In the late 1950s, a teenage Richard Brett - studying engineering at University College London - joined the Institution of Electrical Engineering as a student member. Richard went on to become a Fellow of the IEE in 1986 after gaining many years of engineering and management experience as a theatre consultant. Now called the IET - formed in 2006 by the amalgamation of the IEE and the Institution of Incorporate Engineers - the Institution has recently congratulated Richard on his 50 years of continuous membership.
In the intervening years, Richard left university and undertook one of the last Graduate Apprenticeships offered by the BBC and then worked on planning the new colour television studios coming into service in the mid 1960s. When Richard Pilbrow was appointed as theatre consultant for the construction of the National Theatre, he invited Brett to join him and to start Theatre Projects Consultants, now one of the world's leading theatre and equipment design consultancies.
Richard's reputation in stage engineering was forged by innovative designs including the first use of air bearings to change the auditorium format at Derngate in Northampton and the power flying system and drum revolve at the National Theatre (where he is retained as a technical associate). He started his own practice, Technical Planning Ltd, which developed into Theatre Planning and Technology Ltd in 1999 and ultimately Theatreplan LLP in 2004, where he is senior partner and chairman. His major projects include the stage engineering of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, being part of the in-house consultancy team on the Royal Opera House development, and leading the theatre planning and engineering consultants team on the new Copenhagen Opera House which opened in 2004.
Richard's close association with and support for the ABTT was rewarded with a Fellowship in 1986. His current activities include the new engineering design study for the Opera Theatre of the Sydney Opera House, and the organisation of the forthcoming Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference, which is to be held in London from 13-15 June 2010, immediately preceding the ABTT Theatre Show.
(Lee Baldock)
