Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1983 - 35

Nordisk TeaterTeknik 83

A REPORT
by David W. Weiss

History was made in Stockholm,
Sweden, May 13 through 16 when the
first all Scandinavian conference of theatre architects, designers, and technicians took place in the Stockholm City
Theatre and the Folkets Hus Congress
Hall. ever before had representatives
of all the Scandinavian nations
(Sweden, orway, Finland, Denmark
and Iceland) gathered to share ideas and
in formation.
Plans for the meeting began at a session of the Association of Swedish Theatre Technicians (STTF) in 1980 although a study committee had begun
working on the concept of such a gathering as early as 1978. By the time the conference became a reality the ordic Theatre Convention, with representatives
from all the nations, had joined forces
with STTF to present what proved to
be an exciting and truly successful
convention.
The initial plan, eventually adopted,
was to offer a series of seminars which
would be available to a limited number
of participants in each area. The seminars covered architecture, scenography,
stage technology, lighting, sound, work
environment, stage management, props,
make-up, costume and set construction
and painting. The enrollment for these
seminars was taken up well in advance
of the convention, somewhat to the surprise of the meeting's principal organizer, Hans-Ake Sjoquist, lighting designer
for the Swedish Royal Opera and president of STTF. In order to accommodate
all those who wished to attend, a group
of lectures were added in which anyone
attending the conference might participate. As a result, 1,300 people registered for the conference, a remarkable
number considering the population of
these countries.
The activities of the convention
began with a day of touring facilities.
Participants could select either a tour of
the many theatres in Stockholm or a
tour of the workshops which produce

the scenery and properties used in those
theatres. Both tours included a visit to
the famous 18th-century theatre at
Drottningholm Palace just outside
Stockholm. At the end of the day a reception was held to welcome the guests
to the convention.
On Saturday morning, May 14, the
convention officially opened with welcoming remarks from representatives of
STTF, the Nordic Theatre Committee,
the Stockholm City Theatre and Sweden's ivlinister of Culture, Bengt Goransson. Mr. Goransson made clear the
Swedish government's enthusiastic support for the performing arts and noted
that space for the performing arts was
on the increase in Sweden. Emphasizing
his support for live theatre he stated
that, "one thousand people watching
television was not as good as one hundred fifty watching a play together."
A main theme of the conference was
"From Room to Theatre." On Saturday evening a general meeting was held
for all the participants to discuss this
subject and the discussion, chaired by
Ms. Halldis Hoaas of Norway, was
stimulated by a sub-theme popular
throughout the world these days: "Has
fascination with technical wizardry gone
too far?" Representatives of the Scandinavian nations offered their thoughts
on the subject after which the floor was
opened for a very lively interchange
covering a variety of aspects revolving
around the theatre as a performing
space. A further consideration of these
matters concluded the convention on
Monday, May 16. While no real conclusions were reached, the interchange was
provocative and much useful information was introduced.
The specific seminars and general
discussions went on throughout Saturday, Sunday and Monday with good attendance at all sessions. Americans addressing the convention either in the
general sessions or in the professional
seminars included Broadway stage man-

ager Barbara Dilker; the director of
Yale's lighting program, William B.
Warfel (who was assisted by Mrs.
Warfel); and David W. Weiss, director
of the design program at the University
of Virginia and official representative of
USITT (which is the U.S. center of
OISTT) for oTT 83.
Truly a highlight of the convention
was a gala performance offered to the
participants in the largest of the City
Theatre's spaces in Folkets H us Sunday
evening. The convention organizers
would not reveal the nature of the performance in advance but it proved to be
a revue featuring some of the outstanding talent of Sweden in two hours of
delightful entertainment which surmounted the language barriers with
ease. As might be expected, President
Reagan was taken to task by a very
clever impersonator.
By the time NoTT 83 ended with the
final discussion on Room into Theatre
more than 100 participants had conducted nearly as many seminars, lectures
and discussions covering a wide range of
topics in theatre design, technology, and
architecture. No one could have left this
remarkable meeting without some new
information for his or her work.
Though many people were involved
in making NoTT 83 a success, a tremendous amount of credit is due to HansAke Sjoquist who was at the hub of the
organization of the convention. Every
aspect of the meeting from warm
hospitality to the minutiae of getting
slide projectors in place was handled
smoothly and calmly. Although he worried about not having done anything like
this before Sjoquist handled himself and
the convention with the elan of a convention planning veteran.
Plans are already under way for
NoTT 84 which may take place in Norway; the Norwegians have a tough act to
0
follow.

USITT /Fall 1983/Theatre Design & Technology

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