Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1971 - 27

BOOK REVIEWS
The Empty Space
Peter Brook. Atheneum, New York, 1969,
141 pp.

Nothing empty here. We have a remarkable distillation of a man's theories and
works. Like all cases of asking an artist
'why?', we cannot expect this to be artless
or all fact and simple explanation. Indeed,
the book reads more like a poem having a
definite thrust, a clarity of expression, and
still painting with words images capable of
various interpretations. It is as if someone
had asked, "What do you expect of theatre?" and this is Peter Brook's answer.
Considering the universal excitement his
productions have engendered, the answer
must be important.
The four divisions of the book amount
to separate approaches to understanding
what theatre uses and why it is useful.
"The Deadly Theatre" is a negative view
broadly considering conventional theatre
forms with much historical reference. "The
Holy Theatre" illuminates those liberating
qualities available in theatrical forms with
particular emphasis on influences of Artaud,
Cunningham, Beckett, and Grotowski. "The

Broadcasting and Bargaining:

Labor Relations in Radio and Television.
Edited by Allen E. Koenig. The University
of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1970, 34L!
pp. $8.00.

Even the best title is not always as revealing as it should be. At first glance, this
book may seem somewhat peripheral to the
theatre and even narrowly restricted within
broadcasting. Perhaps such an initial reaction explains why the first book devoted
exclusively to this topic has arrived in 1970,
the golden anniversary year of radio broadcasti ng. The book is useful to theatre people, because the labor relations problems of
theatre and broadcasting are closely related.
Several unions span both media, notably, the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees, and various actors', directors',
writers', and musicians' organizations. Such
problems as contracts, residuals, and union
jurisdictional friction are also common to
both media.

~ THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

Rough Theatre" oHers an extraordinary perception of works by Brecht and Shakespeare. Brook identifies the qualities, "The
holy is the yearning for the invisible through
its visible incarnations, the rough is a dynamic stab at a certain ideal . . . deals
with men's actions ... it is down to earth
and direct." The Immediate Theatre" is a
most personal statement of what each artistic contribution should be; design, costume, director, actor, rehearsal, and audience.
With such writing one is tempted to quote
liberally. The following selections were
chosen for their technical relevance as well
as being representative of the general quality of the book, but like all quotes the context is lost and the meani ng may be
skewed.
The science of theatre-building must come
from studying what it is that brings about the
most vivid relationship between people. An architect is better off if he works like a scene
designer, moving scraps of cardboard by intuition. than if he builds his model from a plan.
prepared with compass and ruler..
. Era
after era the most vital theatrical experiences
occur outside the legitimate places constructed
for the purpose. Gordon Craig influenced Europe
for half a century through a couple of performances given in Hampstead in a church Hall.
How grotesquely clumsy, how inadequate
and how pitiful the theatre becomes, not only

Professor Koenig's book consists of a collection of articles by twenty-two contributors from such diverse areas as academia,
labor law, union leadership, and broadcasting management. Most of the material
was commissioned specially for this publication. Among the topics explored are arbitration, overseas competition, black employment, blacklisting, and the protection of
the creative artist. There are both advantages
to such an approach, and the book reflects
them and disadvantages. Since published
material that would be useful to a nonspecialist audience is exceedingly limited
in this field, Koenig had practically no
alternative to the approach he chose. Many
of the chapters are excellent, and these
selections make the book a valuable
addition to a professional library and
seminar in theatre or broadcasting management. A frequent problem in compilations
is the lack of uniform focus, depth, and
style. In this case, the stylistic problem is
handled best, with contributions ranging
from acceptable to excellent. Focus and
depth are more uneven. Some contributors
seem to have made a thorough and probing
analysis, while others appear to have avoided
their assignment. The chapter on blacklisti ng (by Gary Gumpert) is historical and nar-

FEBRUARY, 1971

when a gang of men and creaking machines
are needed to move us only from one place to
the next, but even when the transition from
the world of action to the world of thought
has to be explained by any device-by music,
changing lights, or clambering on to platforms.
Art lovers can never understand why all stage
designing isn't done by 'great' painters and
sculptors. What is necessary. however. is an incomplete design; a design that has clarity without rigidity; one that could be called 'open' as
against 'shut'. This is the essence of theatrical
thinking: a true theatre designer will think of
his designs as being all the time in motion, in
action, in relation to what the actor brings to
a scene as it unfolds."

This is not a book on or about theatre technology explicitly. It is about 'why' and 'how'
theatre such that one committed to contributing to technical excellence should be
aware of such a vital point of view. In the
hopes you will read the book yourself, I
cannot resist using Brook's own fascinating
conclusion.
In everyday life 'if' is a fiction. in the theatre
'if' is an experiment. In everyday life, 'if' is an
evasion, in the theatre 'if' is the truth . . . To
play needs much work. But when we experience the work as play, then it is not work anymore. A play is play.

Richard I. Land
Engineering Sciences Laboratory
Harvard University

rative and oHers little new material. What
was needed was an analysis of the legal
remedies available to both the performer
who is being blacklisted and producer who
is being pressured into doing the blacklisting. The freedom of speech and civil liberties aspects of the blacklisting problem
are in need of more explication, but Gumpert is content to oHer a rehash of the
McCarthy era and Red Channels.
Fortunately, these complaints about focus
and depth are not so applicable to the other
chapters. But, the usefulness of the book
could have been considerably enhanced by
expanding the appendix to include sample
contracts and a reprinting of the court
opinions and National Labor Relations Board
ru Ii ngs most frequently all uded to in th e
text. The inclusion of such materials would
give the reader a deeper understanding of
and feel for the problems of labor relations.
We need more materials in this field, and
Koenig's contribution serves as both a useful resource and a significant groundbreaking.
Malthon M. Anapol
University of Delaware
(Continued on p. 32)

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1971