In 1953, Colquhoun was commissioned to design the costumes and sets for George Devine’s production of King Lear at Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Colquhoun’s spare, almost abstract set design, which contrasted with the vivid colour and rich fabrics of his costumes, received mixed reactions from the press. This sketch is for one of King Lear’s Knights – figures who arouse the anger and disapproval of his daughters, Goneril and Regan, who have to accommodate them in their homes. The humiliation and dismissal of the knights, precipitates Lear’s own tragic decline.