"Philip Witcomb's set boasts one of the most staggeringly beautiful pieces of design

I've ever seen on the Scottish stage."
Joyce McMillan on Cinderella directed by James Brining for Dundee Rep Theatre - The Scotsman * * * *

 

Beauty and the Beast - Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

 

Philip Witcomb is a British set and costume designer based in New York. After studying Theatre Design at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design and The Slade School of Fine Art in London Philip started his design career at the acclaimed Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. His long connection to this dynamic building, steeped in a tradition of ground-breaking design has had a truly profound impact on both Philip's career and design sensibility.

His designs for Elijah Moshinsky's seminal and celebrated London production of Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of The Screw at Wiltons Music Hall were  described in The Independent  as "Designs that dwell well on one brilliant coup, delivering events to your eyeball" and The Guardian commented that "This is, without question, the definitive Turn of the Screw for our times." 

Philip's lavish designs for Cinderella at Dundee Repertory Theatre were hailed in The Scotsman as "Boasting one of the most staggeringly beautiful pieces of design ever seen on the Scottish stage" and earned him nominations for 'Best Design' and 'Best Production for Children' at the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (C.A.T.S Awards).

Philip's other awards include nominations for 'Best Designer' for Love in a Maze at The Watermill Theatre (T.M.A Theatre Awards), 'Best Production for Children' for Beauty and the Beast (C.AT.S Awards), 'Best Production' for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Dundee Rep (C.A.T.S Awards), and 'Best off-West End Production' for The White Devil at The Menier Chocolate Factory, London (Whatsonstage Theatregoers' Choice Awards).

Now with fifteen years experience designing for some of the most exciting companies in the United Kingdom, including The Menier Chocolate Factory, Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Bill Kenwright Productions, The Watermill Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Birmingham Rep, Frantic Assemby, The Citizens Theatre, Dundee Rep, Northampton Royal Theatre, Wiltons Music Hall, Alan Ayckbourn's Stephen Joseph Theatre, Hull Truck Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse, Philip has a portfolio of over 55 productions that span from intimate studio shows to main house proscenium stages and from commercial tours to large-scale open air productions.

Philip was also one of twelve finalists selected for The Linbury Prize, the United Kingdom's most prestigious award for stage design, culminating in an exhibition of his work at the Royal National Theatre in London.