Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1978 - 34

(Continued trom p. 25)
an abrupt end by the abortive Liberal uprlsmg in which they both
actively participated. The project was adopted by Ludwig of Bavaria
for Munich (1864) but later abandoned (1868). All this is well documented. The genius of Semper was in arriving at a solution to the
internal arrangement. Previous solutions had been the direct result of
social change in eighteenth-century France and Izenour could do no
better than study Ledoux, Louis, Peyre and de Wailly, Legrand and
Molinos for "revolutionary ideas" as well as the German architects of
the Napoleonic era-Gilly, Langhans, Schinkel, and Moller. Their
answer was a return to a rational understanding of Greek and Roman
forms as prescribed by example and treatise. This revolved around
the reintroduction of the amphitheatrical form in an attempt to counter the bastardized versions of the corrupt baroque period. It provided a concrete manifestation of the revolution within social order
alongside better sightlines, acoustics, and ventilation.
Semper's plan for Munich was to take not a semi-circular amphitheatre-with all its attendant problems-but a section of it. It is from
this that we derive the "fan-shaped" auditorium of the later nineteenth century. It is here that we see some severance with tradition. It
is here that a break occurs in an otherwise clear understanding of the
bourgeois theatre system.
As an "enlightened" society it is felt that we-all of us-should have
access to the experiences of the past. It is therefore imperative that
those experiences should be carefully understood. Mackintosh might
join with Semper: "The ... characteristics of the different systems of
architecture will remain obscure to us as long as we have no idea of
the social, political, and religious conditions of those nations and
ages to which these styles of architecture belonged. Monuments of
architecture are in fact nothing but the esthetic expression of social,
political, and religious institutions."
The danger is that reinterpretation becomes mistaken for breaking
new ground. The juxtaposition of outmoded traditional forms with the

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Theatre Design & Technology

modern serves to consolidate rather than move forward. Perhaps the
first real break with Renaissance theatre was Street Theatre. Perhaps
the first real break with the system altogether will not be with the false
profit (sic) of the Film-so deeply steeped in theatrical tradition-but
with community television or even something completely different. As
Semper said: "Classical art completed its course atter having run the
full circle back to its origins."
Sean McCarthy
London, England

_ _ _ _ _ _ Einstein on the Beach

Your article on the tour of Einstein on the Beach (Spring, 1978)
ended with a challenge to technicians to cope with full scale avantgarde productions. Having personally wrestled with some of these
problems, please permit me these observations.
From initial opportunities for production consulting through physical completion, it would seem that one basically offers a system
matched to accomplish a design or concept. To fully delineate what
your system consists of might be qUite difficult to nail down. Yet some
system is implied in the decision making relation between function,
material, packaging, and other artistic, budgetary, or reliability concerns. Therefore, elusive subsystems must be defined, shared, and
correlated.
These sub-systems may be anything from hiring an extra carpenter to letting contracts with a variety of firms. This "bits and pieces"
approach is where I feel systems based on traditional institutional
economics suffer. They suffer more from the lack of involved communication between builders and users than incoherent design.
I do not believe that the "do it myself" and "job it out" approaches
are mutually exclusive. However, neither by itself provides an adequate solution to the realization that in a job with 8000 solder joints, a
99% perfect job has 80 mistakes-anyone of which can stop a show.
As the success of the Einstein PA demonstrates, the blend of these
approaches used at Stage & Studio can cope with tight time schedules and changing application specifications while delivering stateof-the-art technical performance.
Basically this system depends on a consortium of technicians, any
number of which are available at any given time. With a homebase of
transportable tooling, each of us has the option to quickly import a
production oriented system of shop machinery and maintain handson involvement in executing a design. With key multi-skilled craftsmen available from this pool augmented by existing inside labor,
projects of a magnitude not previously attempted can be accomplished within reasonable economic limits. User education and the
ready availability of technicians thoroughly familiar with completed
equipment are an important by-product of this approach.
We have at our disposal a coherent array of welding, woodworking,
rigging, metalworking, and electronic assembly and test equipment
that can be unpacked from our truck and operating off the company
drop within hours of arrival. This couples with an ability to share
systems and maintain an ongoing communication process between
builders, designers, and users. I believe this is a viable alternative to
the in-house versus outside contract dilemma.
This difference was plainly in evidence in the Einstein production.
The sets were resolved to a static design, sent to Italian shops, and no
inside technicians saw the completed elements until stacked awaiting
customs clearance. The PA, on the other hand, was constantly optimized by the designers, builders, and eventual operators throughout
construction with a complete shop system leased for the occasion
and essential craftsmen hired on a job basis.
With the emergence and availability of this kind of system, I firmly
believe there are technicians ready for the coming-of-age of the
avant-garde. We are a small co-operative company and would appreciate your input.
Greg Shrtver
Stage & Studio Construction Services
Raleigh, N.C.
US ITT/Fall, 1978

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