Joan and David de Bethel were talented artists and designers. They designed some lovely back cloths for west end reviews some of which ended up in the Fols scenery store and were used in the shows. In the 1960s they designed a beautiful set for the “Hans Anderson “ ballet which was a book which was opened and the characters from the fairy stories were posed and then came to life and danced. I did this ballet in 1966 and was the “Little Mermaid “.
Unfortunately the set was burnt in a fire at the theatre and never replaced but Joan and David made a pair of cats for Hughie Charles who owned the show then , and they used to sit on his bar ! They were paper mache and were the forerunners of the Rye pottery cats. Which became big sellers and were very popular although they were made of pottery. The Fols cats are totally unique and very beautiful and I’ve always loved them and was lucky enough to be given them after Joan Mann died. They are dressed in opening costumes and I have them on display in my Manila apartment. Below are the pictures of them.
