John Gunter

John Gunter (1938-2016) trained at the Central School of Art and Design in London. After working as resident designer for the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre and for the the Schauspielhaus in Zurich he pursued an increasingly busy freelance career in Britain and abroad. He became head of design at the Royal National Theatre in 1988 and was associate designer there from 1990 to 1993.

He designed numerous productions including Edward Bond's Saved, Storey's The Contractor and Hampton's The Philanthropist at the Royal Court and West of Suez, Juno and the Paycock (nominated for a SWET Award) for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He participated in many Shakespeare productions both in Stratford and London. His work at the Royal National Theatre began in the 1970s with productions that included Chris Morahan's Wild Honey, Sir Richard Eyre's Guys and Dolls (each winning him a SWET Award) and David Hare's Skylight. Many of these plays and musicals transferred to the West End and to Broadway, where his work was regularly featured since the 1960s. Other USA productions have included work with the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.

In parallel with his career in spoken theater, John Gunter designed many operas on three continents. He worked at Glyndebourne with Sir Peter Hall on the 1985 production of Britten’s Albert Herring. His designs for The Marriage of Figaro opened the new theater there in 1994 and Porgy and Bess for Sir Trevor Nunn was seen on television (winning an Emmy Award). Work at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, included Simon Boccanegra and The Flying Dutchman. At the English National Opera his productions included Sir John in Love (2006), Faust, Don Quichotte and Mefistofele. Other productions included Peter Grimes (Salzburg Easter Festival 2005) in addition to work with the San Francisco Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Buenos Aires Opera and Australian Opera.