Draft:Maurice Strike

British Theatre and Costume Designer and Anglican Priest From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maurice Strike (born 17 September 1944) is a British painter, theatre designer, interior designer, and Anglican priest.[1]. He had a prolific career in stage design for theatre, opera, and ballet in the UK, Canada, and the United States (with tours into Europe) from the mid‑1960s to the mid‑1980s, before being ordained in the Church of England in 1987. He served as a parish priest in Wiltshire, Dorset, and Guernsey in the Channel Islands until his retirement in 2013.

Early Life and Education

Strike was born in Bournemouth. He attended Hillcross School in Morden (1949–1956), Merton Church of England School (1956–1958), and Sutton East School (1958–1960), before studying at the Wimbledon School of Art[2][3] from 1960 to 1965. As a student, he performed in several productions, including roles in Ned Kelly (1959) The Ghost Train (1960) and The Duchess of Malfi (1963), and served as stage manager for The Gay Lord Quex (1964) at the Wimbledon School of Art[4].

He earned the Intermediate in Arts and Crafts in 1963 and the National Diploma of Design in 1965. In 1964 he received the Royal Society of Arts Bursary for Industry (and fellowship), followed in 1965 by the Arts Council of Great Britain Young Designers Award.

Theatre and design career[5] (1965–1985)

Early work in the UK

After graduating, Strike quickly established himself as a set and costume designer. His early professional credits include:

1965: Designs for Live Like Pigs (Glasgow Citizens Theatre), The Maids and Deathwatch (Close Theatre Club, Glasgow), Waiting for Godot (Close Theatre Club), Dr. Faustus (Close Theatre Club) which was a controversial production directed by Charles Marawitz, and A Beano for Jack (Glasgow Citizens Theatre).

1966: Multiple productions at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre and the Close Theatre Club, including Misalliance, Little Malcolm and his struggle against the Eunuchs (directed by Michael Blakemore) and The Playboy of the Western World. He also designed False Confessions, The Laundry, The Cast Away, Androcles and the Lion, and Man of Destiny at the Malvern Festival Theatre in Worcestershire.  In the Autumn of that year he designed Inadmissible Evidence (Michael Blakemore playing the lead).

1967: In the early part of this year he designed Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf at Colchester.  On March 1st 1967 he left for Canada.

Work in Canada and the United States

From 1967, Strike worked extensively in North America, notably at the Shaw Festival (Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake, Ontario), the National Ballet of Canada[6] (Toronto), the Canadian Opera (Toronto), the Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg), the Neptune Theatre (Halifax), Vancouver Playhouse, the Studio Arena Theatre (Buffalo, New York) – tour including New York City, Washington D.C and Philadelphia.

Of a total of 110 Productions, selected productions include:

1967: Arms and the Man, The Circle, and Major Barbara (Shaw Festival and Expo ‘67).

1968–1969: Heartbreak House (Shaw Festival), The Music Man (Rainbow Stage, Winnipeg), In Good King Charle’s Golden Days (Theatre Toronto) and The Guardsman (Shaw Festival/National Arts Centre, Ottawa).

1970s: The Lion in Winter (Pitlochry Festival Scotland), North American premiere of Forty Years at Shaw Festival, National Arts Centre Ottawa (the set models for Forty Years on can be found in the Shaw Festival fonds)[7][8], Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg) Tarragon Theatre (Toronto), and Canadian Opera Company, designing for plays, musicals, opera and ballet. Highlights include Coppélia (1975/1987 revival[9] for National Ballet of Canada), The Barber of Seville (1977), Le Cenerentola (1979)[10], Thark (1978 Shaw Festival), The Diary of Anne Frank (1978 Toronto).

1980–1985: Designs for UK theatres including the Northcott Theatre (Exeter), Belgrade Theatre (Coventry), Polka Children’s Theatre (Wimbledon), Godspell (Northcott Exeter and Nottingham Playhouse at Southwell Minster), A Little Night Music (Coventry), and Past of the Future (Toronto). He aCoppélia (1975/1987 revivalnior Lecturer in theatre design at Middlesex Polytechnic at Trent Park (1983–1985).

Coppélia (1975 / 1987 revival)

Strike’s work with the National Ballet of Canada is a notable chapter in his design career, particularly through his involvement with two major productions of Léo Delibes’ ballet Coppélia in the mid‑1970s.

1975 Production – Original Design

Role: Strike was the set and costume designer for a new production of Coppélia mounted by the National Ballet of Canada in 1975.

Venue and Scale: The production premiered at Toronto’s O’Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall). It was notable for being designed in three different scales to accommodate tours across Canada, allowing it to fit both large and smaller regional theatres without major re-staging.

Notable Cast: The production starred internationally renowned dancers, including:

  · Erik Bruhn (who also choreographed or staged portions)

  · Veronica Tennant (one of the National Ballet’s most celebrated principal dancers)

  · Rudolf Nureyev (who joined the production for its international tour)

International Tour: After its Canadian run, this production of Coppélia toured internationally in 1975, including performances at:

  · Metropolitan Opera House, NYC

  · London Coliseum

  · Various venues across Europe

Significance: The production was a major undertaking for the company, blending classic ballet with fresh designs. Strike’s adaptable set design was a practical solution for extensive touring, highlighting his versatility as a designer for large‑scale theatrical logistics.

1987 Revival

Strike’s designs for Coppélia were revived by the National Ballet of Canada in 1987, a testament to the longevity and esteem of his original work.

This revival occurred after Strike had begun his theological training (he entered Salisbury and Wells Theological College in 1985) but before his ordination in 1987, marking a late‑career return to his ballet design.

Strike’s work on Coppélia represents one of his most high‑profile and widely seen design projects, bridging theatre and dance. It came during a period when he was already an established designer in Canadian theatre (especially at the Shaw Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Canadian Opera Company) and demonstrates his capacity to work on large, complex productions involving major international artists.

The ballet’s success and subsequent revival underscore how his visual style - detailed, period‑informed, and structurally inventive - was valued by a leading national cultural institution.

Other Ballet‑Related Work

While his most significant ballet credit is Coppélia for the National Ballet of Canada, Strike also worked on dance‑adjacent projects:

1975: Coppélia international tour (with Nureyev and Bruhn).

1981: Designed sets and costumes for Past of the Future, a presentation by the National Ballet School of Canada at the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto.

His broader portfolio includes designs for musicals and operas, which often share the grand scale, movement, and costuming demands of ballet.

Legacy

Maurice Strike’s contribution to the National Ballet of Canada’s repertoire helped bring a classic 19th‑century ballet to contemporary audiences in a visually adaptable format. His designs supported some of the biggest stars in dance at the time and were considered robust and elegant enough to be revived a decade later—a mark of enduring production design.

Note: Specific archival material, photographs, or reviews of Strike’s Coppélia designs would likely be held in the National Ballet of Canada Archives (Toronto) or in the personal papers of dancers and designers from the period.

Teaching and Interior Design

Teaching: Strike taught at the National Ballet School of Canada and at Middlesex Polytechnic from 1983-1985.

Interiors and Restoration: He undertook interior design and mural projects in the UK and Canada, including the Butler House (Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake), Roselawn (Kingston, Ontario), Polka Children’s Theatre (Wimbledon).

Private Commissions: Numerous paintings and interiors.

Exhibitions

· Group exhibition, Arts Theatre, London (1965)

· Close Theatre, Glasgow (1966)

· Court House, Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake, Ontario, with Jacobine Jones, sculptor (1967)

· Tarragon Theatre, Toronto (1978)

· Potter Inn, Dorchester (1982)

· Bournemouth College of Art (Shelley Park, 1982)

· Salisbury Playhouse (1989)

· Dictating the Style, The Greenhouse, St Peter Port, Guernsey (2012)

Awards and honours

· Intermediate in Arts and Crafts (1963)

· Royal Society of Arts Bursary for Industry (and fellowship) (1964)

· National Diploma of Design (1965)

· Arts Council of Great Britain Young Designers Award (1965)

· Canada Council Art Award (1975)

· Senior Arts Award (Canada, 1977)

· Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (for services in Canada)

Ordained ministry (1987–2013)

Strike trained full-time for ordination at Salisbury and Wells Theological College (1985–1987).

Curate: St Andrew’s, Chippenham with Tytherton Lucas, Wiltshire (Diocese of Bristol, 1987–1991). During this time he directed and designed several church‑based drama productions.

Rector: Corfe Valley, Dorset (Diocese of Salisbury, 1991–2004), covering the parishes of St Edward, King & Martyr, Corfe Castle[11][12], with Church Knowle, Steeple, Kimmeridge, Tyneham and islands in Poole Harbour (except Brownsea)[13]

Key activities included:

1991: Pageant design for ‘When Kings Rode to Corfe’ at the Castle

1992: Founding and directing the Corfe Valley Drama Group and Arts Festival

Restoration and re‑ordering projects across the valley’s churches, including the restoration of the bells at St Edward’s, Corfe Castle and the barrel organ at Steeple, Dorset.

Commissioned to design altar frontals[14] and vestments for Wells Cathedral (completed 2002, in collaboration with Jane Lemon’s Sarum Group and the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace), and also an altar frontal for St Mary the Virgin, Compton Abbas .[15]

Rector: St Pierre du Bois and St Philippe de Torteval, Guernsey - Diocese of Winchester (now Diocese of Salisbury) 2004–2013[16]. During this period he received painting commissions, including designed the stained‑glass window ‘Transcendence’ (dedicated 2010) at St Pierre du Bois.[17][18]

Later life and retirement

Strike retired to Norfolk in 2014. He continues to paint, write, and is currently working on his memoir.


References

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