Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1992 - 19

tions. He provides the atmosphete for a
solo or a choral passage, bur must himself
remain invisible. The designer must
achieve an intangible effect by tangible
means. And the means must be those of
theatre, not realiC),. Quite simply, opera is
unbelievably demanding on all professIOns.

\Vhen a Renaissance anist sculpted a
statue, perhaps an equestrian statue, he
did it one way with sandscone, another
way with marble. He couldn't achieve
the postures and movements with marble that he could with bronze. He had
co be in command of his material. If I'm
going co use television technology, I
have co become as familiar with it as
with sandscone or marble. Television, as
complex as it may be, is simply another
matetial. My thorough familiarity will
lead co control and perhaps mastery. At
all coStS, I must not allow the material
co control me. Needless co say, no one
can undersrand everything. He must,
however, know enough ro communicate
with the specialists who do. The designer may need ro convince the specialist
not ro insist on certain constant technical parameters; because theatre can
sometimes take advantage of even ourright technical or material inconsistencies and transform them inco quality
resul ts.

ART

5 TIC

COLLABORATION
A B R 0 A D
[More than halfofSvoboda's six hundred
productiollS have been beyond his nation's
boundaries; in this chapter he comments on
some ofhis chiefforeign productiollS, creative partners, and resultant illSights.]
n every theatre that truly functions
productively, you will invariably
find one person who teally makes it
run-its impelling spitit or soul.
Someone like Dana Pinichova, who
for thirty-five years srood at the side of all
the direccor-managers of our I ational
Theatre. Her counterpart can be found
in Geneva, in Zurich, in Oslo, in
Louvain, in Munich, and around the
world. They love the theatre and conrinue ro devote their enrire lives ro it. If they
ever chanced ro meet, they would see a
surprising resemblance among them-

selves, and they would understand each
other immediately. And their chiefs know
what a treasure they have in them.
In the same way, all good theatres
tesemble each orner in the modest scale of
their administrative operations, with
regard ro the number of people involved
as well as the physical facilities. The beautiful new theatre in Oslo has only a few
offices, but every guest designer gets his
own srudio for the length of his stay.
\X1herever an really happens, adminisrrating is subordinated ro bringing art ro life.

I know with certainty that the only way
ro do real thearre is wi th a team gathered
around a distinctive creative personality.
... Otherwise it simply doesn't happen. I
realized all of this once again when, practically at the end of my working career, I
met Giorgio Strehler. We knew abour
each other for a long time, bur our parhs
had never crossed until we met in the late
1980s at the work of all works-Goethe's
Faust in Milan's Piccolo Theatre.?
For many years I have been recommending that in addition ro new workshops for the ational Theatre we also
ought co have several rehearsal srudios
with appropriate supporr systems. Each
new production would be given its own
studio for me enrire length of its preparation. A minimal production staff would
assure the ongoing progress of rehearsals.
A production could then develop before
me eyes of its crearors without disrractions
for the entire length of its creative rehearsal process. I feel sad when I
encounrer this "miracle" throughour the
world wherever I go, bur not at home. As
if anyone could tell Srrehler he must make
definite decisions about scenery, costumes,
and the overall appearance of a production
a full year before his first rehearsals!
It's only during experiment and
rehearsal that ideas begin co acquire
form, and new and unexpected connections or counterpoints emerge. With
Giorgio Strehler, but also elsewhere, I
always experience once again the adventure of creativity, in which all possibilities
remain open ro the last momenr.

LATERNA

MAG

K A

[Svoboda tmces the development ofthis special combination oflive and filmed performance, which he pioneered with the collaboration ofAlfi-ed Rado!? in the 1950s.]

performance of Laterna Magika, like every other theatrical
performance, is a marrer of
sight and hearing, bur in our
case, of course, its composition
was primarily created by linking and
arranging individual program segments.
The overall form of this rotal system then
evolved from the sC)"e of the presentation
and its rhythmic treatment.
Debates on whether Laterna Magika
is really theatre or not raged from the
very beginning. We believed rhat Laterna
Magika would cease being theatre if we
interfered with the overall panern of certain rhythmic changes in the performance and broke them down into mere
individual numbers. And, on the contrary, we were convinced that if we

.... ···~~~:m·7,~·ffDW;1-?~

MY GREATEST.T,'
..

..~?~.~~.~'fr:~: -··li7·t:~·r _:;~::~:_·-·_:-·:: -~~?

DISCOVERY ABOUT· .';

OPERA,;~S-~~AT.

ONE,'~iI~~T' ,'" _,~
.

OBLIGATION
IS TO·'
.
-.. :
.&-:::.
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-~-~

,STAGETIIE,MUSIC~. '; ~,;
,-

HOWEVER,:;"T :IS NOT; . .
.

ONLY MUSIC. OPERA,' .'
IS THEATRE OF THE

HIGHEST POSSIBLE
STYLIZATION* .
~.>r~

." :_~ ,:'

observed certain guidelines we could
achieve generally valid and noteworrhy
theatrical results.

The rhythm of the presentation as a
whole must unconditionally be created in
advance, as precisely as a music score;
that's the sine qua non of the Laterna
Magika production process. It relates co
everything-co content and form, co
time and space-and reveals just how
much the creacors of rhe presentation
know or don't know. It's simply a purposeful orchestrating of all the measurable changes and all the diverse compoTD&T

1992 FAll

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