Theatre designer

Born: October 31, 1938;

Died: March 22, 2016

JOHN Gunter, who has died aged 77, was a theatre designer who created many memorable sets for some of the most colourful and dramatic productions – both theatrical and operatic – of the post war years, including Scottish Opera's touring production of Norma.

His shows included work at the Royal Court (notably John Osborne’s West of Suez with Ralph Richardson) and at the National Theatre, including Richard Eyre’s magnificent Guys and Dolls and in the west end The Contractor directed by Lindsay Anderson.

Eyre has recently written of working with Mr Gunter: “I first worked with John in 1969 at the Hampstead Theatre Club, and it was from John that I really learned to be a director. His set for Guys and Dolls was a joyous and ingenious invention that fully exploited the most thrilling aspect of stage design – moving effortlessly from the intimate to the epic, from the realistic to the fantastic.”

Mr Gunter was a man of much wit and vision which he incorporated into his work with grace and imagination, as was witnessed in his outstanding designs for Scottish Opera’s new production of Norma in 1993. John Mauceri conducted a fine cast (that included Jane Eaglen and Norman Bailey) in a compelling production by Ian Judge. Mr Gunter’s exciting sets were traditional with beautiful realistic sets - layered forest foliage and stark Roman interiors. The production was revived and toured Scotland for over a decade.

At the 1970 Edinburgh Festival, Mr Gunter designed the sets for the world premiere of John McGrath’s epic play Random Happenings in the Hebrides (also known as The Social Democrat and the Stormy Sea) starring John Thaw, John Cairney and Dennis Lawson. It was directed by Eyre and reflected McGrath’s deep commitment to socialism. The play was the story of a young Scottish Labour MP working for change within the system but the action dealt with an election in the Hebrides and Mr Gunter designed an imposing set that captured the atmosphere of the western isles.

John Forsyth Gunter was the son of an Essex GP and attended Bryanston School and then studied at the Central School of Art. After jobs in Rep theatres, he joined the Royal Court as resident designer in 1965. He was to design 28 productions for the Royal Court including Christopher Hampton’s smash hit The Philanthropist.

Similarly, he did prodigious work at the National Theatre. Apart from Guys and Dolls he created the sets for one of the company’s most illustrious productions, Death of a Salesman with Warren Mitchell and the 1983 production of Sheridan’s The Rivals. Peter Wood’s glorious production starred Michael Horden and Geraldine McEwan and Mr Gunter filled the large Olivier stage with a depiction of the interior of each character’s Crescent house in Bath. Mr Gunter’s meticulous care to capture them as individuals proved one of the highlights of the acclaimed revival.

As if to display his ability to encompass all aspects of the theatre, he designed a magnificent set for a revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes in 2002. It proved such a hit at the National Theatre that it transferred to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane where it was a smash hit in the west end. Directed by Trevor Nunn the show starred the Glasgow-born singer John Barrowman and Mr Gunter’s sets were spectacular. “John Gunter” one critic wrote “has done an ace job of the SS America, a first rate rendering of a second class 1930s cruise ship. The Gunter sets are all effortlessly stylish.”

Other opera productions included an exuberant Falstaff directed by Peter Hall at Glyndebourne (Mr Gunter set the opera within the Globe Theatre) and a glorious depiction of a riotous New Orleans for Porgy and Bess which transferred to the Royal Opera. For that company Mr Gunter designed sets for Ian Judge’s productions of Flying Dutchman and Simon Boccanegra with Placido Domingo.

The director Ned Sherrin has written warmly of working with Mr Gunter on Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell - the savage comedy set in a Soho pub starring Peter O’Toole. “I asked John to think up something more eccentric,” Sherrin wrote. “He responded with a mad variation in which everything tilted at a crazy angle. O’Toole was delighted and said gleefully, ‘A pissed pub!’”

It was Mr Gunter’s exuberant imagination which endeared him to actors, directors and audiences. His sheer capacity to capture the very essence of a piece with a loving insight was extraordinary: he visualised everything on an epic scale yet had the ability to create an uncluttered and realistic stage. He had a way of being dramatic and theatrical without over dressing the sets or costumes.

Mr Gunter met Micheline McKnight, a New York-born dancer, in Vancouver when he was on tour with London’s Mermaid theatre in 1967. They married that year and she and their three daughters survive him.

ALASDAIR STEVEN