Sally Jacobs

Sally Jacobs (née Rich, 5 November 1932 – 16 August 2020) was a British stage designer and director.

Early life Jacobs was born in Whitechapel, London on 5 November 1932. Her parents were Bernard and Esther Rich (née Bart), a furrier and milliner respectively. She studied at Dalston County secondary school in Hackney Between 1967 and 1982 she lived in the U.S. and continued to work as a designer and director for theatre and opera companies. In 1982 she returned to the UK.

One of her best known set and costume designs was for the innovative production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Peter Brook, in 1970. She was inspired by a production of the Beijing Opera to provide a blank white box as the stage and clothe the actors in brightly coloured costumes. This contributed to the lasting impact, and controversy, of this specific production.

Jacob also taught stage design in the U.S. (including California Institute of the Arts, University of California Los Angeles, New York University, The Actors Studio and Rutgers University) and UK, including the Slade School of Fine Art. She was a senior lecturer in stage design at the Central School of Art and Design and was a Fellow at Goldsmiths University.

Harvard University has added her archive to the Harvard Theatre Collection at the Houghton Library.