Philip Prowse (1937–), British theatre designer and director

Philip Prowse trained at the Slade School of Fine Art and was for many years designer and one of the triumvirate of directors at Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre, where he produced over 70 plays. As well as his work in the theatre and for opera, Prowse worked extensively in the field of ballet. Early commissions included Diversions for Kenneth MacMillan, and Rudolf Nureyev’s staging of the ‘Kingdom of the Shades’ scene from Marius Petipa’s La Bayadère, both for The Royal Ballet. At Scottish Ballet Prowse designed the sets and costumes for Peter Darrell’s production of The Nutcracker and The Scarlet Pastorale. In 1981, he designed a spectacular production of The Wooden Prince for London Festival Ballet in choreography by Geoffrey Cauley. For Peter Wright he designed versions of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty for Sadler’s Wells (now Birmingham) Royal Ballet, both of which have also been staged by many other companies around the world. Also for Sadler’s Wells/Birmingham Royal Ballet, Prowse designed Michael Corder’s Gloriana, Cauley’s Lazarus, and David Bintley’s Carmina Burana and Beauty and the Beast.