January 10
Première of The Thieves’ Carnival; comedy, romance; assignment sets and costumes [?], probably as assistant designer to Anne Fraser; direction Wal Cherry; Melbourne University Student Theatre, Union House Theatre, Melbourne; intermittent seasons January 10 to October 15, 1956.

February – Day [?]
Barry Kay creates the décor for a commercial stand at the Melbourne Ideal Home Exhibition. As the inscription of his drawing held at the Archive is illegible, the name of the enterprise for which it is designed cannot be established.

February – Day [?]
Kay exhibits his paintings at the Peter Bray Gallery, Melbourne; in a statement, dated 30 June 1956, the gallery records the sales of “Decor for a Tableau Vivant”, “Three-Fold Decorated Screen” and Daphnis and Chloé. Kay’s theatrical set design for Badinage, dated 1956, also appears to be one of the exhibits, as revealed by the information accompanying its donation [ibid] to the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, in 1997.

Month – Day [?]
Kay designs the front cloth or backdrop for what appears to be Circus Polka; ballet for fifty elephants and fifty human dancers; photograph of design stamped verso: Visual Aids Department, University of Melbourne; venue unknown.

February – March – April
Kay settles in England, making London his home. Not losing any time in making it known who he is, and in seeking professional introductions hoping to be commissioned to design for the theatre, he writes to Frederick Ashton and The British Council. Their responses are favourable, both granting Kay interviews and the chance to present his portfolio.

April 10
A letter written to Kay by a friend, Harold Holt1Harold Holt was the Australian Minister for Immigration from 19 December 1949 to 24 October 1956. Later he became the 17th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office from 26 January 1966 until his death on 19 December 1967., the Australian Minister for Immigration, seems to indicate that prior to leaving Australia Kay asks Holt, or Holt offers Kay, to exercise his influence in recommending him to professionals with connections to the performing arts in England. It appears that Kay provides Holt with a statement of his skills and experience, which the latter distributes among those he knows. In his letter Holt notes: “I have sent copies on to Mr Armstrong and Mr Alfred Stirling [presumably the Australian barrister-at-law, writer and diplomat; ed], so that they will have forward notice of the possibility of you contacting them.”

June 18
Première of Pulcinella; ballet; assignment sets; costumes Phyllidia Law; choreography Elizabeth West after Léonide Massine (Leonid Myasin); Western Theatre Ballet2Peter Darrell and Elizabeth West originally founded Western Theatre Ballet in 1957 in Bristol. The company transferred to Glasgow in 1969 to become Scottish Theatre Ballet. It was renamed Scottish Ballet in 1974.; Theatre Royal, Bristol.

December
Following his stay at various London locations since he moved to England, Kay takes up permanent residence at Hertford Street in Shepherd’s Market, Mayfair, London, where he also establishes his studio for may years to come.

December 20
Not only out of interests, but also to supplement his income, Kay is working as a graphic artist as well as a textile designer. He creates a Christmas card with a semi-mythical feel to it and, as for his ideas for fabrics3For Zika Ascher, Barry Kay designed a silk scarf believed to have been inspired by the pantomime Robinson Crusoe. The design features a frieze of stylized, imaginary scenes, executed in black silhouette and running around its border. The centre of the scarf is dominated by a firmament showing a cream-coloured moon surrounded by stars. Kay devised the scarf in three background variations – café au lait, cerise and lavender blue. The silkscreen printing is of an extremely high standard, for which Ascher was renowned., the press notes that “the young artist’s designs have been snatched up by none other than the celebrated and most advanced of English enterprises – Ascher Fabrics”.

June 24
Première of The Prisoners; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrel; Western Theatre Ballet; Dartington Festival, Dartington Hall, Devon. The fruitful working retlationship between Darrell and Barry Kay, evolving from designing this production, establishes Kay as principal designer of Western Theatre Ballet for many years to come. This staging represents a benchmark production in that it paves the way for Kay’s career in England.

July 25
Première of Non Stop; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet; Arts Theatre Club, London.

Summer
First night of Pulcinella; ballet; revival; assignment sets; costumes Phyllida Law; choreography Elizabeth West after Léonide Massine (Leonid Myasin); Western Theatre Ballet; Dartington Festival [?], Dartington Hall [?], Devon.

November 19
Première of Measure for Measure; drama, comedy; assignment sets, costumes and properties; production and direction Margaret Webster; Old Vic Company (dissolved in 1963); Old Vic Theatre, London; 1957-58 season.

January 21
Upon the recommendation of Charles Landstone, author of plays, Bryan Bailey – first director of the newly erected Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, to be opened in March of this year – approaches Kay, proposing a meeting to discuss design work in connection with the theatre’s inauguration season. Their meeting results in Kay being invited to design Picnic: A Summer Romance by William Inge, Romanoff and Juliet by Peter Ustinov, and Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw.

April 14
Première of Picnic: A Summer Romance; drama, romance; assignment sets, costumes and properties; direction Peter Dews; Belgrade Theatre Company; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; first performance in England, second production of the Belgrade Theatre’s inaugural season.

April 20 – May 2
Kay exhibits “Designs for the Theatre”4In the context of appropriately exhibiting theatre designs at Melbourne galleries, and in comparing Kay’s designs to those of Kenneth Rowell, Gordon F De’Lisle, the photograhhic illustrator, is commenting in the Melbourne newspaper, The Age: “Barry Kay’s work … is patchy and immature, but is it not possible that he will emerge another Rowell, or better? The only way we can find out is to see his work hung, to watch him take on stature, and to encourage him in his endeavours by buying his pictures if they please us.”
In contrast to De’Lisle, Arnold Shore, the art critic of The Age, has this to say: “The attraction at Brummel’s Gallery is Barry Kay’s “Designs for the Theatre”. As working drawings these are rather well dressed. The drawings of bodies and underneath costumes is not enlightening, but this may not be a “working drawing” necessity. He has certainly been successful with designing décor and costumes for the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells. Some of the humorous Measure for Measure characters, and the Pulcinella décor – a brilliant sea of colour – could explain this success.”, showing sets and costume drawings he created for productions in England over recent years; Brummel’s Gallery; South Yarra, Melbourne.

April 28 – May 10
Première of Romanoff and Juliet; play; assignment sets, costumes [?]; direction Peter Streuli; Belgrade Theatre Company; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; inaugural season.

May 12 – 24
Première of Saint Joan; drama; assignment sets, costumes [?]; direction Peter Streuli; Belgrade Theatre Company; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; inaugural season.

July 22
World première of The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore; madrigal fable, dance, opera5External link to The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore.; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; New Opera Company; Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London; revised version 1962.

August 12 – 22
First night, revival of Pulcinella; ballet; assignment sets; costumes Phyllida Law; choreography Elizabeth West after Léonide Massine (Leonid Myasin); Western Theatre Ballet; Lyric Opera House, Hammersmith, London.

June 27 – season June 19-28
Première of A Purcell Cabaret; musical entertainment; assignment setting, costumes; devised by Raymond Leppard (harpsichord) and Colin Graham (direction); English Opera Group Ensemble; venue Workman’s Hall, Thorpeness, Suffolk; event Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts. Recording and airing [date ?] by BBC Radio; subsequent airing by KPFK Radio, Los Angeles, CA, 19 January 1960.

November 18
Première of Bal de la Victoire; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet in conjunction with Béjart Ballet; Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels. Performance presented as part of a quadruople bill together with Chiaroscuro [as below] and The Prisoners, first premièred in 1957 at the Dartington Festival, Devon – Filming of Bal de la Victoire for BBC TV, “Music for You”, to be shown on 27 April 1960.

November 18
Première of Chiaroscuro; ballet; assignment sets; costumes Peter Cazalet; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet; Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels.

April 27
Airing of Bal de la Victoire; ballet; BBC TV, programme “Music for You”.

May 8
First night of Bal de la Victoire; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet; Royal Court Theatre, London.

June 25
Opening night of A Mendelssohn Soirée, vocal-orchestral recital; assignment setting and costumes; production and direction Colin Graham; English Opera Group Ensemble; Workman’s Hall, Thorpeness, Suffolk; Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts

October 21
Quadruple ballet première in the Netherlands: Non Stop and The Prisoners (both designed 1957), Bal de la Victoire and Chiaroscuro (both designed 1959); assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet on tour; venue Stadsschouwburg, Haarlem; season 1960/61.

November 13
Première of Sound Barrier; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Sunday Ballet Club; Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London.

November 18
Première of Bal de la Victoire; ballet; assignment sets ans costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet and Béjart Ballet; Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels.

December [?] – 15
As one of eighteen modern Australian artists, Kay participates in an exhibition of summer dresses painted with original designs. He displays a fabric of blue and gold treatment throughout. His design, along with the contributions by his colleagues, is praised as commendably planned in relation to the simple form of the dress. All designs are auctioned on December 15. Museum of Modern Arts, Hicks Gallery; Bourke Street, Melbourne.

March 22
Première of The Cunning Little Vixen; opera; assignment sets, costumes and properties; direction Colin Graham; conductor Colin Davis; Sadler’s Wells Opera Company; Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.

Spring – Summer
As co-designer, Kay is working on ideas for setting and costumes for Peter Darrell’s Salade, a ballet to be presented at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

Lord Harewood, Director of the Edinburgh Festival, invites Barry Kay to artistically oversee the staging of a triple bill of ballet works, including Salade. In this capacity, Kay collaborates with two other participating Australian artists: Arthur Boyd, painter and sculptor, designing the set and costumes for Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Renard; Ian Spurling, stage designer, providing the sets and costumes for Kenneth MacMillan’s The Seven Deadly Sins, a ballet based on the Brecht-Weill co-production – both for Western Theatre Ballet.

September 4
Première of Salade; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; co-designer Peter Cazalet; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet; Empire Theatre6The Empire Theatre is no longer in existence. In 1994, the Edinburgh Festival Theatre was erected on its site., Edinburgh International Festival, duration September 4 – 6. The ballet is presented as part of a triple bill.

June 28
First night of The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore; madrigal fable, dance, opera; revised version; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Theatre Royal, Bristol.

November 6
World première of Engaged! or Cheviot’s Choice; opera version based on W.S. Gilbert’s farcical comedy ‘Engaged’; assignment sets and costumes; music Arthur Sullivan; adaptation George Rowell and Kenneth Mobbs; selected cast; Theatre Royal, Windsor. Four-week season as of première date.7The Archive’s records show that Barry Kay created the designs for the Windsor staging. Although there is no indication, they may also have been intended for the Bristol Opera School, who first performed the production at the Victoria Rooms, Bristol, on 27 March 1962. The Windsor presentation was the first professional production.

Autumn – Winter
In search of commissions to design for Australian theatres, Kay pays his hometown, Melbourne, a visit. Undertaking his own public relations, he initiates an interview with the local press. In the brief announcement, he declares that “there isn’t enought theatre work here just yet”.

May 16
First night of The Prisoners; ballet; design 1957, assignment scenerey and costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet on tour; sponsors British Council and Theater Impresariaat Internationaal Ltd; venue Rotterdamse Schouwburg; event Ballet Festival.

June 24
World première of Solitaire pas de deux; third ballet of a quadruple bill; assignment costumes; choreography Kenneth MacMillan; Western Theatre Ballet; Theatre Royal, Bristol. – Kay’s first collaboration with MacMillan who, impressed by the work he has done for Peter Darrell, commissions him to design this piece.

World première of Observations; last ballet of a quadruple bill and danced to Darius Milhaud’s “Le Carnaval d’Aix”; assignment costumes; choreography Peter Darrell; Western Theatre Ballet; Theatre Royal, Bristol.

July 23
US premières of Solitaire pas de deux and Observations as above; venue and event Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, Massachusetts. – In a review of the local Berkshire Eagle, Barry Kay’s costumes for Observations are described as “strikingly original”.

April 2
World première of Images of Love; ballet; assignment sets and costumes; choreography Kenneth MacMillan; The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London. – An avid champion of pioneering fundamental change in ballet design, Kay achieves his notable breakthrough with three-dimensionally constructed sets for this production.

June 9
Gala Première of Divertimento; ballet; assignment costumes; choreography Kenneth MacMillan; pas de deux for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev; solo violin Yehudi Menuhin; music Bála Bartók; Theatre Royal, Bath, Somerset; Bath Festival of the Arts. – To promote the festival, Kay also designs a street décor to be displayed in Bath Street, Bath, city centre.

July 2
Première of No Why; drama, comedy; assignment sets and costumes; direction John Schlesinger; Royal Shakespeare Company; Aldwych Theatre, London. This and the next play are part of a triple bill.

July 2
Première of The Keyhole / Le Serrure; drama; assignment sets and costumes; direction Garry O’Connor; Royal Shakespeare Company; Aldwych Theatre, London.

August 5
Première of Victor; drama; assignment sets and costumes; direction Robin Midgley; Royal Shakespeare Company; Aldwych Theatre, London.

December 3
Première of Chaganog; revue; assignment sets and costumes; direction Alfred Rodrigues; production Peter Bridge; selected cast; venue Vaudeville Theatre, London.8The revue Chaganog takes its name from its two instigators, the actors Julian Chagrin and George Ogilvie – “Chag-an’-Og”. Initially directed by Braham Murray, it premièred first as the official late-night show of the Edinburgh Festival at the King’s Theatre on 17 November 1964. According to Chagrin, the show took place against black drapes with props made by himself and costumes done by his wife. As the revue was not a success, its producer, Peter Bridge, decided to bring in the director Alfred Rodrigues to revamp it and put it on in the London West End after a provincial tour. Rodriguez in turn commissioned Barry Kay to provide costumes and sets. It is this version that was presented at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, on 3 December 1964, and at other venues thereafter.

Month / Day [?]
At some stage in the course of this year Barry Kay is designing for the Royal Swedish Ballet, Stockholm, apparently performing in Copenhagen; assignment [?], [subject [?].9Notes held at the Archive indicate that Barry Kay was working on a production for Kenneth MacMillan. It appears to have been staged with the Royal Swedish Ballet in Copenhagen. To date, no further details have emerged.

Also, sometime this year, Barry Kay and the director Colin Graham are jointly compiling a document outlining a ‘Project for the Formation of an Opéra Bouffe Company’ – a scheme envisaged for 1965. So far, however, no records have surfaced as to the progress or outcome of their planned venture.

March 1
First night of Chaganog; revue; assignment sets and costumes; direction Alfred Rodrigues; production Peter Bridge; selected cast; Theatre Royal, Brighton.

March 17
Première of Kindly Monkeys; drama, play with dancing; assignment sets; direction Krishna Shah; New Arts Theatre, London (today: Arts Theatre). In his review in the Financial Times, John Higgins describes Kay’s setting – the interior of a Brahma temple – as magical.

April – day [?]
First night of Chaganog; revue; assignment sets and costumes; direction Alfred Rodrigues; production Peter Bridge; selected cast; St. Martin’s Theatre, London.

July 5 – 20
Debut of Darling; drama, comedy, satire; movie; assignment consultant designer10The Archive holds conflicting information in respect of Kay’s assignment to Darling; both consultant designer and art director are recorded. It would appear more likely for Kay to have worked in conjunction with the costume designer, Julie Harris, or the set designer, David Ffolkes, rather than with the art director, Ray Simm.; costumes Julie Harris; sets David Ffolkes; direction John Schlesinger; starring Dirk Bogarde, Julie Christie and Laurence Harvey; venue 4th Moscow International Film Festival; USA première 3 August 1965; UK première 16 September 1965.

Summer – Winter
Having spotted Kay’s refined skills and potential for creating three-dimensional sets, evident in Images of Love, Rudolf Nureyev commissions him to design the sets and costumes for two ballets – Raymonda, act III, for the The Royal Ballet Touring Company, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, and Tancredi for the Wiener Staatsopernballett (since 2010 Wiener Staatsballett), State Opera House, Vienna. Both productions are scheduled to be premièred mid next year.

December 13 – 24
“Barry Kay: Stage Designs”, an exhibition of sets and costume designs created for Kenneth MacMillan’s Images of Love; also on view are initial drawings outlining Kay’s ideas for Rudolf Nureyev’s forthcoming productions of Tancredi and Don Quixote, both for the Wiener Staatsopernballett; venue Grosvenor Gallery, Mayfair, London.

December 15
Coinciding with above exhibition, the BBC is presenting a dialogue in which Kay discusses his work with the ballet critic and author Nigel Gosling; venue BBC Radio, Network Three, “New Comment”, a weekly review of the arts.

Month / Day [?]
At some stage during this year Barry Kay is designing the costumes for Georges Feydeau’s play The Birdwatcher, possibly intended for Richard Cottrell’s production to be premièred at the Hampstead Theatre Club in January 1966.