Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1983 - 33

ty productions over a thirty-three year period
in England and Canada. Hurry first \\'orked
at the Stratford Festi"al in 1956 when he deigned a production of Tambllrlaille rhe
Crear for Sir Tyrone Guthrie.
The exhibition catalog provides a concise
overview of Hurry's life and career with essays and reminiscences by friends and colleagues. The catalog also includes a listing of
all the items in the exhibition, a complete
chronology of productions he designed, a
listing of one-man exhibitions and Hurry
works in public collections, as well as a bibliography of publication dealing \\'ith Leslie
Hurry. It is illustrated throughout with
pholOgraphs of Hurry and his productions
and concludes with a splendid folio of len
color priI1ls represeI1ling five of his paintings
and fh'e examples of his sel, COSlUme, and
property designs. The prints are superior in
terms of their color reproduction and afford
readers an excelleI1l opportunity to compare
and cOlllrast developments in his studio art
with those in his theatrical design.
The exhibition and catalog \\'ere assembled under the edilOrship of Daniel \\'. Ladell, Festi"al Exhibition CoordinalOr and
Archivist, who is to be congrat ulated for his
excelleI1l "·ork. Copies of the exhibilion
catalog can be purchased by cOI1lacting the
Stratford Festival. A touring version of the
exhibition is scheduled 10 travel 10 ew York,
Dallas, San AI1lonio, and MOI1lreal before
lOuring 10 England in 1984. The exhibition
and catalog bOlh pro"ide excelleI1l opporlUnities 10 become familiar with the world of
this gifted artist.
Robert C. Hansen
Bowling Green Stale nh'ersity

Gordon Craig's Moscow Hamlet,
A Reconstruction by Laurence Senelick.
Westport and London: Grenwood Press,
1982.ISB 0-313-22495-1,X\"iii+238pp.,
ill., 529.95 cloth.
At last, a long awaited, much needed
book has appeared. This study of the CraigStani lavsky seminal production of Hamler
in 1912 at the ~Ioscow Art Theatre fills a
substaI1lial gap in the growing number of
studies of Craig's work which have appeared
in recent years. Theatre people, professional
and academic alike, may now be indebted 10
Profe or Laurence Senelick for this, hi
most recent ""ork. Since the preseI1lation of
Hamiel ome se"eI1ly year ago, a mas of
mylh has gro\\'n, with the distance of both
geography and language making for a substantial division between fact and falllasy.
Fortunately, Prof. Senelick is 10 be lauded on
both counts. By omission he underlines the
paucity of research material available in
Moscow and, by commission, underscores

the importance of the mound of such material located elsewhere. Of course, this
thoroughness is the least to be expected from
so impeccable a cholar. It must be added
that, because of his nuency in Russian, he
was able 10 make use of firsthand accounts
before, during and after the production lOok
place, not needing 10 rely on existing fragmentary translations available 10 hislOrians.
In all these efforts Senelick has been remarkably successful.
Professor Senelick selS out his three-fold
task immediately: how 10 justify resurrecting
uch a long past produclion, how 10 escape
Craig's charge that hislOrians create the past
from their imaginations, and how to provide
an accurate account. He goes about the solution 10 these questions by starting before the
beginning, preseI1ling succinct accounts of
the theatrical backgrounds of each of the two
titans involved. He continues by focusing on
the Moscow Art Theatre, introducing Isadora Duncan and her efforts 10 bring the two
artists IOgether. This meeting lOok place in
1908 and work began, reaching fruition after
a rather rocky route, in January 1912.
Among lhe source Prof. Senelick made
use of are, from Paris: lhe stenographic
transcriptions of conversations between
Craig and Slanislavsky concerning the meaning of the play and how 10 achieve the manifestations of those meanings; the additional
monumeI1lal accumulation of lellers among
the many participants; Craig's own promptbook of the production; from Austin: the
meticulously mailllained daybook and additional extensive correspondence. In addition
he had the good fortune 10 locate Craig' annotated copy of David Margarshack's
SWllislavskya Life. To these must be added
a lengthy bibliography of just under one hundred published works in Russian, English,
French, German, Italian, particularly the
first, including many firsthand aCCOUI1lS by
a large number of people who were involved
either direclly or tangelllially.
The production is traced, in detail, from
the first meeting between the director
through the opening night, some three years
later. To complete the picture, Prof. Senelick
adds chapters about the "Reaction" to the
production and the" Repercussions" resulting from it.
With the exception of several probably
inadvenalll errors, Prof. Senelick has presented a model for future studies of historic
stage productions, omilting nOlhing of relevance and, al the same time, nOl becoming
stined by an accumulation of irrelevaI1l detail. His aCCOUI1l is direct and 10 the poiI1l,
ne"er veering from his stated goals.
Arnold Rood
Dowling College

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1983