Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1976 - 55

tice. There are, however, many helpful and well thought out
ideas contained in its drawings and text, and as such, it can be
considered a useful addition to a costume library.
Leo n Brau ner
Indiana University

STAGE DESIGN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, 1970-1975
by Rene Hainaux
New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1976
ISBN 0-87830-133-X
157 pp., i1lus., $42.95
This book is a new collection of the "most discussed" theatrical productions of the last five years, according to the author. The
traditional plays and productions of exceptional interest throughout the world have been eliminated in the interest of recording
more non-traditional plays from the point of view of dramatic
conception and scenographic achievement. The seeming haste in
putting forth what the author terms an "intermediary volume" on
this subject for the short five-year period is explained by the notation that the emphasis is on "stage production" rather than "stage
design." Despite the special record for which the book stands,
pictorially the volume does not appear at f.irst glance to be nearly
as attractive as the preceding three volumes since the selected
photographs do not exhibit the usual theatrical spectacle values,
which we are accustomed to seeing, such as painted or plastic
scenery and special lighting. The earlier volumes were: Stage
Design Throughout The World Since 1935, Stage Design Throughout The World Since 1950, and Stage Design Throughout The
World Since 1960. A clarifying foreword by Rene Hainaux and
a "Bird's-Eye View of Some New Trends" signed by Mr. Hainaux
and Nicole Leclercq are trenchant proems that accompany the
format_
The chief value of the book lies in its depiction of a direction
in which the theatre is heading, a direction that is in flux without
a common genre. Intense experimentation which rejects Aristotelian rhetoric, rejects psychology, even rejects the usual theatre
buildings, is searching for more direct communication with the
spectator; the stage director and scenographer are almost becoming one.
Full appreciation of any stage production cannot possibly
be realized by iconography. This is particularly true in the present
book since so many of the plays presented are in the form of
central staging without the benefit of the traditional values of
stage spectacle. Directing and scenography have merged in a manner in which playing space and practical structures on, through,
in which actors perform become one general unit. Practical,
realistic properties are added if and when needed. In lieu of
conventional theatre auditoriums, there seems to be an earnest
search for free space.
A tally of some observed facts surprisingly reveals substantial
realistic scenic fragments ill thirty-four of the total 179 productions included in the book. Other observations show a great tendency towards the use of some form of wood, either on the floor
or in vertical sections. Photographic screen projections and enlargements were visible in only a minimal number. a remarkable
decrease for this medium. Only twenty-five productions showed
skeletal structures in pipe or metal framing, but many productions employed some sort of large-area textured fabric as a major
scenic unit (although not in the form of a scenic drop). Styrofoam or vacuumform units and plastic sheetings are very sparsely
used. A few productions exhibited screens (j.e., scrim or similar
transparencies), while only three plays appeared to make use of
floor hydraulics or vertical moving parts, and three other settings
were mounted on revolves. Hanging banners used as symbols and
occasionally extremely exaggerated props employed as principal
scenic elements were noted throughout the collection. The photographs of the Alwin Nikolais Dance Company displayed the most
original techniques of lighting. Incidentally, in a few productions
human size was enlarged appreciably, along with a frequent use of
masks in combination with puppets. For the remainder, central
staging within bare walls with absolutely no decor was predominant. Twenty-three photographs depicted playing locations not
in a theatre house at all.

USITT

This very special group of plays viewed as productions, not
designs, tends to turn away from the classics, tends to change the
stage-public relationship, and tends to be performed in no particular fixed structures. A new kind of theatrical realism that exalts the group, actors and audience, and includes a festive atmosphere abounding with exuberance and explosive, violent practices
is evident. The years 1970 to 1975 belong to the directors rather
than the designers.
Richard L. Scammon
Indiana University

VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN THEATRES
by Victor G lasstone
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975
ISBN 0-674-93591-8
136 pp., illus., $17.50
Victorian style, while still a sentimental favorite in certain
quarters of the antique trade, was long ago rejected by artists as
far too eclectic and superficial. Clearly, drama is one branch of
British art which has left a scant legacy from Victorian times;
and the buildings in which Victorian plays and entertainments
w~re once presented have been variously neglected, altered and
destroyed, many perhaps upon an assumption of guilt by association with Victorian stage fare. If the trend to demolish theatrical
Victoriana were to continue, soon there would be nothing left
for those of us who lack the good fortune to have ever enjoyed
a Victorian entertainment in a Victorian setting. But fortunately
for us all, the fates have sent Victor G lasstone to set the record
straight and put things right.
Do not be misled, however. Glasstone is no high minded and
humourless evangelist. He is more appropriately cast as a guardian
angel and a traditionalist who is offering up for necessary reevaluation the notion that the architecture of entertainment - in
this case, Victorian and Edwardian theatres - reflect the imagination and social style of the society which causes them to be built.
To Victor Glasstone, the appelation "Victorian" is anything but
a cultural irrelevancy. Glasstone clearly appreciates the fundamental vitality of Victorian life and, as an architect and theatre
historian, he expresses this faith in the times through an unabashed admiration for the rich decorative variety of the Victorian
theatre building and the skillful and spirited manner by which it
captured theatrical space. Only the cold hearted or the astigmatic
could possibly fail to be won completely over to Glasstone's point,
particularly in the face of the more than two hundred pieces of
pictorial evidence he has collected. Victorian and Edwardian
Theatres is at heart a cornucopic family album of contemporary
Victorian and Edwardian photos, drawings and lithographs which
span the seven decades of British theatre building from 1840 to
1910.
It is not unfair to call Victorian and Edwardian Theatres a
picture book, provided one adds that it is an especially well
annotated and edited picture book. It is distinguished sharply
from its numerous hastily pasted up cousins by the thoroughness
of its historical sweep, the bountiful density and diversity of
its pictorial information and by the deft economy of the author's
own comments. Apart from a highly knowledgeable seven page
introduction, Glasstone has confined his remarks to a paragraph
or two of identifying comment on every other page. Having carefully selected and arranged his pictorials, Glasstone is wise and discreet enough to let the pictures speak for themselves: and they
do admirably, the pictorial piece de resistance being eight exquisite full page colour plates of extant Victorian theatres photographed by the author in support of h is basic contention that the
Victorian theatre atmosphere contributed immeasurably to
audience and actor alike.
Like the theatres which comprise its subject, Glasstone's book
delights the eye, invigorates the spirit and awakens the imagination
to the obvious merits of this theatre building tradition which the
influence of Wagner, Sabine, Adler and others has so regretably
overcome. But perhaps Glasstone's achievement in Victorian and
Edwardian Theatres is something more than his learned advocacy
0.1 the Victorian theatre building style, or the precision of his

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FALL,1976

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