WINSTON-SALEM – Check out the syllabi of most theatre design courses in America, and you’ll probably find at least one of Lynn Pecktal’s books.  

That’s because they are standard texts in college and university theatre design departments around the country. “They are the best books on design in the theatre,” according to Joseph P. Tilford, dean of the School of Design and Production at the North Carolina School of the Arts.  

Pecktal, a renowned author of three best-selling books on design in the theatre, is teaching set design to students in the School of Design and Production during spring term, which ends later this month. “The students are really getting something great out of that,” Tilford noted.

A native of Tennessee, Pecktal is the author of “Designing and Painting for the Theatre” (Harcourt Brace & Company), “Costume Design: Techniques of Modern Masters” (Back Stage Books, Watson-Guptill) and “Designing and Drawing for the Theatre” (McGraw-Hill).  

First published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1975, “Designing and Painting” was an instant success and has been in print continuously since that time. Legendary designer Oliver Smith, in “Theatre Crafts” magazine, called it “the best contemporary book on scenic design and scenic execution: fascinating, tremendously informative, and indispensable.”  

“Costume Design,” published in 1993, won the Golden Pen Award from the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology, for being “significant in the field of performing arts.” 

Published in 1994, “Designing and Drawing for the Theatre” contains more than 4,600 illustrations in its 608 pages.  

Pecktal began designing professionally at Robert Porterfield’s Barter Theatre of Virginia, while attending Emory and Henry. He also studied scenic design with Donald Oenslager and costumes with Frank Poole Bevan at Yale. Pecktal has designed sets for more than 125 stage productions including Don Pasquale for Cleveland Opera and “The Music Man” at Jones Beach Theatre on Long Island. His costume designs were featured in the world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ “Tiger Tail” at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.  

In 1977, Pecktal won a Maharam Award for supervising Edward Gorey’s scenery for “Dracula” on Broadway.  His other Broadway credits include “The Crucifer of Blood,” “Gorey Stories,” “Bosoms and Neglect,” and “Home,” as well as “Semmelweiss” at the Kennedy Center.  

The School of Design and Production offers a comprehensive program of instruction and practice in 12 different concentrations in theatrical design, production and management. More than 20 full-time faculty members teach 150 courses offered each year. Students design and execute the sets, properties, costumes, lighting, sound, and wigs and makeup, as well as manage all production aspects for more than 20 shows annually. The school awards the Bachelor of Fine Arts, the College Arts Diploma, and the Master of Fine Arts. The employment rate for Design and Production graduates approaches 100 percent.  

An arts conservatory of international renown, the North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. It was founded in 1963 by the North Carolina Legislature. Today it enrolls more than 1,000 students from middle school through graduate school in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. For more information, visit the School’s website at www.ncarts.edu.  

###