by With dusty pink wallpaper covered in flowers and songbirds, two sofa chairs with brighter flowers and a floor-length mirror with a golden frame, this room wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of House and Garden.
If it did, it would probably be the first theater dressing room to do so, as this space is located at the top of the Theater Royal Haymarket in the West End. It has hosted famous actors including Ingrid Bergman, Noel Coward, Lauren Bacall, Alec Guinness, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bradley Cooper – and is now home to Succession star Sarah Snook as she plays all 26 parts to evident in The Picture of Dorian Grey.
Just before Snook took up the role, the star’s 136-year-old dressing room, known as Number 10, was redesigned by one of London’s leading design firms, Kit Kemp Design Studio – preparing the room for the first another hundred of occupants.
“It was an honor to work on the space,” says Minnie Kemp, the studio’s design director. “It’s a nurturing heaven for the stars, leading actors over the generations.”
The design firm, founded by Firmdale Hotels creative director Kit Kemp, has transformed the interiors of some of London’s most famous hotels, from The Soho Hotel and Ham Yard Hotel, to Charlotte Street Hotel and the Haymarket Hotel.
When one of his neighbours, the Theater Royal Haymarket, approached him to recreate the historic dressing room, he jumped at the chance (this is his first project of this kind – Jake Gyllenhaal asked the design studio to redesign his Savoy dressing room, but his show, Sunday in the Park With George, was delayed indefinitely due to Covid).
Considered to be the largest dressing room in London, the design studio drew on Number 10’s fascinating history to recreate its new look.
“We wanted to create something that felt androgynous, yet romantic,” says Kemp. There were only a few requirements: some kind of bed had to be installed for the actors’ long days in the theater, and a lock was forbidden; one of the many superstitions of the theater, the color is considered unlucky.
So Kit Kemp’s team transformed the high-ceilinged, multi-room space (there’s also a waiting area and bathroom), with key features including silent bird wallpaper, symbolizing new beginnings and music, a modern chandelier, and huge, elegant curtains. Italian style string as a mirror on the curtains on the stage.
They left the room’s vintage desk, which has been signed by many actors over the past century: “It feels very, very historic,” says Kemp, who added her own signature to the desk drawer, a nod to the studio’s role in the incredible history of the room.
“The great thing about working on historical projects like this is, yes, you can bring it into the new and zhuzh it up, adding a real modern twist to it. But to have pieces like this vintage desk, that show the history of the space – it’s something really special to keep that there and celebrate that.”
The star dressing room was first created in 1890 for 29-year-old Winifred Emery, one of the most famous stage actresses of her time in the West End. Unusually, the space was built at the top of the building, rather than next to the stage, reinforcing its feel – “Like a sort of penthouse,” says Kemp. Lining the stairs on the way up are framed posters of past performances, further adding to the drama of the old space (the theater was built in 1720).
“If only the walls could talk!” Kemp says: not only has the room been occupied by some of the world’s biggest stars, but it has lived through some notable periods. During the Blitz for example, Rex Harrison starred in No Time For Comedy, working as a fire marshal between performances.
“When you’re working with historic buildings like in this case, you really don’t have to do that much, because all the details are still there,” says Kemp. “You just have to work with history to create something new and fresh.”
Meanwhile, The Portrait of Dorian Gray is garnering rave reviews: “Whether you enjoy this show as a star vehicle, a Wildean debate on morality versus self-representation, or a ground-breaking piece of mixed media art, it’s amazing. event,” said the Standard, which described Snook’s performance as “most, carnivalesque” and “anything else I have ever seen”.
Afterwards, Dominic West will occupy the dressing room as the actor stars in Arthur Miller’s The View From the Bridge. But, for the next few days, Snook will be kicking back in Kit Kemp Design Studio’s cheerful yellow sofa bed, looking up at the soft pink ceilings. And, of course, she will also add her signature to the drawer.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Theater Royal Haymarket, until 11 May; trh.co.uk
