Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1986 - 14

A pilot version of the cruciform theatre as set up in the Dude Kerk in Amsterdam during a rehearsal of Ruth Mandel's, And the Mermaids Rose from

the Depths, October, 1985. Grossmann envisions a larger form for the theatre.

pieces by Belgian poet Ruth Mandel. The Institut
d'Education et d'Interrelation Creatrice was established in Antwerp, Belgium by Grossmann and Mandel
with Hedl'ig Westerlund, Erika Weinel, and Gerd
Dehu. Anyone interested in the workshops and theatre
school should contact Hedlfig Westerlund, IEIC,
Rembrandtstraat 22, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
A version of this article appeared in French in the
March 1986 issue of Actllalite de la Scenographie. The
translation is b.1' the author.
-ed.
This theatre's shape can be traced directly to the cubic space of the proscenium or box stage. A box stage has
a character of its o\\·n. This is true even \\·hen the stage
is empty, nor yet characterized by scenery or by the presence of an actor. This primal character of the box stage
is its sFmmetr,\', \\'hich, based on its limits and its center, composes a "symbol of wholenes ." Although this
could suggest a space encompassing scenery, actors and
spectator, the box stage is limited to the first twO
alone. The spectators, being outside the stage, are Outside the symboL
In the history of the theatre, placing the spectators
outside the symbol is more than a tradition. It's a
precept. The spectators are not part of the symbol but
incidental recipients of it.
More recent innovations have dispensed with the
frame of the box stage, opening up the possibility of
bringing the stage area into closer proximity of the
spectators. Yet, this has not been achieved through a

TDb- T . FALL 198(,

further articulation of the stage's symbolism to include
the spectators but, inversely, through playing down the
idea of the stage as a symboL
In life we instinctively "stage" all things that we see
according to a "downstage" (near), "upstage" Ifurther
away), and "stage right/stage left" llimited by the periphery of vision). In this way, we define, at each moment,
our own position in relation to the things we see. In
front of a box stage, however, spectators look at scenery
and action in which the downstage, upstage, stage right
and stage left are assigned in advance of their coming:
an imaginary perspectil'e. This is a contradiction because the spectators are not defining their own position
in relation to the things they see.
ow, what if the square of the stage should frame
openings on each of its four sides; four "framed views"
on the acting area and four spectator sections: The
dO\\'nstage, upstage, and sides of the scenery and action
would become relative to the position of the spectator:
downstage for one group becomes upstage for another,
stage right for a third, tage left for the fourth. This
resolves the contradiction, because the four groups of
spectators are defining their positions in relation to
what they see.
THE THEATRE

I) A place, square, symmetrical, and finite, without
further articulation of its space, could serve as a symbol
of wholeness. Yet, for a spectator to relate to such a
symbol it must be further articulated. In this theatre the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1986