Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1969 - 9

cycle. When the tape is running at or near full speed there
is a danger of initiating a second change cue in a projector
before the first is finished. Were this to happen, the second
change cue would be lost. Consequently the more proj ectors used, the less frequently any single projector must be
cycled. Tape programming becomes thus proportionately
simpler.
7. The rotating vane shutter is quite satisfactory except for
its mechanical noise. Perhaps electrodynamic breaking at
each end of the movement should be considered.
As a scheme for production the results were similarly of
mixed value. The ability to accurately present a vast panoply
of projected material in a matter of seconds meant that astonishingly sophisticated eHects could be presented. For instance, in one section of the "burning" scene, 97 separate
discreet cues were accurately presented in 27 seconds,
each cue perfectly synchronized with the accompanying music. The audience reaction to this moment especially was
most favorable.
On the negative side, the following comments should be
made. Generally there was an aesthetic lack of cohesion
with the performance of the actors. I feel the blame for this
can be traced to several technical deficiencies:

Detail of the "memory" unit built by author
The 25,OOO-cue capacity electro-mechanical counter (left),
and stage manager control unit (right), are both shown with
covers removed

Front projections forced the projected image above rather
than behind the actors. As well, there was no capability of
fading from one projector to another. Too, poor alighment
between sl ide and screen was aggravated by use of three
small screens rather than one large one.
Unfortunately, those control problems relating to projector
modification are tempered by the lack of funds to purchase
the units. Indeed, of all the non-technical factors that were
troublesome in this project the most irksome were the problems connected with renting the projectors for only a short
period of time. This delayed preparation of the tapes and
some of the slides until very close to opening, with most
unfortunate results at technical reh earsal.
I have tried to give as complete and as candid an assessment of this system as possible. In spite of what may
appear to be a disparaging attitude, I frankly favor this innovation in the small theatre. My justification is threefold:
(1) to suggest to others techniques whereby the small theatre can adapt aspects of modern technology to the new
dramaturgy, (2) to caution those contemplating such a system or part of it about some of its pitfalls, and (3) to
demonstrate that, properly approached, systems of considerable complexity such as this can be undertaken by personnel with only technical theatre training.
No other recent single production here at the University of
Virginia has attracted more non-theatre majors into active
work in the theatre. This is as it should be. Technology
can and should be used wherever possible to curb its own
most barbarous inroads on our humanity. Greater involvement
of the new generation with the art of legitimate theatre
would seem to be a salutory endeavor.

"In Sakuntala (7974), Tairov introduced one of his first
innovations. He stripped the actor's body, painted it,
covered it with scanty bits of colored cloth, liberated it
from heavy costumes, and thus revealed new potentialities in scenic expressiveness. Using the body on the
stage with a "free chastity" and extracting expressiveness from it was a more difficult art than learning how

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FEBRUARY, 1969

to wear a costume. From that time on, the Kamerny
Theatre and its imitators were characterized by a love
for the bare body of the actor and the rhythm of his motions. It is true that this often led Tairov to extremes. He
sometimes chose artists' models of both sexes rather than
people of talent for his theatre. "
Gorchakov, Nikolai A., The Theater in Soviet Russia. translated bV
Edgar Lehrman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957.

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