Terry Parsons

Terry has designed thirty-seven productions in London’s West End, and has been Head of Design at three major theatres: the Theatre Royal Plymouth, the Haymarket Leicester, and the Belgrade Coventry to which he won an Arts Council scholarship following his training at Cardiff Art College and London’s Central School of Art. Currently preparing Kay Mellor’s A Passionate Woman and Move Over Mrs Markham, Terry’s latest designs are the European Premiere of Edward Albee’s new play The Goat at Vienna’s English Theatre, the World Premiere of Richard Harris’s A Foot in the Door and most recently, he has designed Blithe Spirit in Copenhagen, a major production of Showboat – also in Denmark – and the European Premiere of the award winning Broadway hit, Proof, also at Vienna’s English Theatre.

Among his designs for many musicals are Grease with Craig McLachlan, South Pacific with Gemma Craven, Sweet Charity with Bonnie Langford, Some Like It Hot and Singin’ in the Rain both with Tommy Steele, Charlie Girl with Cyd Charisse, and not quite in the West End, he designed The Pirates of Penzance and Where’s Charley for The New Shakespeare Company at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. Silly Cow with Dawn French, Gasping with Hugh Laurie and Two Into One with Donald Sinden and Michael Williams are among his designs for numerous straight plays and other credits range from Shakespeare, Sheridan and Congreve to Orton, Ionesco and Dürrenmatt – notably the critically acclaimed production of When We Are Married with Timothy West, Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge at the Whitehall Theatre – Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge with Topol, and Priestley’s Time and the Conways directed at The Old Vic by Richard Olivier featuring his mother Joan Plowright and his sisters Tamsin and Julie Kate Olivier. Recently, he re-created designs for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s presentation of the play Daisy Pulls It Off.

Terry’s extensive regional credits include, at Chichester Miranda with Penelope Keith and Underneath the Arches which transferred to the West End; at Liverpool No Trams To Lime Street, and at Southampton The Surprise Party with Peter Duncan, Matthew Kelly and Ruth Madoc. He is well-known for his pantomime designs, among them lavish versions of Cinderella for Stanley Baxter, The Sleeping Beauty for Hinge and Bracket, Mother Goose for Danny La Rue and the much acclaimed series of traditional pantomimes which ran for many years at the Richmond Theatre.

Terry has a string of international credits; on Broadway he created Sian Phillips’ stunning concert costumes for her appearance as Dietrich in Marlene, and has also designed productions of Fame in Scandinavia, Grease in Paris and Denmark, Chicago in Athens and Romantic Comedy in Vienna. He has worked in Canada, Australia and Japan, as well as the Far East and Hong Kong designing all-star productions which have included Harvey, Habeas Corpus, The Reluctant Debutante, Key for Two, Private Lives, California Suite, Lloyd George Knew My Father and They’re Playing Our Song. He regularly designs for the major cruise lines including the QE2’s current shows, but the highlight of his many overseas assignments was probably his creation in Dubai of a magical fairy-tale Arabian Nights setting in the desert for three thousand guests – the ‘ultimate’ birthday party for one of the world’s wealthiest Sheikhs.

Grease plays currently in the West End and then continues its highly successful tour of the U.K.