Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1976 - 12

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possess qua I Ity.
A survey of Svoboda's productions dominated by
projections might begin with two works that employed
relatively standard projection techniques in conjunction
with other scenographic means.
The opera Krutnava (Prague 19731, Figure 1, combined
a few scenic pieces on a turntable with a single, irregularly
shaped foli0 5 projection screen suspended at an oblique
angle above the turntable. The screen, which was stable,
took rear projections of interior or exterior environments.
The turntable itself was used almost exclusively for scene
changes; it was not, that is, used for dramatic kinetic
effects.
A more complex projection system, though still fairly
familiar, was us~d in the opera Kata Kabanova (Zurich
1973), Figure 2. A selective use of a few set pieces again
marked the stage floor, a raked platform with an angled
path rather than a turntable. Of particular interest was the
system of projection surfaces: two inclined and overlapping
scrims enclosed the rear path and were backed by a folio
taking rear projection. A visually rich blend of projections
was available: rear projection on the folio, frontal projection on both scrims, and also separate rear projection
on the front scrim made possible by its being inclined
forward toward the proscenium opening, thereby allowing
for projections from an instrument placed on a bridge
between the two scrims.

ball scene, and special rear projectors were used solely to
cast images of turning chandeliers during that scene. The
projection system was completed during scene shifts by
frontal projection onto the panels, which blended with
the rotation of the turntable and the lifting of certain
panels to accomodate the furniture brought on by the
turntable. The number and arrangement of the panels
themselves changed according to the scope and nature of
the scene. Actually, the production marked an evolution
and refinement of projection principles used in the
London production of The Idiot (19701, which did not
have framed projection surfaces or a turntable with its
multiple, occasionally kinetic images and projection surfaces and its partially kinetic stage, Onegin was among
Svoboda's outstanding scenographic achievements during
this period.

Fig. 3. Eugen Onegin. The photo shows the free assemblage of images that typified the projections, and the selective use of furniture and other pieces in relation to the
projection panels. Photo by Josef Svoboda.

Fig. 2. Kata Kabanovcl. The lower of the two scrims inclines toward stage right; the upper scrim ends approximately stage center. The combination of scrims and other
projection surfaces recalls the more elaborate production
of A Sunday in August, 795B. Photo by Josef Svoboda

A more thorough and dramatically impressive synthesis
of scenographic techniques dominated by projections
occurred in Eugene Onegin (Frankfurt 19711, Figure 3.
Once again a turntable was used, but this time in conjunction with a series of overlapping framed panels
suspended at different heights and in different planes
above the turntables. The panels held projection folios
onto which a free collage of images were projected from
the rear to suggest the particular environment of each
scene. Six rear projectors (5KW Reiche & Vogel) were
used to cover the panels spanning the 59 foot turntable.
In addition, three mirrored panels were used during the

SUMMER,1976

Three other opera productions shared a distinctive
projection principle: arbitrarily shaped projection surfaces
that acquire design value in and of themselves, quite apart
from the images cast upon them. The first of these, Boris
Godunov (Hamburg 1972), Figures 4A & 4B, enclosed
three sides of a central acting area with screens that were
curved extentions of the floor. The large size of the
screens (Schaufolie, 45 x 45 feet) was matched by the
quality of the rear projected images. To achieve the brilliance of the projected images without sacrificing the light
on the actors on stage required projection instruments of
unusual intensity (5 KW Pani BP 511). An interesting
variation and evolution of this three-screen principle
occurred in Smetana's opera The Secret (Prague 19731,
Figure 5). Svoboda had two ways of capturing the sense
of the small town in which the action takes place: by
means of a three-piece silhouette of the town architecture
and by significant, often symbolic details projected on
these silhouetted surfaces. The architectonic design
element of the scenography in this production is enhanced
by the stairs that cut through one of the open corners of
the three-part projection screen. Another basic difference
from Godunov is that the projection surfaces were of
opaque canvas stretched on wood frames, and all the
projections were, of course, frontal. A less symmetrical
and more dynamic variation of this particular principle of
deliberately designed projection surfaces is seen in the

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