Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1992 - 15

based, of necessiry ir provides only a
superficial prepararion; ir lacks a base of
fundamenraJ sciemific merhodology.

We also realized, once and for all, rhar
works by Offenbach, Gounod, Donizeni,
and orhers like rhem-in order ro speak
ro roday's world-can neirher be parodied nor reproduced in rheir original
form. Bur if we used realisric elemems
rhar reminded us of rhe original rime,
and esrranged rhem and pur rhem inro
new relarionships, a new and effeerive
rhearrical reaJiry resulred. Then we could
provide Marguerire in Faust wirh a
sewing machine rarher rhan a spinning
wheel, rransform Walpurgisnachr inro a
nighr in Paris, and rhereby only srrengrhen rhe impacr of rhe music and rheme.

The Theatre of rhe 5rh of May was run
by rrade unions, and as rhings developed
afrer rhe war rhis led ro its having exceprionally young arrisric ensembles and
very experienced rechnical personnel. Ir
was lirerally a workshop. To rhis day, no
maner where I may be, I long for ir-so
much was nor only possible bur raken for
granred forry years ago! We issued no
manifestos, and yer we handled every
work as if ir were a newly discovered gem
rhar needed cleaning in order ro shine
again. The enrire rhearre felr as if each
premiere were an original crearion, rheir
very own, no marrer which of us was
doing it. We lived for rhearre; the workshops operared day and night before a
premiere and rhen had perhaps a week
off.
Prepararion time was rhereby essenrially shortened, and a crearive rension
was susrained unril rhe premiere.
Costumes, for example, were sewn only
afrer rhe acrors had worked inro rheir
roles and ir was possible ro make meaningful decisions .... And rhe emire operarion, whose one goal was a successful
production, was unbelievably inexpensive in comparison ro roday's operarions.
And why nor! Afrer all, there were no
superfluous people in it. The collecrive
wouldn'r have pur up wirh rhem.
More rhan any orher experience, my
years in rhe Thearre of rhe 5rh of May
enabled me ro undersrand whar rhearre
really means and, mainly, whar ir mighr
become. I rook away rhe convierion rhar
rhearre can never be anyrhing other than
a consrantly evolving crearive workshop,
in which everyone is rotally commirted
ro rhe same goal.

[Our 1946 producrion of The Bartered
Bride] creared a scandal. Scandals have
always been pan of arr and rhere's no reason why rhey shouldn'r be. On rhe conrrary, arrisric progress relies on the defiance of conventions, and convenrions
naturally resist. I'll never undersrand why
ir's necessary ro suppress rhis narural process.
... Alban Berg's \\7ozzek gave Prague's
mayor a srroke, but nor even rhis drasric
evem diminished rhe lasring significance
of Berg's crearion. And whar if rhere's
been a misrake? lisrakes, if they are
large-scale, crearive misrakes, may prove
more valuable rhan a sure success. Is
rhere any danger rhan everyone will
immediarely srart imirating misrakes?
The anxiery ro avoid scandals only leads
ro remerir)' on all levels, beginning wirh
rhe choice and rreatmem of scriprs and
ending wirh rhe produerion irself.

Janacek 4 is exrraordinarily difficulr and
exrraordinarily anraerive for a scenographer. His visions of rhe stage are so precise and meaningful rhat ir's impossible
ro change them. W/e may only rry ro penerrare more deeply ro rheir very roor, ro
make rhem more disriner on rhe sragerhe mosr difficulr challenge of all' Take
his descriprion [in Kata Kabanova] of rhe
chamber in which Kara and Varva sir ar a
window. Her husband's away and Kara
lamems, "Why don'r people fly like birds
... ny." How to capture rhe concrere
armosphere as well as Kata's srare of
mind? Ir's all rhere in rhe music. A
scenographer musr eirher rerrear complerely inro the background or else pur
himself on rhe line and find somerhing ro
add.
For Kaslik's' Kata Kabanova in rhe
Thearre of rhe 5rh of May in 1947, I
chose a rree as rhe basis of the scenography. I returned ro ir again many rimes,
bur never wirh rhar same boldness. It was
truly a liberared set.
This was the kind of apple rree thar I
saw around me as a child in rhe coumry.
Ar rimes rheir branches almosr crawled
along the ground; orchard keepers supported rhem with heavy wooden poles,
ofren anchoring their rrunks in cement.
Such an apple rree, now larger rhan life,
became my dramaric space. Irs rhick
branches served as parhs; the weaker
ones, aiming upward, delimited rhe acting area and were its idealized exterior. A
commanding presence, ir dominared rhe

space above a srage noor covered by a
warertighr carper whose crumpled surface simulated puddles and mud. Freely
laid planks served as wooden foorways .
... The enrire construerion srood on a
turntable wirhin a curved whire cyclorama. Ir disappeared wirh rhe verrical
unfurling of an inner black cyclorama,
and a coumermovemem of rhe turnrable
created a new, black space. \'(le worked
wi rhour any projections ar all. .. By means
of lighring, rhings freed rhemselves of
rheir everyday appearance and were jusrified solely by rhe genre and sryle of rhe
play. The wooden rree played rhe role of
na(llre as a consoling force as well as an
impenerrable prison.

DRAMA

THE

NAT

N A L

THE A T R E
[In 1950 the Theatre ofthe 5th ofMa)' /lIas
absorbed into the ational Theatre.
5110boda began his long association as chief
designer and head of technical operatiollS
with the nations /IIost prestigiollS theatTe. In
this chapter he concentrates on his non/lllISical productions there.]
ur chief hallmark was qualiry
work done promptly, economically, and with progressive
methods. As in the Thearre of
the 5th of May, all considerarions were subordinared ro prepararions
for an opening night. Ir was clear ro us
TD&T

1992 FALL

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1992