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Maria Bjornson

Maria Björnson
Maria Elena Bjornson by Steve Speller, 1988, grayscale, cropped, low-res.jpg
Björnson in 1988
Born Maria Elena Björnson
(1949-02-16)16 February 1949
Paris
Died 13 December 2002(2002-12-13) (aged 53)
London
Education
Known for
Awards

Maria Elena Björnson (16 February 1949 – 13 December 2002) was a theatre designer. She was born in Paris to a Norwegian father and Romanian mother. She was the great-granddaughter of the Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903.

Björnson was born in Paris on 16 February 1949. Her father Bjorn was a businessman from Norway; her mother, Mia Prodan, was from Romania. Both were from theatrical families. Björnson grew up in London; she studied at the Lycée Français, and then at the Byam Shaw School of Art and at the Central School of Art and Design.

She designed sets and costumes for theatre, ballet and opera. She worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and designed Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which won her the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, and the Trevor Nunn production of Aspects of Love.

Björnson was course director for Theatre Design at the Central School of Art and Design. She died in London on 13 December 2002. She was 53.

In 2006, the refurbished Young Vic opened a new studio theatre named the "Maria" in honour of Björnson. The first performance there was Love and Money by Dennis Kelly, directed by Matthew Dunster and designed by Anna Fleischle.


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