Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1978 - 26

plays. The F.T.P. supported the creation of new works for the theatre.
It experimented with what were new theatrical forms for the United
States, such as the Living Newspaper. While principally concerned
with contemporary American works, the program also translated
many foreign playwrights and performed numerous classical plays.
The collection, totaling over 800 cubic feet of material, includes
play and radio scripts, playlists, production notebooks, set and costume designs, posters, musical scores, photographs, research data,
and administrative records. All of the major developments of the
F.T.P. are documented in the collection. The newfound scripts will
significantly alter current views on the development of American
drama, its relationship to European drama, and the importance of
earlier Black drama. They reveal an interest in techniques usually
associated with avant-garde theatre of the fifties and sixties. They
show that Black American theatre of the period was much more
vigorous than most scholars have supposed, and that American
theatre in general was considerably better informed about advanced
European techniques than is usually assumed.

Scripts
The largest portion of the collection consists of more than 7,000
scripts, including: (1) over thirty Living Newspapers-more than twice
the number previously available-their research files and early
drafts; (2) plays, by Black writers such as Theodore Ward, Theodore
Browne and Hughes Allison, previously unknown or considered lost;
(3) unpublished early works by Arthur Miller, Betty Smith, Molly Day
Thatcher, and others; (4) 2,500 radio scripts from the Federal Theatre
of the Air including series such as Gallant Women, Great Moments in
Science, and Famous Americans; (5) adaptations and translations of
classical plays and experimental European plays-some of which are
the only versions in English; (6) a large number of marionette and
puppet plays.

Graphics
The second major portion consists of pictorial records including:
(1) over 500 silk-screen posters; (2) production notebooks documenting staging, costumes, etc. through photographs and drawings;
(3) over fifteen cubic feet of original, signed set and costume designs,

(Continued from p. 22)
reader becomes aware of the necessity of looking beyond the floor
plan and thinking in three-dimensional terms. The chapter on color is
a succinct introduction to the complexities of color, including discussions of additive and subtractive mixing, tints versus more saturated colors, the use of color in creating dimension, as well as the
importance of production style relative to color choice.
One last item worth mentioning, often absent from lighting texts, is
Reid's emphasis upon the function of time and organization (the
presence or lack of each) in the preparation of the lighting of any
production. With time often at a premium, preparation and organization are essential to the creation of a successful design, certainly a
worthy concept to be stressed in a text such as this one.
The Stage Lighting Handbook, therefore, appears to be just thata short text with a wide scope which touches upon most of the
important aspects of stage lighting in a concise manner, but which
leaves the deeper discussions of design and style as well as the everincreasing wealth of technical information to the lengthier text-books
written specifically for students of lighting design.
Joan Sullivan

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Materials of the Scene: An Introduction to Technical Theatre, by
Welby B. Wolfe. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1977. ISBN
0-06-047184-0,315 pp., illus., $10.50.
Welby Wolfe's stated purpose in preparing Materials of the Scene
was to provide "a textbook for an introductory course in theatre
technology and stagecraft." There are already several fairly adequate

Theatre Design & Technology

including the famous productions of Dr. Faustus and Horse Eats Hat
designed and produced by Orson Welles and John Houseman; (4)
forty-five cubic feet of photographs including shots of One Third of a
Nation, Macbeth, and It Can't Happen Here.
The last major part of the collection consists of research and
administrative materials. Among these items are playlists of F.T.P.
scripts available to local groups, playreaders' reports on all scripts
received by the F.T.P., files of theatre groups, clippings and reviews
of F.T.P. activities, and research material for books on such topics as
American social drama, Chinese drama, and local theatres.

Visual/Technical
Of interest to those engaged in theatre technology is the material in
750 bound production notebooks including blueprints, ground plans,
set photos and written descriptions of the technical and artistic problems encountered plus the solutions devised. Many of the volumes
include light, property, and wardrobe plots, newspaper reviews and
programs (the programs often gave credit to the designers on the
back page, and sometimes not at all). The design file, photograph file
(over 25,000 images), and the oral history collection provide a resource for the study of the visual and technical aspects of the F.T.P.
Additional sources available at the Research Center include research about Treasure Island (plus George Izenour's blueprints for
the lighting panels at the Treasure Island theatre), discussion of the
proposed Infinidome theatre in Massachusetts, photographs and
blueprints for theatre models, and instructional blueprints used in the
workshops for training designers (costume, set, lighting, and sound),
carpenters, and painters. For further information on the design file
see our newsletter Federal One, vol. 2, no. 3, Dec., 1977, pp. 6-8 and
descriptions of technical research resources can be found in vol. 3,
# 3-both available on request from the Research Center.
A register of the collection will be published late in 1978. The
Research Center is open to researchers from 8-4 Monday through
Friday and until 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays. It is advisable to contact the
Curator previous to arrival to be sure that a staff member will be on
hand to prepare for and take care of your research needs (703-3232251).

and up to date texts in this area and Wolfe's contribution to the
market adds basically a more focused look at materials, tools, and
equipment and their use in the fabrication, painting, and assembly of
stage scenery. The text does not deal with scenic design, lighting
technology and design, or many of the other topics that are included
in other treatments such as those of Bellman, or Parker and Smith.
The paperbound volume is divided into seven major chapter headings. From an introductory historical overview, the author proceeds
to a discussion of the contemporary proscenium stage and its scenic
conventions, materials and hardware, the building and handling of
scenery. painting the set, dressing the set, and concludes with a
discussion of technical organization and responsibilities. In format
the book devotes about equal space to fairly complete descriptive
lists or directories of materials, hardware, tools, etc., and clearly
written step by step prose sections explaining their use. The entire
book is extensively illustrated with the author's own simple line drawings some of which, for the sake of clarity, might have been replaced
with photographs.
While many of Wolfe's material and tool directories are very complete and detailed for the beginner (especially in areas such as
plastics and metals). the text assumes rather old fashioned conventional scenic design and limits itself to traditional construction of flats.
platforms. and standard two-dimensional soft scenery. This is perhaps appropriate for a beginning text. and the author does clearly
state that he is presenting "a" method of solving specific problems
and points out that his "sections dealing with construction are laced
with the word 'may' in hopes the reader will discover other possible
ways of building things and new materials to use." At the end of each
chapter Wolfe provides a bibliography of suggested readings which
provide additional information on the subject matter introduced in
each chapter
(Continued on p. 26)

USITTIFali. 1978

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1978