Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 33

enrolled at the age of eleven in the Imperial
Theatre School in Warsaw where he studied
all of the ans, specializing in dance. In 1913
he graduated and became a character dancer
with the Russian and Polish dance companies
hortly before the outbreak of World War I,
For a short period he sen'ed in the Russian
Imperial Air Corps but for mosl of the war
and during the Russian Revolution Nelle
danced and choreographed for provincial
theatre and opera companie in Rus ia and
Poland.
In 1921 Nelle joined Anna Pa\'lo\'a'
ballet company and toured with her
throughout England and the United States.
He left Pa\'lova's company in New York in
1922 and began a long, albeit erratic, career
working in theatre, dance, and film in the
nited States, England, and Germany. His
most producti\'e artistic period occurred in
the late 1920's and 1930' when he served as
Director of Choreography at se\'eral large
movie palaces in Detroit, Sl. Loui , and
California where he created "prologue ."
Prologues were hour long dance and
variety shows that preceded Ihe preseJ1lation
of fealure length silem films. Nelle not only choreographed and taged these prologues,
he also de igned scenery for many of Ihem,
During thi period he also slaged dance
revues in England and Germany and worked as a choreographer in German films shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
elle left Germany in 1939 returning to
lew York where he staged hi la t prologue
in 19-11. During the war he worked as a
graphic artist for Bell Aircrafl. After the
war, umil his death, he labored in relative
obscurilY working as a dance teacher and
choreographer.
Shire pro\'ides us with an outline of
elle's life pieced lOgether from personal
correspondences, old theatre programs, and
newspaper clippings. Shire readily admits
that elle remains a mystery-little is known
of his personality, working procedures or the
production he created. Nelle's de igns
dominate Ihe book, while the text sen'es
primarily as a frame of reference in which to
vie\\' and study Ihem.
The illustrations in the book are outstanding. The text cOJ1lains forty-fi\'e full page,
color plate of Nelle's cene designs, se\'eral
color pages of poster designs, a \\'ell as
numerou photographs of elle, and black
and white reproduct ions of his designs. The
quality of graphic reproduclion is uperb,
Nelle de igned setlings for pro cenium
thealres in a paimer!\' manner using Iraditional wing and drop settings wilh plalform,
frequeJ1lly indicated in his renderings, All of
his designs are characterized by his \'ibrant
use of color. One senses in Nelle's de. igns an
almost te:xtbook application of ba,ic color
theory \\ ith ,ettings e\ecuted in complementar\', sequeJ1l ial and monochromat ic color
schemes. Hi, usc of color is cOJ1lrolled b\'
firm linear compmitions.

Stylistically his designs are extremely
eclectic; elemems of expressionism, futurism,
cu bism, rayon ism, surreal ism, constructi\'i m and an deco can be seen in his work.
The subject matter of Ihe designs \'aries from
the parriotic and mundane to the poetic and
abstracl. In examining the designs one cannot help but recognize the influence of early
twenlieth-cemury Russian and European
theatrical design, particularly the influence of
Alexandra Exter, the Ballets Russes, and
such designers as:-'I tisla\' Doboujin kyand
Serge Soudeikine.
Early in the book Shire hails elle as one
of the innovative designers of the Iwemieth
cemury. This is a highly debatable poinl.
Certainly elle' design demonstrate a high
degree of technical \'irtuosity a scenic
renderings, a keen appreciation of color and
line and a talent very much in lOuch with the
artistic curreJ1lS of his day. It is unfortunate
that more information aboul the production , their realization and reception on stage
is not a\'ailable or included lO upport Shire's
comemion. The casual nature of the popular
emertainments 1 elle designed would have
assigned him to obscurity were it not for his
scenic renderings. The author should be
congratulated in bringing this catalogue of
his life and work to the anemion of a wider
public.
Robert C. Hansen
Bowling Green State niversity

A. dhesil'es and Glues: Holl' (0 Choose and
Use Them by Robert S. Miller. Columbus,
Ohio: Franklin Chemical Industries, 1980.
185 pp., ill., cloth.
The in\'enlOry of adhesi\'es and glues in
a theatre scene shop used to be very simple;
animal glue for wood joims, diluted animal
glue for sizing, animal glue size with the addilion of dry pigmems for scene paint, and
some wheat paste lO use in papier-mache for
fabricating propertie . Today's in\'enlOry is
much more complex. Scenery construction is
no longer limited 10 \\'ood: Ihcre arc
numerous ynthetie malerials such as
Styrofoam and fiber glas. While these
material simplify fabrication, they po e a
problem when it come to gluing or paiming
their urfaces. Pre\'iously, glues \\-ere made
primarily from protein bases but arc no\\
formulated from many sYJ1lhetic materials
that impro\'e their \\orking characteristics.
CurreJ1lly there are at lea t i:x differeJ1l common \\ood glues, as \\ell as numerous sizing
material, paint binder" and modeling
mediums. Each has a differem formulation,
applicalion, and drying time. Adhesi\'es alld
GIlles: HOI,' (0 Choose alld Use Them b\
Robert S. \Iiller c1arifie, the choice, po"ible
through a ,~,tematic e\aminalion of each
t\pe of adhe,i\e.
Thi, boo\.. i, nO! ,impl~ a compendium of
information gleaned from Ihe label, of glue

bonle or adhesive eomainers. Instead, il i
a comprehensive analysis of the emire field
including many lopics which may not, al firsl
examinalion, seem applicable to theatre. For
example, Ihe installation of plastic laminate
may not seem 10 be theatrically relevanl until a particular cenic unit requires a coumerlOp, simulated brick, or ceiling tile; then, the
information on the appropriate adhesive for
these materials becomes es emial.
Since the book is published by Franklin
Chemical Induslries, one might expect that
the text would be biased lOwards the
publisher's producls. Thi CrItiCism,
however, is not valid, The book refers lO
adhesi\'es by their generic names, not
Franklin Chemical tradenames, and in fact
includes references to competilOrs. For example, Polyvinyl Acetate wood glue i identified as "White Glue, Elmer's Glue, and
E\'enile Glue."
Besides the data on adhesive formulation,
thi volume includes a chapter on gluing and
clamping. In addition lO a urvey of commercially a\'ailable clamping de\'ices, information is included about some innovative
fixtures that can be shop fabricated, such as
wooden bar clamps and clothespin pring
clamps. Not only can these devices help soh'e
typical gluing problems, but they help lO
channel one's Ihought process when confroJ1led with an "impossible" clamping
problem.
Another imeresting chapter is de\'oted to
specially adhesives including cyanoacrylale ,
epoxies, acrylonitrile and many others. Included is information on composition, application method and appropriate materials
as well as cautionary notes for the safe handling of these poteJ1lially hazardous adhesives,
But while wood glues are referenced in an
earlier chapter by generic as well as
tradenames, in this chapter specialty
adhesives are ideJ1lified only by generic
composil ion-this is a shortcoming, I f you
determine from the text that a particular job
requires cellulo e cemem, for example, the
potemial for obtaining this adhesive without
a tradename reference from a local supplier
is quite limited, since hardware stores stock
ad he i\'es by brand name or application, not
by chemical composition,
One of the other topics included in this
book i, furnit ure repair, The final chapter,
"\\'hy Didn't II Stick~," ur\'cys many common bonding problems as \\'ell as some not
so common one uch a Ihe adverse effects
of the adhe i\c on the adherenl.
The \'alue of Adhesi\'es alld Glues i that
the information has been con olidated and
organized in a single location. Beside addre<,<,ing the cntire body of material, thc
author pro\ ide an answer to the question
thaI ha, plagued carpeJ1ler, for ceJ1luries:
\\'hal i, the difference bet\\een an adhe,i\e
and a glue?
Phillip Gra~son
Jame, \Iadison ni\ersil~

LSITT Spring 19 '3 Theatre Design &

Technolog~

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