Designing restoration England: Jess Curtis brings Nell Gwynn to life

What does it take to transport an audience back to the dazzling world of Restoration London?

For award-winning theatre designer Jess Curtis, it begins long before the first rehearsal, with months spent exploring museums, studying architecture, examining paintings, researching historic costume and asking one simple question: “How do you make history feel alive?”

This summer, Theatre by the Lake presents Nell Gwynn, Jessica Swale’s Olivier Award-winning comedy about the woman who rose from selling oranges outside London’s theatres to become one of England’s first female stage stars and the mistress of King Charles II.

Following its acclaimed opening at Shakespeare North Playhouse, the production arrives in Keswick from 9 July – 1 August as part of a major co-production between Theatre by the Lake, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Storyhouse Theatre.

For Jess Curtis, whose previous work has been seen at theatres across the UK and internationally, it was a project she simply couldn’t resist. “It was the period, the play and the place,” she says. “Jessica Swale is an extraordinary storyteller whose work I’ve admired for years. Then there was Bryony Shanahan’s brilliant vision, and the chance to create something for three beautiful theatres that each have their own personality.”

Rather than recreating the seventeenth century as a museum exhibit, Jess wanted audiences to feel as though they had stepped directly into a living, breathing theatre.

“We wanted to honour the period, but not make something dusty,” she explains. “It needed to feel alive. We wanted audiences to recognise that these weren’t distant historical figures, they were people just like us.”

The production’s visual world celebrates one of the most transformative moments in British theatre history. After years of Puritan rule under Oliver Cromwell, theatres reopened in 1660, women appeared on the professional stage for the very first time, and fashion exploded with colour, extravagance and theatricality.

Jess immersed herself in the collections of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, studying everything from painted ceilings and architecture to fabrics, ceramics and glasswork. Those discoveries inspired a design that draws audiences into Restoration London while allowing each theatre building to become part of the storytelling itself.

“In theatre in the round, the floor becomes incredibly important,” she says. “I loved the idea of characters walking beneath painted skies, borrowing from the beautiful decorated ceilings of the period while letting the theatre itself become part of the world.”

Costume plays an equally important role.

“Nell’s story is one of extraordinary transformation,” says Jess. “The clothes have to tell that journey. We need to see where she begins, understand where she ends, and experience everything she becomes in between.”

She describes her interpretation of Nell in just three words: Bold. Funny. Theatrical.

“Nell had incredible wit,” Jess says. “Humour gave her the freedom to cross boundaries that society placed in front of her. She could move between worlds because she was fearless.”

The production embraces the opulence of the Restoration without losing sight of the humanity beneath the wigs, velvet and ribbons. “People often think of this period as enormous wigs and extravagant clothes, and of course those things are important. But underneath all of that are recognisable human beings whose hopes, ambitions, insecurities and humour still speak to us today.”

Creating those famous Restoration wigs has become one of the production’s biggest design challenges. “They’re iconic, but they have to feel like part of the actor rather than something simply balanced on top of their head,” she laughs. “They need to frame the face, move naturally and become part of the performance.”

Alongside historical authenticity sits another priority: sustainability.

Like Theatre by the Lake and its co-producing partners, Jess has embedded environmentally conscious thinking throughout the design process, carefully considering materials, reuse and how the production travels between venues.

For Jess, theatre has always been a collaborative art. “You celebrate it as an incredible act of creation through many hands,” she says. “That’s the magic of theatre.”

It is perhaps fitting that Nell Gwynn is itself a love letter to theatre, a play about actors, audiences, storytellers and the extraordinary woman who helped change the stage forever.

Asked what she hopes Nell herself would make of the production, Jess smiles. “I hope she’d want to get up and be in it. “And I hope she’d be proud to see women writing, directing, designing, composing and leading theatre today. Her story helped make that possible.”

Nell Gwynn plays at Theatre by the Lake  9 July–1 August 2026. Tickets are available here.