59 Productions

59 Productions is an Olivier and Tony Award-winning design studio and production company with offices in London and New York.

59 Productions
Industrycreative direction, technical design, and projection
FounderLeo Warner and Mark Grimmer
Headquarters
Edinburgh
,
United Kingdom
Number of employees
35
Websitewww.59productions.co.uk

Origins

59 Productions was founded in Edinburgh by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer. Early projects included the video design for Stellar Quines Theatre Company's Sweet Fanny Adams in Eden (2003),[1] followed by the video design for the recently formed National Theatre of Scotland's Roam (2006) and Black Watch (2006), which featured in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[2] Shortly after the success of the show, which won multiple awards at Edinburgh Festivals, a Critics' Circle Theatre Award, a South Bank Sky Arts Award, four Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award,[3] 59 Productions relocated to London, where they began a series of collaborations at the Royal National Theatre,[4] causing critics to say that the company had "created an entirely new art form."[5]

59's Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer were part of the original creative team for War Horse in 2007, which went on to win six Laurence Olivier Awards[6] in London and five Tony Awards for the subsequent production on Broadway.[7]

59 Productions undertook its first opera in 2007 at the English National Opera, providing the projection design for Philip Glass's Satyagraha, directed by Phelim McDermott and designed by Julian Crouch of Improbable theatre.[8] This was the first of several collaborations with Improbable theatre, including the design for the Metropolitan Opera's 125th Anniversary Gala in 2009, which raised more than $10 million.[9]

In 2012, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle asked 59 Productions to provide the animation and projection design for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, viewed by an audience of over a billion people.[10] At around the same time, 59 was also asked to lead the design of the David Bowie is exhibition for the Victoria and Albert Museum, marking the company's expansion into the world of exhibition design. The exhibit was described as "brought to life by technology and united in sound and vision in a way rarely seen in a museum."[11] The company was commissioned to "Light the Sails" at Sydney Opera House for the 2014 VIVID Live festival.[12] In 2015 they were responsible for the projection design for the first-ever Broadway production of George Gershwin's An American in Paris (film). The production went on to win 4 Tony Awards, including Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Bob Crowley and 59 Productions.[13]

In July 2016, 100 years to the day since William E. Boeing turned his attention to the thrilling and world-changing field of aviation, 59 Productions mounted an immersive show on a vast scale – The Boeing Centennial Projection Spectacular – a celebration of the Boeing company's centenary, for more than 80,000 spectators, across 30 performances, at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington. The show featured an animated sequence projection-mapped onto the body of a Boeing 747, telling the history of the iconic aircraft, as well as a specially commissioned soundtrack by composer, Jeff Beale.

In 2017, the company developed and produced their first self-initiated production, an adaptation of Paul Auster's City of Glass, written by Duncan Macmillan. City of Glass was a co-production with the Lyric Hammersmith, HOME Manchester and Karl Sydow. The production was described by The Daily Telegraph as a "Neo-noir thriller that rewrites the rulebook for theatre design."[14]

In 2018, 59 Productions provided both set and projection design for The Last Ship, the Sting musical which tells the story of the shipbuilding industry in the North East of England. The production opened at Northern Stage before embarking on a UK tour. Other recent projects include the design of Marnie, an opera by Nico Muhly which transferred to the Metropolitan Opera after an initial run at the English National Opera in London. The company also designed large scale events in 2018 for both the BBC First Night of the Proms at The Royal Albert Hall, and the Edinburgh International Festival.

Alongside their work for the stage, 59 Productions also made two award-winning VR films in 2018, Grenfell: Our Home,[15] a collaboration with Parable and Channel 4 which won the Audience Award[16] at Sheffield Doc Fest; and Nothing To Be Written,[17] commissioned by the BBC, winner of Best UK Experience at Raindance.[18] In November 2018, their film collaboration with composer Eric Whitacre and NASA, Deep Field, premiered at Kennedy Space Center.

Now employing 35 people worldwide, with offices in London and New York, 59 Productions works in set design, video projection design, exhibition and events design, film, theatre, and interactive production. The company expanded in 2016 to include an architecture department with a particular focus on design for performance environments, and an interest in developing forms of architectural expression which are fundamentally narratively led.

Selected productions

Selected tours
  • 2011–2014—War Horse. After its successful run at the Royal National Theatre, the production won five Tony Awards on Broadway, including Best Play and Best Design. The show also toured in the UK & Ireland, North America, Holland, Germany, and South Africa.[27]
  • 2010—Jónsi-Go Live World Tour. 59 conceived, designed, and produced the stage show for Jónsi's 2010 tour of North America, Europe, Australia and Japan.[28]
  • 2009–2014—The new, redesigned version of Les Misérables has toured the UK, Japan, Korea, Spain, and Australia.[29]
  • 2008—The Waves, which started at the Royal National Theatre, toured the UK, North America, and Europe.[30]
  • 2006–2011—Black Watch, which started at the National Theatre of Scotland, went on to tour the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.[31]

References
  1. "Sweet Fanny Adams in Eden". Stellar Quines Theatre Company. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
  2. Brantley, Ben (24 October 2007). "To Tell These War Stories, Words Aren't Enough". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
  3. "Awards for the National Theatre of Scotland". National Theatre of Scotland. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  4. Sears, Amelia (July 2008). "Interviews with the Creative Team" (PDF). National Theatre Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  5. Gardner, Lyn (4 December 2006). "Waves sets a high-water mark for multimedia theatre". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  6. Shenton, Mark (9 March 2008). "Hairspray Wins Four 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards Including Best Musical". Playbill. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  7. "British play War Horse triumphs at Tony Awards". The Telegraph. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  8. Brieler, Philipp. "The Art of Satyagraha". The Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  9. Tommasini, Anthony (16 March 2009). "A Gala of Singing and Nostalgia (Addio, Speeches)". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  10. "London Olympics Opening Ceremony 2012". STROMA Films. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  11. Menkes, Suzy (18 March 2013). "David Bowie Brought to Life, in All His Guises". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  12. "Lighting the Sails". VIVID Live. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  13. "2015 Tony Winners". Tony Awards. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  14. Allfree, Claire (27 April 2017). "Neo-noir thriller that rewrites the rulebook for theatre design - City of Glass, Lyric Hammersmith review". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  15. "A new VR documentary takes you inside Grenfell before the fire". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  16. "Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival". sheffdocfest.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  17. "BBC - The first ever Virtual Reality Prom - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  18. "Award Winners - Raindance Immersive Stories 2018 - Raindance". Raindance. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  19. "An American in Paris". An American in Paris Broadway. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  20. Fisher, Neil (21 May 2014). "How to melt the Sydney Opera House". The Times. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  21. Brantley, Ben (22 April 2014). "A Cold War Casualty, Hot for Freedom (and Heels)". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  22. Stasio, Marilyn (23 March 2014). "Broadway Review Les Miserables". Variety. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  23. Hume, Marion (15 April 2013). "David Bowie Exhibition Opens at London's V&A". Forbes. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  24. Loomis, George (18 August 2009). "Amid Upheavals, a Steady Salzburg Festival". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  25. Boswell, Jenna (6 October 2011). "59 Productions and the Making of War Horse". Kinographics. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  26. Chadwick, Alan (6 April 2006). "First Class Act". The Metro. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  27. "National Theatre of Great Britain Production War Horse". War Horse on Stage. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  28. Aames, Timothy (20 January 2012). "Jónsi & Fifty Nine Productions: Taxidermy Fire Inspires Darkness-to-Light Aesthetic". Alarm. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  29. "Les Miserables Broadway". lesmis.com. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  30. Brantley, Ben (17 November 2008). "Six Lives Ebb and Flow, Interconnected and Alone". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  31. "National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch US Tour Dates Announced". All Media Scotland. 16 July 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
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