Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1979 - 37

~~~~~~~~~~~J=ar=ed~sa~'tt~ma~n_BookReviews
Public Assembly Facllltles: PlannIng and Management by Don Jewell. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1978, ISBN 0-471-02437-6, 195
pp., illus.

Theatres are a class of structures which belong to the genus of
building type known as public assembly facilities. Structures of this
group run the gamut from sports stadia which seat over a hundred
thousand to library lecture rooms accommodating a few dozen.
Knowledgeable observers in the construction field tend to agree that
performing arts buildings are difficult and challenging both to plan
and design. In fact, theatres are often much more sophisticated
technically, more complex in their internal dynamics, and infinitely
more variable in form than hockey rinks, exhibition halls, or similar
facilities. The body of research available to theatre planners and
builders should therefore be expected to be extensive, complete and
up-to-date. But this is not the case, and titles such as this one merely
serve to compound the problem.
The subject which Don Jewell has chosen is clearly a big one. It
runs across perhaps ten distinctly different forms of buildings, including at least three kinds of performing arts facilities; through a
spectrum of highly diversified and specialized equipment which
might be used in these various forms; through widely divergent standards and practices of organization of space, acoustics and noise
control; through management objectives, and so on, for each category of facility; and over the building code requirements and financing methods of two countries (the U.S. and Canada). In short it is a
subject which requires either an encyclopedic treatment or a firstrate annotated bibliography. Jewell delivers neither. He presents his
subject in a skimpy and loosely laid out one hundred and ninety five
pages. This is in turn divided into twenty-five (that's right) chapters at
least two of which are no more than a full page of type.
Beside the overriding fault of seeming to cover a subject which the
book does not seriously attempt to explore in any detail, Jewell's
work has two other fatal flaws. The first is that much of his information
is more accurately and completely conveyed in common reference
works such as Time-saver Standards, in more specialized planning
texts (Ham's Theatre Planning to name but one), and in the supplementary material which is so often provided by equipment manufacturers and suppliers.
The book's second internal flaw is that in many areas of discussion
it is so off-hand with basic facts and priorities that all its contents fall
under suspicion. For one thing, author Jewell is mixed up on the
subject of the stadia and amphitheatres of classical Greece both in
their chronology and function. For another, his only definition of
"flats" is that of folding risers. The difficult and complex topic of
public subscription funding gets seven lines of type. Jewell's diagrams of "basic types" of theatres, auditoriums and concert halls is
simple, pat and highly misleading. His lists of equipment for facilities
are strangely categorized and contain such illuminating inclusions as
wastebaskets. His discussion of "seating" consists of a four page
quote from a seating system manufacturer. One begins to wonder
just who it is that this man could claim to be writing for.
I n his introduction, Jewell acknowledges the International Association of Auditorium Managers as the body charged with the responsibility for maintaining high standards of public assembly facility management in North America. This is an Association which also cites
members for outstanding achievement. Jewell has not only been
president of the organization, but he has been cited as well. The only
fair conclusion is that such awards are based purely on loyalty and
seniority.
BrIan Arnott

Toronto

Stagecraft: A Handbook for OrganIzation, Construction and Management by David Welker. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, Inc., 1977,ISBN 0205-05589-3,423 pp., illus., $17.95 cloth.

Welker's preface states that this book is written for use, primarily,
by colleges, community theatres, and by individuals who "have little

or no experience in stagecraft, and need full information, clearly
stated." Unfortunately, the book falls far short of that premise.
The book's positive thrust is seen in that there are a number of
useful passages throughout the text. Sections on planning and thinking, neatness and organization, inventory and record keeping, crisis
avoidance and personnel supervision are noteworthy as is the continued emphasis on safety. The chapter on paint mixing and the discussion on analysis and reference to working drawings are also
helpful. The illustrations are clear, the typeface is readable, and the
index is very detailed and most valuable.
However, extensive errors of omission and commission overwhelm
the valuable sections. The most flagrant of these errors include such
omissions as no glossary and no tables or charts of standards sizes
or strengths of materials. Techniques that are cited as new ar~ ten t~
fifteen years old and scenery designs are mechanically amateurish,
untrue to period, and lacking in style or dramatic flair.
Some of the practices advocated by Welker are hazardous as
described in the sections on flying flats and striking hammers. Few
tools are discussed and only six are illustrated. Pneumatic tools are
not discussed and air staplers are dismissed as too noisy, bulky and
expensive. Welker further believes that the table saw should be
banished from the scene shop because it is too dangerous. The book
contains no illustrations of drafting or painting equipment; cut,
cleated or dependent stairs; papier mache work; hemp or counterweight systems; fabrics or materials; shift plots; wagon platforms,
revolves or elevators. The only hardware illustrated is Wise's lash
cleat and eye plus seven nails.
Metals and metalworking eqUipment is not discussed and the
passages on synthetic plastics are uninformative and without i1iustration. The plastics chapter also includes information on papier mache
and animal glue which do not belong in a discussion of plastics.
Instead of reusing drops, Welker advocates tearing them up to cover
flats, thereby necessitating rebuilding drops and making flat coverage more difficult. The book is primarily proscenium oriented and
ignores the requirements of arena or thrust staging.
Welker ignores his own statement about "full information" by suggesting that the reader ask the local technical director. That leaves
"the theatre worker who must master stagecraft essentially on his
own" and the inexperienced person, who finds himself in a new job,
out in the cold. The beginner, more than anyone, needs complete
descriptions and illustrations that are consistently lacking in the text.
The book has a haphazard air and lacks a sense of the importance
of careful craftsmanship. Welker says "tools designed for making fine
adjustments, for polishing and fi nishing, are little used in the theatre"
and that fine tools are "likely to gather dust in the tool room." The
same philosophy is apparent in the narrow selection of hardware
described in Chapter Four and recommended for purchase in Chapter Sixteen. There is no attempt to secure the proper tool or hardware
item for the job at hand.
This archaic, knock-it-together-with-what-you-have approach has
no place in contemporary stage technology. Tight budgets and time
limitations may mandate less than ideal solutions to some problems,
but there is no excuse for continually operating in a 'make-do' manner. Short cuts and substitutes should be recognized as such and not
promoted as standard practice. In conclusion, Stagecraft has little to
offer which cannot be found in other books already available which
are more clearly written and better illustrated.
Elbln L. Cleveland

UnIversity of South Carolina

Gordon Craig on Movement and Dance edited by Arnold Rood.
Brooklyn: Dance Horizons, 1977, ISBN 0-87127-092-7, 263 pp.

Until comparatively recently, Edward Gordon Craig's reputation,
although widespread, has been the subject of considerable controversy. On the positive side, the evidence included a body of inspirational writing and a greater number of riveting graphic images.
On the negative side, there were a number of detractors and the
peculiar nature of Craig's own polychromatic personality. Toqether,

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1979