William Archibald Constable (1906-1989) was raised with two younger brothers in the family of the Reverend Archibald Henry Constable, rector of St. John’s Church of England. Bill Constable took watercolour lessons from Meta Townsend , followed by studied at the National Gallery of Victoria School of Art; and later at London’s St. Martin’s School of Art. His involvement with the most advanced experimental theatres in England set his passion for life. On his return to Australia, Constable took up several commercial design projects and was noticed after the very first theatrical commission in 1933: the cubist ‘stage decorations’ for the Gregan McMahon Players’ production of Bridie’s Jonah and the Whale at the Garrick in South Melbourne with Coral Browne, famous English actress. The play was directed by Alec Coppel, who later returned from London, as was actress Kathleen Robinson. The press claimed that “production will be notable for the unusual settings by William Constable, a young artist who recently reached Melbourne from abroad.” “Constable’s stage settings are great fun. They are simple and attractive.”
Constable met Borovansky in late 1940-s, and a lifelong creative partnership and personal friendship began. As artistic director of Borovansky Ballet Company for 15 years, William Constable was behind most productions as artistic director, designer and painter. Frank Salter described Borovansky and Constable working together “in total harmony over his [Constable] entire Australian career.” Constable “was always fascinated by Boro’s method of working with him” and often was entertained by Boro’s comment such as “You clever bastard, Bill; you’ve realised exactly what I had in mind”.
Constable created a portfolio of over 100 stage productions before departing Australia again in 1955. He returned to Sydney in 1970-s and only then was able to dedicate himself to painting. The designer was known for his illustrations, drawings and paintings. He designed and closely supervised the production of the backdrop for the Empire Theatre in Sydney that was very unfortunately burnt down. Unfortunately his mural for lower foyer of the Theatre Royal did not survive demolishing either. The curtain he designed and supervised production of for Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne was recently located in Adelaide packed into the box.
Ure Smith claimed that Constable “... has unbounded enthusiasm, and does everything with distinction.” And later: “He has imagination and individuality which, allied to an unerring colour sense, place him in the front rank as a stage designer.” With such a high quality artistic abilities and great taste Constable created almost 160 dramas, operas (16 of these for Sir Eugene Goossens), ballet (mostly for Borovansky ballet) and films.
The culmination of Constable’s professional and artistic career is his backdrop design for the ballet Corroboree. In this Rock motif he used bold organic shapes, strong details, variation in textures, and a very successful combination of light and contrast of colours. He created a minimalistic composition accurately translating the desert of Central Australia in contrast with nightly sky. The full sun eclipse added drama and mystery, and possibly represents the everlasting life cycle. Lightened up the top of the stone is a visual focus of the composition, where pastel pink sandy foreground stays the centre of an action during the dance. The fine lines of dried trees, a ritual pole and still sand waves make a statement of human presence and support the greatness of the Rock. The Rock motif became a classic of newly establishing Australian stage design industry.
In 1948 Constable and Eugene Goossens realised that the Sydney public needed “a theatre for the quadruple purpose of opera, legitimate theatre, ballet, and orchestra.” Goossens saw his “dream child” Opera House in the style of a Greek amphitheatre built at Bennelong Point as the Australian National Theatre. In April 1949 Constable completed a visual interpretation of Goossens’ idea on the Sydney Opera House, a long time before the official competition for the architectural project was announced by the New South Wales Government. The two published an illustrated article with the proposal and a promise to realise the project within 5 years at Bennelong Point. With the Constable’s departure for Europe and the scandalous conclusion of Goossen’s career in Australia, the project was left behind and proposed design is now is held in Opera House archives.
In his article for the souvenir program Constable claimed that ballet “is a blending of three arts” as “on the ballet stage we see a meeting of the poetry of movement, music and painting – a poem distilled of these three arts and beyond the need of the spoken word.” The career of Constable is a great illustration to his motto.
William Constable was the only one in Australia retaining the great traditions of style, authenticity and perfection that were established by The Ballet Russes and its artists. His legacy in stage decor, his input in to Australian theatrical design and the establishment of stage designer as a profession, shall be celebrated.
- Writers:
- Kerr, Joan
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2014
