however, comes up with a stunning set that does a couple of lightning conversions.’ 

Michael Billington – The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/nov/29/white-carnation-review

  ‘Alex Marker once again gets the most out of the Finborough’s minute stage with a haunting monochrome design which possesses an ethereal quality, adding yet another layer of ambiguity to what really exists.’

 Nathaniel Kent – The Public Reviews 

http://www.thepublicreviews.com/the-white-carnation-finborough-london/

  ‘The set design was similarly well done, with care and consideration shown to the look and feel of the post-war time in which the play was written. As an audience we were taken straight into the situation of the text, and I genuinely felt like we were outside in this scene – an achievement considering I was upstairs in an old pub in West Brompton.’

 Everything Theatre

http://www.everything-theatre.co.uk/2013/11/the-white-carnation-finborough-theatre.html

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First London production for 60 Years

J.B.Priestley's

Summer Day's Dream

**** Four Stars, The Guardian

Directed by Alex Marker

Set Design by Philip Lindley

Lighting Design by Simeon Miller

Costume Design by Josie Thomas

Sound design by Max Pappenheim

  Cast: Lisa Armytage, Kevin Colson, Tom Grace, Helen Keeley, Keith Parry, Patrick Poletti, Peter Singh, Eleanor Yates.

“After two very successful revivals of neglected J.B. Priestley classics -Laburnum Grove and Cornelius, the Finborough tackles A Summer's Day, a play that has not been performed on stage in more than 60 years...Thought-provoking and well worth seeing.” Carolin Kopplin, UK Theatre Network

“A strangely compelling play from the heart of an anguished romantic.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

“Priestley explores a surprisingly modern take on global politics and the role of the national versus the international” Seb de Montmorency, The Public Reviews 


“Inside that burly pragmatist, JB Priestley, there was always a mystic struggling to get out. It is the latter that finally gains control in this extraordinary futuristic fantasia that has not been seen in London since its 1949 premiere.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

“Priestley’s strong moral message and criticisms of class systems shine through, and the audience is captured by the strangeness and drama of this wonderful play.” Alice Fitzgerald, The Upcoming

“The play not only has strong echoes of A Midsummer Night's Dream in its faith in rural magic and of Shaw's Heartbreak House in its vision of a natural kinship between age and youth. It is also uncannily topical at a time when Britain is being forced to ask whether its real influence lies in its cultural values rather than its militaristic posturing.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

“A well-constructed and well-timed revival, and inspires questions in the audience of what exactly our place is in global society, and it is certainly immensely enjoyable for its performances and individual nuances” Kirsty Emmerson, A Younger Theatre

“Kevin Colson is Priestley's voice in the play. Tired of his former life that revolved around obtaining riches, he has now found the peace that he has craved for so long. Colson and Keith Parry, as the seemingly simple minded but wise farm bailiff Fred Voles, live their characters.” Carolin Kopplin, UK Theatre Network

“It is Colson’s performance that holds the entire production together.” Alice Fitzgerald, The Upcoming

“Eleanor Yates is lovely as the vivacious and stubborn Rosalie” Carolin Kopplin, UK Theatre Network

“Patrick Poletti’s Yankee industrialist, Peter Singh as the Indian scientist and particularly Helen Keeley as the Soviet commissar make strong impressions as the interlopers” Seb de Montmorency, The Public Review

“There is strong support, in Alex Marker's production, from Lisa Armytage as Dawlish senior's daughter-in-law and from Helen Keeley as the iron Soviet lady who melts under the influence of rural life.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

“Alex Marker, who is better known as a wondrous designer, directs a capable cast” Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

“The Finborough Theatre has done a splendid job at bringing this eerie classic to life” Alice Fitzgerald, The Upcoming

Read the Guardian review here: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/sep/10/summer-days-dream-review

More information on how to book can be found at http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions/2013/summer-days-dream.php  

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The Moment of Truth

by Peter Ustinov.

  ★★★★ ”Often plays think they are better than they are that it is refreshing to see one that is better than it thinks. Southwark Playhouse’s revival of Ustinov’s witty, light and largely forgotten play, The Moment of Truth is one with more insight into the effect of conflict on the human condition than any number of recent dour slogs that masquerade as serious political theatre. Laycock’s production is both well pitched and well paced’ Exeunt

  ★★★★ ‘Much comedy to be enjoyed… the acting in this play is sublime... The set, designed by Alex Marker, is also very malleable, transforming from a cabinet office to a cliff-top exile’. FourthWall

  ‘Following the early cancellation of Tanzi Libre, this ended up being my first experience of Southwark Playhouse's new main house, and although not as atmospheric as the old railway tunnels I quickly warmed to the venue - apparently its seating capacity is larger than at London Bridge but it actually has a real intimacy to it, at least as configured here by Alex Marker. Used to making a little go a long way at the Finborough, the designer has here created a versatile thrust set that goes from government office to blasted battlements.’ Partially Obstructed View 

In its first professional staging since an acclaimed 1951 premiere, Peter Ustinov’s largely forgotten play is about the mechanics of toppling governments, the pretences of war and the power of propaganda.

A republic is poised to fall. The only remaining members of an unpopular government are its cynical Prime Minister and a naïve, emotional Foreign Secretary. The invading army has it’s boots upon the soil of this crumbling nation. Inside the cabinet office, toy soldiers and old icons of military glory veil the realities of war and bloodshed. Death, in a moment of truth was never so real.

  Directed by Robert Laycock

Set Design by Alex Marker

Lighting Design by Alex Marshall

Sound Design by Mathew Tarbuck

Composer Christopher Littlewood

  Cast: Rodney Bewes, Mark Carey, Callum Coates, Toni Kanal, Damian Quinn, Miles Richardson, Daniel Souter and Bonnie Wright