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Latest revision as of 18:36, 29 December 2024
Theatre designer
| Maria Björnson | |
|---|---|
 Björnson in 1988 | |
| Born | Maria Elena Björnson (1949-02-16)16 February 1949 Paris, France |
| Died | 13 December 2002(2002-12-13) (aged 53) London, England |
| Education | |
| Known for | |
| Awards | |
Maria Elena Björnson (16 February 1949 – 13 December 2002) was a theatre designer. She was born in Paris to a Norwegian father and Romanian mother, and was the great-granddaughter of the Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903.
Life
Björnson was born in Paris on 16 February 1949. Her father Bjørn was a businessman from Norway; her mother, Mia Prodan (full name Maria Prodan de Kisbunn), was from Romania. Both were from theatrical families. Björnson was raised by her mother in London. She studied at the Lycée Français, and then at the Byam Shaw School of Art and at the Central School of Art and Design.
She designed sets and costumes for theatre, ballet and opera. She worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and designed Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera – for which she won a Tony Award for Best Scenic Design and for Best Costume Design, and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design and for Outstanding Costume Design – and the Trevor Nunn production of Aspects of Love.
Björnson was course director for theatre design at the Central School of Art and Design. She died of epilepsy at her home in Hammersmith on Friday 13 December 2002, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. She was 53.
Reception
In 2006, the refurbished Young Vic opened a new studio theatre named the "Maria" in her memory. The first performance there was Love and Money by Dennis Kelly, directed by Matthew Dunster and designed by Anna Fleischle.
References
- ^ Anne Midgette (22 December 2002). Maria Bjornson, 53, Designer For Opera, Theater and Dance. The New York Times. Archived 21 September 2013.
- Kenneth Jones (16 December 2002). Maria Björnson, Designer Who Won Tonys for the Phantom's Lair, Dead at 53. Playbill. Archived 24 December 2015.
- ^ David Jays (16 December 2002). Maria Bjornson: A leading set and costume designer, she brought a unique sense of romantic expressionism to theatre, opera and musicals. The Guardian. Archived 21 September 2013.
- ^ Charles Saumarez Smith (2016). Bjørnson, Maria Elena (1949–2002). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/107516. (subscription required).
- Aleks Sierz (22 November 2006). Love and Money. The Stage Reviews. Archived 11 June 2011.
- 1949 births
- 2002 deaths
- French costume designers
- Women costume designers
- French scenic designers
- French theatre designers
- Women theatre designers
- Opera designers
- French people of Romanian descent
- Norwegian people of French descent
- Academics of Central Saint Martins
- Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design
- Alumni of the Byam Shaw School of Art
- Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
- Women scenic designers
- Deaths from epilepsy