Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1975 - 21

REFLECTIONS OF ASTAGE-BUILDER
NYU SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

by WO LFGANG ROTH
I design scenery because I Iike it.
Early in 1929, I applied to Traugott M'uller, Erwin
Piscator's designer in Berlin, to accept me as apprentice.
Muller was a man of the theatre, an imaginative man, who
was at home on large stages, as well as in Kabaretts and
night-clubs where he sang bawdy and respectable songs accompanying himself on the lute - something I learned
from him too. He asked me to come to his home for an
examination to test my ability. At the end of a long
evening filled with wine, women and song I asked him,
"Herr Muller, when are you going to test me?" "Man, you
passed," he answered with his Rhinelandish smile.
Traugott Muller remained in Nazi Germany and
became one of the busiest and most successful designers in
the Berlin theatre. But despite the fact that he made more
money than ever before, despite the fact that he appeared
to be very jocular, he became a very unhappy man and all
his artistry and cynicism could not compensate for
working in a system he so abhorred. To cover up his
unhappiness, he drank more than ever. In 1935, while I
was in Zurich, Switzerland, working in exile, I received an
open picture postcard from him with a characteristically
cynical message:" ...compared to what I am doing here,
shit is a semi-precious stone ... " His excessive drinking did
not kill him. He died of a broken heart in 1944.
And what I am about to say could not and does not
come out of academia - nor do I speak as a member of
the Scenic Artists' Union Local 829 - but solely out of
my involvement as designer and sometimes performer.
And when I so frequently refer to Bertolt Brecht, it is
because he was an all-around-theatre craftsman and a man
of vision, contradiction and fun. I discovered all this
during the time I worked for and with him a thousand
years and experiences ago. What I learned stayed with me
wherever I worked - in summer theatres, opera houses,
Vaudeville shows, Broadway theatres or on the paint
floor. And what I learned included how wrong it would be
to copy him.
Those forty-five years of work have convinced me of
some basic and unchanging principles. A designer (Brecht
preferred to call him a stage builder) must be aware of and
involved in the totality of the theatre. Equally important
should be his abil ity to be selective - to add - but also to
creatively eliminate (less is often more). He must derive
joy in his constant search to find a way to present the
theatrical truth, but enthusiasm and talent are not
enough; there also must be discipline and hard work. A
talented young student of mine asked me very seriously,
"How can one think at nine o'clock in the morning?"
"How can one have fun working so hard?" I can only say,
"He will learn or else."
For years I have been working on "The Abol ition of
Scenery" - an often misunderstood expression coined by
Traugott Muller. When I made that statement at a Union
meeting in this country several years ago, it created quite
a stir. I Was accused of trying to destroy the whole United
Scenic Artists' Union - Me - a German refugee, single
handed. I also was brought up on charges of trying to
promote the use of light projections, which today,
twenty-five years later, is an accepted technique in scenic
art. I meant only to clarify the function of my profession
- to abandon the narrow concept that "Scenery serve

USITT

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FALL. 1975

only as decoration," I meant only to say sometimes one
has to eliminate in order to illuminate.
Theatre is not literature. It is an extension of literature
through the devotion and work of many craftsmen who
are not necessarily men of letters but are guided by
theatre instinct and knowledge, not by literary or
dogmatic theories. Once there was a young man from
Dresden in Saxonia who asked Brecht "How shall I go
about becoming a director?"
"At first you have to learn High German," Brecht
answered, for Coriolanus cannot be done in Saxonian
dialect. And then you get an English dictionary and read
Shakespeare in the original language. By this time you
might have learned English - and then come back and
show me what you. can do." Nor is theatre a psychoanalytical clinic - Hamlet or Mother Courage are human
beings, not problems. And if there is no laughter and fun
or enjoyment in the theatre - there should not be a
theatre" - this again from Brecht.
Listening to discussions among actors, authors, directors, composers and dancers - so should the designer's
work begin. Ideally, he should start doodling and
designing during rehearsals, for he a Iso must rehearse and
become part of the whole conception. Since the designer
often has time on his hands, it would be a good idea to
work with groups of actors and directors in work shops rehearsing, learning and probing with them - and not
only in the role of designer. All could profit from such an
experience. The designer, like the actor, should depend on
the play. The constant change is the motor of the theatre
- curiosity its driving power. He should accept the
challenge of new solutions - menus, envelopes, match
boxes, paper napkins and tablecloths are there to be filled
with ideas - and I hate the substitution of the clip-board
for heads full of notes.
The designer should be aware of pol itical developments
and study the daily newspapers. Photographs found in all
kinds of perodicals become rich resource material. He
should be constantly aware of all he comes in contact
with - people and things in subways, planes, streets, or
wherever he encounters them - and store and use these
impressions.
He has to be hi.s own dramaturge, his own director, to
form his own picture of the work. He should be able to
help a director with situation-sketches for placing performers in special positions on stage, and by devising, like
a musical score, the physical dramaturgical development
of the production. He should avoid pretentiousness in
dealing with the director and others. Tensions sometimes
unavoidably arise which can lead to a hasty divorce or
properly used can be very healthy for a successful
marriage. And to compromise does not mean to capitulate. He can make important contributions to a performance by suggesting cast changes or script alterations. Many
a good playwright and director are grateful for having
sometimes found a designer who helped tneir efforts or
corrected their mistakes. Brecht, for instance, relied very
much on his designer's suggestions and had respect for
them. And the respect was mutual. Of course, there are
some of those in power who reject all suggestions, not on
the basis of discussed merit, but because they feel
threatened by their own insecurity. One producer was

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