David Kibart

David Kibart first became involved in the Leicester Little Theatre (LDS – www.thelittletheatre.net) in the late 1960s as a member of the Student Group while he was a pupil at Wyggeston Boys School where he was the star of the school annual review. One particular year, 1965 or 66, stands out when David performed a sketch he had written. The sketch was the story of Hamlet as told by David Kossoff. Among the nuggets in the sketch was the fact that Elsinor was so named because Hamlet’s mother was called Elsie and his father Norman. David was the son of the distinguished local artist James H Kibart who taught at the Leicester College of Art and Design (now DMU). After college, in search of work as a stage designer, David considered applying for the resident designer post with the LDS when George Kelman retired in 1974 but wisely decided to avoid the massive upheaval that would ensue after nearly 40 years of George’s beautiful, but essentially 2-D, design world. David Gunning was appointed and stayed only for one year after which David was duly appointed in the summer of 1975. In total he designed some 37 shows and implemented one other design (by Kathy Layfield) as resident designer. In late 1978 he decided to move on and moved to Chesterfield, where he was later instrumental in relaunching the “Civic Theatre” as the “The Pomegranate Theatre”, although he returned briefly in the following February to design and implement Absurd Person Singular. David was also a very competent actor and played in Detective Story (1975), I Am a Camera(1977) and Lady Windermere’s Fan(1977).
David was always fond of a pint and many cheerful hours were spent in production planning in the various local hostelries. My particular memories are of two of the many productions that I stage managed. Peter Pan was the last show he designed while in post and he had really moved away by then and the sets were built and engineered by myself and the crew in the clubroom. The jewel in the crown was the lovely set for Ring Round the Moon which included a Crystal Palace style winter garden. The graceful arches of this were specially made by laminating timber strips at Fred Cooper’s Hinckley timber works. Much modified, they still hang forlornly at the back of the fly tower. The trees which partly hid the pros were made of real birch and conifer branches and the hedge stage right was lovingly crafted from laurel prunings by the props team who both suffered from mild cyanide poisoning due to the gas that exuded from the fresh leaves!
David’s later years were dogged by severe ill health and he died of cancer in November aged only 63. His wife Monica said in her Christmas card “at least his suffering is over now”. He leaves Monica and one son Ralph.
Rob Thirlby, January 2014