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John Coffey
John Coffey, theatre consultant and lighting designer, died on the 5th February, aged 62, following a brave fight with Mesothelioma, a truly horrific disease. One of life's true gentlemen, John was well respected in the technical theatre profession for his practical designs and for his talents as a systems and lighting designer.
John was educated at Bristol Grammar School and studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. During this time, he worked in all of the local theatres and then with the BBC as an assistant floor manager on drama productions and children's programmes.
He then moved to Essex to work as theatre electrician at the Colchester Repertory Theatre where he stayed for seven years, moving up through the ranks to the post of technical director. In 1972, John supervised the technical move from the old theatre in the High Street into the new Mercury Theatre.
John was married twice, in 1968 to Maggie Musgrave who was working at the University of Essex and then, in 1977, to the actress, dancer and choreographer Olivia Breeze. Together they compiled the show ‘The Breeze and I' as a tribute to Olivia's late father, vocalist Alan Breeze. John was a qualified yacht master, wrote articles for the boating press and served as Commodore of Newhaven Yacht Club.
In 1973 he joined Theatre Projects Consultants, working out of their offices in 10 Long Acre, Covent Garden. This was a particularly exciting time in the business and, during the next four years, John worked on a huge variety of new buildings including Warwick Arts Centre, Salisbury Playhouse, The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, the National Theatre in Reykjavik, the theatre/restaurant Scala Barcelona and the Cottesloe Theatre.
In 1977 John set up the partnership ‘ACT Consultant Services' with colleague Chris Baldwin. An early responsibility was the refurbishment of the technical systems at the Royalty Theatre, London during which John was introduced to the musical "Bubbling Brown Sugar". This show formed a major part of John's life for the next four years as he supervised the lighting and sound for two European tours, after the show's successful run in London. During this period, he lectured in stage lighting at the Cockpit Theatre and at the Froebel Institute in West London. He also designed the lighting for the musical at the Royalty, "Coloured Girls".
In the following 32 years John worked on countless theatre projects both in this country and abroad including the refurbishments of the National Theatre in Qatar, the Naparima Bowl, Trinidad and Teatro Sao Joao, Oporto, new build projects such as the Castle Theatre, Wellingborough and Arts Depot in North London and very recently the major refurbishment of the Spa Theatre and Royal Hall in Bridlington. John was valued in the theatre world for his cheery, careful and methodical attitude to the work in hand, always willing to go the extra mile to make sure that the project was completed successfully. His skill in working alongside contractors and theatre technicians, particularly helping to familiarise them with new theatre systems, was rare and hugely valuable.
Recently, John moved to Eastbourne with his partner Elaine Davies. He worked on local shows as a lighting designer in East Sussex, particularly for the Green Room Theatre Company. Under the aegis of the Rotary Club he raised thousands of pounds for local charities.
A loving and kindly person, his family, friends and work colleagues will miss him very much indeed and are dismayed that his life was cut short so prematurely.
10th March 2009
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