IN THE NEXT ROOM or THE VIBRATOR PLAY - The Actors Theatre of Louisville / Milwaukee Repertory Theatre
"The set, which displays the Givings' drawing room and the doctor's operating theater, is curvy and elegant and dressed with carefully selected and well-used props."
"With the spot-on aesthetic elements in place, the strong cast under the direction of Laura Gordon fantastically realizes Ruhl's exceptional script. Themes of nature versus technology, light and dark, and the quest for sexual identity prevail, allowing us to laugh at the characters' innocence, empathize with their struggles and leave feeling fulfilled."
The Louisville Eccentric Observer
"Ruhl lifts up the interesting phenomenon no less in evidence today than in 1880 whereby men and women often share space but on separate, parallel planes. While the male characters of In the Next Room carry on their insular lives, making plans and decisions for their wives and dependants, the female characters make connections with themselves and each other that pass unnoticed.
This idea is restated in scenic designer Philip Witcomb's beautiful design that incorporates two circles that meet, but fail to intersect. The set is also indicative of Ruhl's Victorian story-telling style, filled with embellishments often streamlined out of modern theatre."
Arts-Louisville
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Citizens Theatre, Glasgow
NOMINATED FOR 'BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'
'2010/11 CRITICS AWARDS FOR THEATRE IN SCOTLAND'.
"Around the Beast's Castle there are burning-eyed creatures in the wild wood whose silver-grey roots, in Philip Witcomb's designs, thrust themselves organically through and around the proscenium."
"It's true that there are some genuinely challenging moments. A Christmas treat, no question, but one to send you out thinking rather than singing and dancing."
The Times * * * *
"Philip Witcomb's haunted-house set is brooding."
"Guy Hollands's serious-minded production, is lush, dreamlike, creepy and emotionally satisfying."
The Guardian * * * *
"IF YOU are a theatre lover - a fan of high drama, sweeping spectacle, and fearless emotion - then there's no doubt which Christmas show should be your first choice this year."
"Alan McHugh's new version of Beauty and the Beast, directed by Guy Hollands on a fabulous grey-and-silver set by Philip Witcomb - all cobwebs and whirling birch forests, with a great, howling moon - is a superb piece of musical theatre, beautiful to look at, magnificently acted, and powerfully sung."
"This remains an astonishingly powerful new take on a familiar story, swept up into a seamless and gorgeous piece of theatre."
The Scotsman * * * *
"The Beast, imprisoned in the grey decaying grandeur of Philip Witcomb's atmospheric set, running wild through the midnight forest that, on a revolve, shifts and spins to breath-taking effect."
"This isn't Disney, it isn't a jolly panto. The music and songs, like McHugh's themes, have depths of sophistication best suited to older children - but in every way, from the captivating visual impact to the superb acting, this is the stuff of memorable theatre."
The Herald * * * *
"Haunted by the same spirits that chilled the Christmases of Dickensian literature, Philip Witcomb's design is breathtakingly beautiful - a highlight not just of the season but of the year. It captures the decaying grandeur of the British Empire in the Regency period, all dusty grey foot servants and enamelled mirrors."
"Part Universal horror film, part Gothic Victorian literature, it is something both cinematic and nightmarish."
"The Citizens Theatre has, once again, created something very special, a production red in tooth and claw that sets the heart both fluttering and racing. Gloriously lit by Colin Greenfell, visceral in its design and aurally rich, Beauty and the Beast is more than just another pantomime of comic faces in gooey gowns."
"This is a feast for anyone who wants more from a Christmas show than a handful of caught sweets."
Whatsonstage * * * *
"In general, this show eschews the typical squeaky clean, 'look behind you' nature of the Christmas production. The ending, twisted into a more realistic resolution, fits with designer Philip Witcomb's gothic imagery, bringing out the light and shade of the story itself."
The List * * * *
"Beauty and the Beast offers an engaging and intelligent take on the mythology."
"Hollands and McHugh share a serious intention, supported by a detailed and versatile set."
The Stage
"The Citizens Beauty and the Beast is a classy Christmas cracker."
"Call of the wild makes for an enchanting Gothic horror you can really sink your teeth into."
"Two years ago, Jemima Levick's highly imaginative production of the French fairytale at Dundee Rep proved one of the highlights of the Scottish theatre calendar. Guy Hollands' production at the Citz, while very different in style, is no less enchanting or gripping. If anything it's darker."
"Jim Sturgeon's Beast meanwhile is not so much a study in rage, as embarrassment and humiliation, and all the more effective for it."
"It all makes for a heady, and dare one say it, Freudian mix. One in which McHugh opts for a different ending than is usual that seems more in keeping with the moral heart of the story."
STV
WIND IN THE WILLOWS - Derby Theatre
"An entrancing Christmas production."
"They all mess about quite happily in boats, motor cars, the Gypsy caravan, a canal barge and steam train not to mention a creepily scary Wild Woods, which had the family audience jumping in their seats, in designer Philip Witcomb's beautifully realised sets."
Whatsonstage * * * *
"This is so beautiful and hypnotic that I could have stayed to watch it all over again. Hannah Chissick has a real affection for the book and captures its world to perfection, with imaginative use of the revolve on Philip Witcomb's set."
"There are moments of pure tranquillity among the reeds of the riverbank, and episodes of glorious madness on the open road."
"It's full of ingenuity. The rabbits introduce leaf blowers into the autumn sweep and Toad's stained loo and double bunk at Wild Wood Scrubs metamorphose into the steam engine on which he makes his flying escape."
"You come out believing there is still goodness in the world."
The Stage
"Wind in the Willows has set the benchmark this Christmas."
"If you enjoy classic storytelling, a gentle ode to the values of friendship and well-produced theatre, this is a Christmas treat that will surely melt away your winter blues."
"Best of all are the production values, designer Philip Witcomb has delivered a sumptuous production that's a joy to behold."
"Whether we are messing about on the river, taking a gypsy caravan on a journey, or lost in the Wild Wood, it's a visual feast."
Derby Telegraph
"Hannah Chissick directs with assurance and Witcomb's set which covers a multitude of scene changes is little short of stunning."
The British Theatre Guide
OTHELLO - Ludlow Festival Theatre
"Grippingly arranged against the atmospheric castle walls with long walkways and, in Philip Witcomb's design, a large golden frame and a chaotic installation of suspended bed frames."
Whatsonstage
"Crocker spreads the action with commendable bravura against both the castle walls and Philip Witcomb's striking sculptural design of cascading bed frames around a tilting gilt doorway and red curtain."
The Independent
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
"Philip Witcomb's set design, with its condensation damp walls and sparse rigidity, is oppressive and intimate. The atmosphere of the Argentinean prison cell in which the action takes place emanates thickly into the auditorium. I am impressed by the striking immediacy of the dire circumstances for this play's central characters."
"This studio production is simple but highly effective. The intimate setting, truthful performances and clear direction facilitate a satisfying sympathy and a moving experience of a beautiful, lyrical play."
Whatsonstage * * * * *
TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT
"Havergal's premiere was played on an ordered garden, where growing dahlias was Henry's life. In Northampton, designer Philip Witcomb opts contrastingly for higgledy-piggledy piles of luggage-like compartments.
These give a sense of unsteadiness and transience, increasingly apt for the action. In which they play their part: a trans-Europe train journey identifies stations by labels revealed inside passing cases. And compartments open up, briefly revealing characters, or the prison cell where three Henry's seem simultaneously confined.
Eventually this set forms the doors and windows of a South American mansion where the plot reaches its climax - the shafts of Richard Godin's lighting menacingly piercing the slats of blinds."
"A riveting, hurtling production."
Reviews Gate
HORMONAL HOUSEWIVES
"Designed by Philip Witcomb with a spectacular, ever changing backdrop of silhouetted female images, light and flame."
The Scotsman
The Times
OTHELLO - Citizens Theatre, Glasgow
"Hollands's production reveals many fine qualities. There's an effective stylised grey wall of a set, by Philip Witcomb, that opens to reveal glimpses of the world."
The Scotsman
"The stark set from Philip Witcomb, essentially two mobile walls allows a rapid pace, segueing one scene into the next."
The Stage
"Through costume and design, the production draws parallels between the racism exhibited by Iago and Brabantio towards Othello."
"It is Witcomb's set, rather than the dialogue itself, which streams this production from scene to scene and is undoubtedly the smoothest and slickest aspect of the evening."
Whatsonstage
"Philip Witcomb's design is surprisingly engaging. Two great, grey flats move in three dimensions, creating a claustrophobic feeling that lingers throughout. They split, periodically, to reveal interesting staging, such as Desdemona's death bed, softly lit by gothic candles."
"Making a 400-year-old play feel fresh is no small task. The company has managed to do so without falling into the trap of the ultra-modern."
OnstageScotland
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
"Philip Witcomb's design sensibly works in harmony with the natural attributes of the space, providing an attractive curved wooden playing area dotted with citrus trees."
London Evening Standard
"Philip Witcomb's set, with its strategically placed citrus trees is an excellent backdrop to the action, the trees doubling as props for the two eavesdropping scenes as well as underlining Claudio's disdain when he implores Leonato "to take back this rotten orange" when he rejects Hero."
Whatsonstage
"Regents Park on a warm, dry summer evening must be one of the most glorious venues in the world, Unsurprisingly, the romantic, leafy setting has helped to inspire this year's opener, a clean cut, visually appealing, intelligently acted production."
"Philip Witcomb's set on decking spirals to represent an Italian citrus orchard, deftly allows characters to lurk beneath as well as run along it."
The Stage
"Tim Sheader's production dances on designer Philip Witcomb's gorgeous snaking ramp."
The Jewish Chronicle
"Sheader's dynamic staging has benefited from an outstanding creative team, notably with the timbered circular arrangement of sloping footways leading to a central rostrum designed by Philip Witcomb."
The British Theatre Guide
"Settling an appealing serpentine swathe of wooden-boards across the stage area, Philip Witcomb's set boasts two trees, one laden with oranges, the other with lemons."
The Telegraph
"With its twisting design by Philip Witcomb that suggests like the poisonous Don John a snake has entered Eden, Sheader's orange-grove production has a high comic edge."
The Guardian
"A simple, spiralling stage with an orange tree at its centre is an apt platform for this striking and sophisticated production. It's nicely designed and magically lit."
Sky Arts
"Philip Witcomb's design of a swirling wooden ramp with a central round performance area provides opportunities for multi-level action, while the orange and lemon trees suggest an appropriately lush Mediterranean ambience."
CurtainUp
"Due a star mention is Philip Witcomb's sweeping new staging at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre which provides a stunning setting; both simple and damned effective."
"It doesn't detract from the loveliness of the lavish backdrop provided by nature, but gives wonderfully clever opportunities for beautiful staging of Much Ado About Nothing's many comic and tragic moments."
The Londonist
THE TEMPEST
"Perhaps the real star of this enjoyable show is Philip Witcomb's wreck-like set, with its barnacle-encrusted, verdigris-coated trunks and tattered flags. A continual flood wells at its centre so that most characters are wet most of the time and we never forget that, among other things, this is a play about the effects of a storm at sea."
The Stage
"Philip Witcomb's set beautifully mimics a ship wreck with a central water pool and jet spray which the cast exploit to good effect."
Broadway World
"The most active figure is the circus trained Matt Costain as a bleach blonde, white clad Ariel in some truly impressive rope work, suspended dangerously from the ships rigging that designer Philip Witcomb has supplied to change his basic season setting of curving walkways into a maritime criss-cross of masts, sheets, rope ladders and tattered sails."
British Theatre Guide
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
* NOMINATED IN THREE AWARD CATEGORIES.
'2008/9 CRITICS AWARDS FOR THEATRE IN SCOTLAND'.
* Nominated for 'Best Production'.
* Nominated for 'Best Director'.
* Winner of Best 'Female Performance'.
"Designer Philip Witcomb places Edward Albee's compellingly ghastly drama in the centre of a wasteland. All around the book-lined New England residence of George and Martha lie mountains of black rubble, littered with discarded liquor bottles beneath a cloudy night sky. This post-apocalyptic vision is a metaphor for a dysfunctional marriage. But more than that, it locates this 1962 play in the era of the cold war. George and Martha are superpowers, forever squaring up to each other, stockpiling their emotional armouries and playing lethal games of brinkmanship."
"Superb production."
The Guardian * * * *
"Philip Witcomb's design is quietly breathtaking, a standard academic living room marooned against a great dark sky, on a rubbish-heap of empty bottles and disappointed hopes."
"A spine-shiveringly powerful production."
"A superb evening of theatre."
The Scotsman * * * *
"Designer Philip Witcomb's fabulous setting takes over the first four rows of the stalls, lending even more to the theory that we are actually sitting in on private conversations in the living room, which itself is surrounded by a symbolic pile of broken glass and empty drink bottles."
The Stage
"A child's tricycle stands alongside a wasteland of empty bottles flanking a book-strewn interior. A mirrored ceiling reflects and exposes every manoeuvre in George and Martha's increasingly desperate game. These symbolic touches on Philip Witcomb's set break up the gruelling claustrophobia of the battles being played out within a deceptively understated first act."
The Herald * * * *
EDUCATING RITA
"A marvellous design by Philip Witcomb - the stage transforms into an academic office of book-heavy disorder."
The Stage
"Philip Witcomb's book-lined study frays at the edges, revealing ever more books stretching away into the shadows. Even the forstage rests on piles of books. All the little physical details of Rita's progress are in place, her hairstyle and clothes changing as she escapes from the uniform of her origins."
The Times
THE WHITE DEVIL
* NOMINATED FOR 'BEST OFF WEST END PRODUCTION'.
'2008 WHATSONSTAGE THEATREGOERS' CHOICE AWARDS'.
"Philip Witcomb's design, with its red curtain, suits and sashes, has little of the Fringe about it."
The Times
"John Webster's White Devil returns in thrilling style."
"Across a simple traverse stage, decorated only with doors and chairs at either end (Philip Witcomb's effective design), Munby's excellent cast sweeps to and fro with an almost frenzied energy."
"In Jonathan Munby's thrilling production, the moral ambivalence of the trial is strikingly visually represented as Vittoria, sheathed in a scarlet gown, confronts the cardinal, robed in the red cassock of his office."
The Guardian
"Excellent production of John Webster's Jacobean revenge tragidy.'
"The updating to modern times has throughout a clarifying force."
The Independent
"A political bloodbath that's fit for the West End."
"This is a production any West End house would be proud to call its own."
The Daily Mail * * * *
"Yards of lush, blood-red velvet and a combination of lounge suits and plague doctor outfits convey depravity that is at once medieval and modern."
The Stage
"Designer Philip Witcomb excels using a narrow traverse, which ensures that the production is intimate and all too often voyeuristic. His costumes are modern but with a period feel, none more so that the sexy red velvet frock sported by the unfaithful anti-heroine Vittoria Corombona."
"An evening that is both visually stunning and highly entertaining."
"It might be some time before The White Devil is seen again, so don't miss out."
The British Theatre Guide
DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT
"A series of gorgeous creations from designer Philip Witcomb."
"Fabulous frocks."
"Salisbury Playhouse Panto is back on glittering form."
The Stage
LONDON ASSURANCE
"Philip Witcomb's sets are a triumph of ingenuity in a tiny space."
The Times
"It's all played out on Philip Witcomb's versatile drawing room set, working well whether the vista beyond the French windows is a town square or a country park."
"A charming and lively revival."
Whatsonstage
"Designer Philip Witcomb employs his costume skills well in this colourful production."
The Stage
"Philip Witcomb's colourful set from the diminutive Watermill Theatre setting sits prettily on the larger Oxford Playhouse space."
Reviews Gate
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
"Philip Witcomb has created scenery with enchanting colours."
The Stage
RICHARD III
"The stage is set against the soaring walls of the castle where, from a platform sheltering a line of musicians below, a stairway leads to the very top. From there John Killoran's Richard will fool the Lord Mayor by pretending to be holy."
"Design is by Philip Witcomb, who is responsible for the Georgian costumes, a style I don't remember having seen applied to a Shakespeare history but one that fits well with the grave and dignified speeches of the court."
The Times * * * *
SOAP
"Our action spins, quite literally, courtesy of the revolve and some excellent scenery."
The Stage
MACBETH
"Manipulated and voiced by actors, the Weird Sisters, a fusion of skeletal fingers and ragged hair with fishlike-tails and pendulous breasts, vanish in a crescendo of jangling discordant sound. Their brooding presence looms sinisterly throughout, each formless mass suspended from a rough wooden tower set at the apex of the circular space that fronts a forest."
"Oozing atmosphere, Philip Witcomb's remote, timeless setting is spectacularly and dramatically lit in a pivotal second half giving credence to ghostly apparitions, sleep-walking and field of battle."
The Stage
The Stage
"Designer Philip Witcomb's two-tier set recreates brash Southern comfort."
"Another major Dundee achievement."
Reviews Gate
ABIGAIL'S PARTY
"Designer Philip Witcomb's superb and meticulously dressed seventies set lays bare the superficiality and dissension of Beverley's world, allowing her to inhabit the space. For almost 15 minutes before house-lights dim, swaying seductively in a long figure-hugging dress, from upstairs bedroom to downstairs living room, Beverly gets ready for her guests."
The Stage
TWELFTH NIGHT
"Setting the topsy-turvy world of Illyria on a spacious Victorian pier is an inspired decision by director Ben Crocker and designer Philip Witcomb."
"Adding maximum comedy impact an inebriated Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek make memorably noisy entrances down a huge helter-skelter, while a Punch and Judy booth becomes an inventively portable hiding place."
"This outdoor production is filled with riches and is hugely entertaining."
The Stage
TOMORROW MORNING
"Nick Winston's direction on an intimate stage is seamless and the minimal choreography works perfectly on Philip Witcomb's wonderful split set design."
"A remarkably successful collaboration of all-round talent."
The Stage
"The set is simple and effective in providing space for the couples at different stages of their relationship. The women predominately inhabit the living room while upstage Jack (Alistair Robbins) inhabits a sparsely furnished flat with only grey boxes around. John, the young self, is superbly performed by the light baritone Stephen Ashfield. His flat can be seen through a large window frame. Either moves to the living area in moments of intimacy or attempted reconciliation."
"A delightful treat."
The British Theatre Guide
"Under the directorship of Nick Winston, who manages to manoeuvre the quartet comfortably around the tiny stage in Philip Witcomb's effective set."
"This show could well be headed for the commercial West End."
"Tomorrow Morning could see itself added to the ever-growing list of new West End musicals popping up this year."
Whatsonstage * * * *
"A show given a highly polished staging from Nick Winston on an attractive Philip Witcomb set that looks ripe - and smart enough - for transfer."
Theatre.com
CINDERELLA
* NOMINATED FOR 'BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'.
* NOMINATED FOR 'BEST DESIGN'.
'2005/6 CRITICS AWARDS FOR THEATRE IN SCOTLAND'.
Pick of the week.
The Guardian Guide
"Philip Witcomb's set, a kind of haunted, shabby gilt banqueting hall that dissolves and reforms itself throughout the show - it boasts one of the most staggeringly beautiful pieces of design I've ever seen on the Scottish stage. Shaped to make what is already a handsome space look as large and mysterious as a huge palace, or perhaps a small country."
"A near-perfect piece of Christmas theatre for children over five."
The Scotsman * * * *
"The clever angled set gives the impression of a spacious banqueting hall or kitchen as the action demands."
"Sheer enjoyment."
The Stage
"Stylish and entertaining."
The List * * * *
"The play opens with a bleak stage set of a single tree growing above Cinderella's dead mother's grave, but this monochrome soon gives way to a riot of colour. Alternating between the grand dining room of a palace and the cavernous kitchen, the set design is always visually interesting and the costumes are another delight."
"A feast for the eyes."
Edinburgh Guide
"This Cinderella is truely sumptuous."
"There is a guilt edge gloss on Philip Witcomb's stately-home interior that's wittily appropriate for the narrative clashes between vicious, conniving greed and simple goodness."
The Herald * * * *
"This is a particularly stylish looking production with a fabulous palace interior and costumes designed by Philip Witcomb and lit by Oliver Fenwick on which to feast one's eyes."
"Director James Brining has brought together the well-loved traditional elements of a Christmas show while taking it forwards with the stylish design."
The Courier
"Philip Witcomb's clever design, the lighting by Oliver Fenwick, and Steve Kettley's music all contribute to making this one of the best-ever Christmas shows staged by Dundee Rep."
Perthshire Advertiser
INGLORIOUS TECHNICOLOUR
Philip Witcomb has designed an adaptable set based on turn-around panels - angles and covered in written graffiti for the school then parallel and plain for the art gallery. Ryan's own graffiti, like the Emperor's new clothes, has to be imagined."
The Stage
"Philip Witcomb's set re-angles the school's scrawled walls behind the gallery's perspex elegance of act 2. Its a strong, economic statement of the play's contrasted environments."
Reviews Gate
WOMAN IN MIND
Pick of the week.
The Guardian Guide
"Designer Philip Witcomb's clever set replaces the garden fence with reflective panels that flash distorted, fractured images at us as a neat metaphor for the state of Susan's mind."
"Despite the blue skies, the fantasy family dressed in sugar pink and pristine white and the rosy glow of sunlight on manicured lawns and neat borders, all is not well in Susan's world."
The Stage
"The immaculate grass of Philip Witcomb's lawn setting, as well as his pure cyclorama sky complements the powerful impression of unreality."
"An absorbing production."
The British Theatre Guide
TALKING HEADS
"Each of the three characters has a detailed set on a revolving stage to inhabit. On the far back wall are rows of windows. Each window has a different style of curtain or blind and in some of them a light comes on. Bennett's characters are placed firmly in their restricted little worlds."
"Superbly cast, sharp and clear."
The Stage
"Innovative design ideas have distinguished Hannah Chissick's tenure in harmony with designer Philip Witcomb."
"As a reminder that there are a dozen Talking Heads in total, Witcomb's backdrop is a wall of twelve windows, each capturing the essence of the characters inside, a brilliant design concept."
This is York
HOUSE AND GARDEN
"More of a theatrical enterprise than a mere production, Harrogate Theatre's staging of House and Garden is a significant achievement."
"Alan Ayckbourn's two interconnecting, simultaneously performed plays have previously been shown in separate auditoria, at Scarborough and then at the National Theatre.
Even with press releases and patient explanations, this reviewer could not quite understand how Harrogate's technical staff would utilise their Grade II listed theatre."
"The performance space is traditional proscenium arch so two auditoria have been specially constructed. Some rows of stall seats have been dismantled to draw the usual stage further out. House is played here.
Directly behind the House backdrop is the walled garden. It is facing the theatre's back wall and an audience sitting on benching covered with grass mats."
"There is no compromise with scenery and no compromise with creature comfort. Soundproofing ensures that noise from the other stage is barely discernible. It is all so simple. The two plays start at the same time and end, more or less and without undue panic, at the same time."
"Designer Philip Witcomb and lighting designer David Holmes should have the model for the interconnecting sets put out on display in the theatre's foyer. A model of the stage prior to it's transformation would further emphasise how adept and resourceful they have been."
The Stage
THE FANTASTICKS
"Philip Witcomb's set design is appropriately witty and inventive."
"Harrogate Theatre's production has the look of a stage version of an intelligent adult cartoon strip."
The Stage
GHOSTS
"Harrogate Theatre's revival is bespattered with precisely the right kind of rain. Silvery rivulets course down the windows of the Alvings' drawing room, through which one can see the jagged maw of a gloomy fjord and a cluster of harbour lights glinting wanly in the distance."
"The broad sweep of Philip Witcomb's set is a triumph of theatrical perspective and clever plumbing that determines but never dominates the oppressive tension of Hannah Chissick's production."
The Guardian * * * *
AIN'T MISBEHAVIN
"This is no static show with bland, abstract sets. It moves, it creates and it celebrates."
The Stage
FOLLOW MY LEADER
"Philip Witcomb's design is a gaudy star-spangled delight."
The Telegraph
"The set looks like a music hall crossed with a televised press conference. Its proscenium arch is swathed in a Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes, while its walls are giant screens, flashing up news footage and strategic maps."
"Lively, pungent and entertaining."
The Guardian
"It is worth going to the theatre just to see Philip Witcomb's sets and costumes, which between them must have cost a pretty penny. The major features of the set are a proscenium arch created from the Star-Spangled Banner and two 25 ft high projection screens."
The British Theatre Guide
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
"Philip Witcomb's set is simply amazing. A larger than life-sized portrait dominates the stage early on while even taller mirrors give a haunting feel. Lord Henry's and Gray's decadent homes are impressively projected onto the rear wall, as is the portrait when it has changed through aging."
"Unmissable."
The British Theatre Guide
"With Pivoted mirrors, pros-arch and projected images, Philip Witcomb's sombre design is stark but effective, while Dorian's portrait vividly disintegrates using computer enhanced images."
The Stage
"Philip Witcomb's set is fascinating and often beautiful, a great gloomy array of tall swivelling mirrors reflecting faded photographs of lush Victorian interiors."
The Scotsman
THE EMPEROR AND THE NIGHTINGALE
"The Emperor and the nightingale is essentially for anyone who thrills at the sudden sight of a dragon erupting downwards from the roof, twisting it's serpentine body as though tossed by tempests."
"The dragon isn't the only spectacular feature of Fiona Laird's in-the-round production. Peacock feathers and curious birds decorate the frieze around the central pavilion with green pillars and red lanterns, designed by Philip Witcomb. The glittering costumes are also his, Wu in scarlet and gold, Xiao in rainbow stripes."
The Times
"I defy anyone not to be touched and delighted by Fiona Laird's enchanting production, which fits perfectly into this jewel box of a theatre. Neil Duffield's script and Paul Kissaun's music are a perfect match, while Philip Witcomb's design exploits the fantastical chinoiserie."
The Sunday Times
"An oriental pavilion festooned with Chinese lanterns provides the dinky platform for a new spin on the tale about the tiny bird that charms all who hear it. Through the ingenious use of masks, face-paint and a lavish array of robes and kimonos the action ranges across mountain tops and waterfalls, and into the path of chattering monkeys and fire-belching dragons. There's no doubting the show's mesmerising appeal to the imagination."
The Telegraph
"This reworking of Hans Christian Andersen's story is a little thing of real beauty."
"Fiona Laird's production is done with such charm and elegance that the whole thing seems somehow much more than it is, and has the rare quality of being as entertaining for an adult as it is for a small child. In part, that's because it looks so good: Philip Witcomb provides a red, gold and green pagoda, and there is a jewel-like richness about almost every aspect of the design."
"A little treasure box of a show."
The Guardian * * * *
"Philip Witcomb's clever design sees the playing space reconfigured in the round, with the action unfolding under a red and gold chinoiserie canopy bedecked with lanterns."
"Director Fiona Laird, has another hit on her hands."
London Evening Standard
"Neil Duffield's reworking of the Hans Christian Andersen tale is a dream for any designer and the Watermill has landed a dream of a designer in Philip Witcomb."
Newbury Weekly News
LOVE IN A MAZE
"An entertaining evening, and the roses around the maze are exquisite."
The Times * * * *
The Stage
"Your eyes are ravished by Philip Witcomb's elegant colour coordinated country-house setting, all shades of pink and crimson with a wall motif of huge pink roses. The glorious period costumes continue the colour scheme."
"And when the audience troops outside to join the cast for the last act in the maze itself, we find more roses, decorating Witcomb's three-tier vertical maze, rising like a wedding cake in the Watermill's lovely setting. It's an apt image for, as the lovers finally come together in the gazebo atop the maze, looking just like figures on a wedding cake, you feel you've tasted one of the most delicious summer confections the Watermill has come up with yet."
Whatsonstage * * * *
"Philip Witcomb's extravagant maze makes amends for Boucicault's inability to edit his own work."
London Evening Standard
SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL
"On Philip Witcomb's witty set, the Playhouse floor is a litter of tiny scraps of paper that get wafted by every flounce of a skirt, to send fragments of torn-up reputations fluttering."
"Pairs of dis-embodied, white gloved hands grab copies of Hello! magazine through lip like slits in a taut black curtain. They provide a sustained metaphor for appetites for gossip even more voracious and damaging that in Sheridan's day."
"Three tiers of small boxes with double doors flank the proscenium arch and provide miniture stages for portraites that come to life and unseen eavesdroppers hands that hold scandal sheets or clip pot plants in unison."
"The liberties taken with costume serve to give the play a very fresh and contemporary feel."
"Charles Surface wears a period wig and shiny leather trousers and his decadent household is depicted in bikinis around the hot tub."
"The zaniest, most outrageous, brilliantly entertaining production is the result of a most ingenious, original and imaginative design throughout by Philip Witcomb. The combination of modern and period costumes and a set that is full of amusing surprises blends well with the action of this wonderful Restoration comedy."
"Lady Teazle's costume will definitely set a new trend in Restoration comedies."
"Adventurous and entertaining."
"Its wonderfully wacky stuff, raising a laugh while packing a punch."
The Stage
"The costumes, wigs and make-up are stunning, a cross between The Rocky Horror Show, Blackadder and Adam Ant."
Chronicle and Echo
THE BLUE ROOM
"Giant cabinets on Philip Witcomb's impressive set glide in and out to deliver beds that make their own individual statements - one is so absurdly wide that it puts acres of silken sheet between an estranged married couple."
"An hypnotic evening."
The Stage
THE TURN OF THE SCREW
"Philip Witcomb's designs dwell on one brilliant coup: a huge fuzzed mirror, centrally hinged, which swings to permit toings and froings, and forges an entire Victorian mansion from the concave rear recesses of Wilton's, variously reflected."
"Elijah Moshinsky's in-your-teeth new staging delivers events to your eyeball."
The Independent
"Wilton's is spooky enough when empty, but Elijah Moshinsky's virtuoso staging has the whole audience looking round nervously, with the production happening all over, you never know where the ghosts are going to pop up next."
"Quint erupts from within Miles's bed, there are hauntings in the gallery, Miles's bedroom is squeezed under the staircase and the little blasphemous Benedicte is backstage behind the revolving metaphysical mirror that sometimes symbolises the interface of life and death. We only get to see in the mirror a chandelier reflection, and later Miles practicing the piano like a concerto prodigy."
"Moshinsky, with modest resources, achieves stunning effects."
The Daily Mail
"Elijah Moshinsky's production of Britten's Turn of the Screw for Broomhill Opera is the creepiest, most penetrating and powerful staging i have seen, and I have seen many since the first in 1954. Indeed I am tempted to call it the best I have ever seen."
"Moshinsky and his designer Philip Witcomb have brilliantly seized the opportunities offered by the venue. The stage thrusts near the audience and a platform reaches the length of the central aisle of the auditorium. The children Flora and Miles run about the gallery, the ghosts Peter Quint and Miss Jessel peer over it. A large revolving reflecting screen turns as often as the screw, and the only props are Miles's bed, the school room desk and the Governess's bag."
"The Audience is not watching events at the country house Bly, where the events of "this curious story" occur, but is part of them."
"There are six more performances and I implore you to attend this revelation."
The Sunday Telegraph
"Visitors to Wiltons Music Hall should be warned that the atmospheric and shadowy venue ensure the screw is turned still further in this excellent production of Britten's chilling opera."
"The bold use of space enfolds the audience in this claustrophobic story."
Metro * * * *
"The Turn of The Screw, the line between stage and audience is lightly drawn: the action is as likely to take place above and around you as behind the proscenium arch. Sometimes, the intimacy of the place is almost shocking. As Miles lies dead on his governess' knee, single teardrops run down her cheeks and fall rhythmically on the skirt of her black dress. Human grief on a human scale. Wilton's was packed, its 230 seats fought over, as they have been every night."
"The critical acclaim heaped on this captivating production and its superlative cast has obviously helped, but something else was drawing the crowds, too: a theatrical experience limited, by its very nature, to 230 people. It wasn't the exclusivity we were after. It was the intimacy."
The Telegraph
"Broomhill Opera's greatest triumph."
"From the moment you enter the still equisitely distressed music-hall, past and present, forms and shadows mingle in the dimly lit auditorium."
"Philip Witcomb, designing for Moshinsky, fills the tiny stage with a huge swivel-screen of a blurred mirror: as it turns and turns again, we seem to glimpse a ghostly bygone audience in the gallery - then realise with a gasp that it is ourselves."
"Deliciously disturbing."
"Miss it at your peril."
The Times
"Shattering staging."
"Bly itself is the beautiful, decrepit interior of Wiltons Music Hall, reflected in a massive revolving mirror, all here is not what it seems."
"The whole is a uniquely disturbing piece of musical theatre."
"You need to go and see Moshinsky's superb production, if you think your nerves can take it, for this is, without question, the definitive Turn of the Screw for our times."
The Guardian
DEATH IN VENICE
Selected by Theatre Editor Jason Zinoman as one of his '10 Best in Theatre' for 2002.
"A powerful production."
Time Out New York
"Brilliant, Gripping, Superb, Marvellous, Intelligent."
"It's an exciting version, masterfully performed."
"The stage is simple and symbolic. The atmosphere of Venice is subtly but powerfully evoked by the suggestion of water and light."
New York Post
"The play proves the truth of Dumas's grand claim that all you need for drama is one man and four walls. I'm so tired of sets that are like noveau riche houses, advertising how much they cost. The small stage of Manhattan Ensemble Theatre is dominated by a wooden pillar, a table with a typewriter, a chair, a bowl of fruit on a stand and a death mask."
"I don't want 'Death in Venice' to finish it's New York run (it closes tonight) and just go back to Europe. its compact, mobile and potent. It should be travelling to theatres across the country."
The New York Times
"On one table sits a well maintained black typewriter. On the other, a large glass bowl brimming with obscenely ripe, red strawberries. Before even a word is spoken in Death in Venice, the Citizens Theatre of Glasgow's adaptation of Thomas Mann's haunting novella, this perfect visual image succinctly expresses the battle raging inside the story's aged protagonist, novelist Gustave Von Aschenbach."
"Haunting."
"Giles Havergal directs with a utilitarian simplicity that defers to the majesty of the words."
The Village Voice, New York
"Theres a sense of voluptuousness to this finely modulated piece."
Variety
"A magnificent, memorable theatrical work, one rarely matched on or off Broadway, or anywhere else, for that matter."
The Jewish Post and Opinion
"A truly memorable theatrical event."
"A stunning show."
"A devastatingly powerful one-man drama."
"The Manhattan Ensemble Theatre is to be congratulated on importing such a stunning show to it's Soho stage."
"Philip Witcomb's set is simplicity itself."
United Press International
"Philip Witcomb's set distills the play's Apollonian/Dionyson conflict into visual markers."
Broadway.com
"Amazingly, The Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow has accomplished what would seem nearly impossible. They have brought this extraordinary work to the stage intact. The beauty and the haunting delicacy of the original is maintained, Communicated with heart breaking restraint in a tour-de-force performance by Giles Havergal."
"The set by Philip Witcomb is spare and elegant. On stage right, a large bowl of strawberries rests on a high pedestal; while on the left can be seen Aschenbach's office chair and typewriter. Both the strawberries and the typewriter have dramatic purposes. Across the back of the stage runs a water system which is used to creat the sounds of fountains in the numerous piazzas which Aschenbach visits on his extensive and ultimately doomed walks."
"Nothing can be faulted in this production."
Curtain Up
"Havergal's skill as a director is also strong, providing interesting staging with the help of Philip Witcomb."
Talkin Broadway
"The only other items that set and costume designer Philip Witcomb has immaculately furnished, and which Havergal ignors for the moment, are a long-legged white table atop which rests a bowl of strawberries, an old typewriter sitting on an old desk, and two sizable blue blocks to serve as seats. At the back of the stage is a curtain painted to suggest a blue sea under a less blue sky. It's all strikingly pristine, spare but aesthetically pleasing."
"A fine example of how enthralling story theatre can be."
"A first-rate performance piece."
TheatreMania
"The perfectly chosen set pieces designed by Philip Witcomb include a period writing desk, a typewriter, a bowl of strawberries, a chair, Von Aschenbach's pedestalled death mask and four raised spigots that burst forth sensuously at the heights of expressed passion all add to the success of the piece.
San Francisco Bay Times
"The play opens as a funeral service for Aschenbach, with Havergal delivering Mann's descriptive background material as a eulogy to the figure depicted by the white-on-white death mask on the monument that dominates Philip Witcomb's striking, minimalist set."
San Francisco Chronicle
"Marrying scattered, ordinary furnishings (a glass bowl of strawberries on a side table, a wooden desk with a typewriter on it) to more expressionistic features (an alabaster memorial plinth with a death mask carved into it, a row of tall metal faucets), Philip Witcomb's scenic design evokes, like a Dali landscape, a waking dream."
San Francisco Weekly