Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1992 - 21

they have objective validiry at the given
momenr. Columbus's discovery of
Ametica was, accotding ro the Surrealists, an "objective accident." Every
banality is full of miracles that can be
seen only by one who is able to give
them order and form and a logical place
in his work.

I constantly and stubbornly have tried
ro gauge the disproportion of forces
between the artificial reality of theatre
and "real" realiry, an actual construction
juxtaposed ro the background of "artificially" painted trees in The Devils Wall
or the phoro-montage in The Tales of
Hoffman; stereometric forms and film
projection (more precisely a kinetic
montage) in Astray; mobile Renaissance
architecture with a landscape rype painting placed at its center in Rigoletto. All
of these artempts have one thing in
common-artifice. Emphatic artifice as
a foundation for the building of a scenic
image. Such consciously contrived "illusion" can never result in disillusionment
and reveal the falseness of things. In
other words, there's more truth and
honesty in conscious artifice than In a
traditional illusion of realiry.

tant; more precisely, between the direcror and the scenographer. I always try to
take inro account all the human characteristics of my partner, his inventiveness
as well as his reactions if we come to a
conflict of attitudes or opinions.
Collaboration usually involves two
contrasting phases: the work on the production and the climate after its conclusion. A production appears before the
public as a whole that is measured and
evaluated as a fact in and of itself, without a past, and without regard to the
possibility of further development or
the creative contribution of its participants. If we are not aware of the evolving circumstances of a production, how
can we recognize where the work of one
creative component ends and where the
work of another begins, where one
exceeds the other, where direction penetrates into scenography and the opposite?

ENDNOTES
n

nComralighr refers

the special form of lighting that

employs low voltage high-intensity lighting units
arranged in clusters

create vinual screens or walls of

light; the units are placed in high upstage positions
and cast their beams downstage.

E. F. Burian (1904-1959) was the leading Czech avantgarde, leftist thearre direcrof of the 19305, especially
noted for his innovative staging (often feamring projections) in a small smdio theaue. In Burian's experimenrs and in Svoboda's scenography for A.uTflJ were
the seeds of the Laterna ~1agika form of staging.

The Prague uprising of i\lav 1945 was ,he armed
uprising of the Czechs against the German forces in
Prague during the last days of the war.

Leos Janacek (1854-1928) is ,he grea,est Czech composer of the twemieth (emur)'; his operas have increasingly become st:lples of the imcrnational opera reperwire.

. ,:

-.~:~.~<;?r-:~'>::~~:·.:.

.~.:~

I'VE K"~WN'f.OR A
LONG T"M~::til'AT
I
-t .'
~. ~<,:"~~,~'
'-~

; .

WORK BEST.WHEN
I am convinced that no problems can be
handled by merely walking around their
edges; it is necessary to penetrate ro
their essence even at the cost of temporary destruction or negation, which may
even be a necessary anti pole and consequence of any attempt to con figurate
space.
ffi

TIME IS ClilTICALLY
.

SHORT; WHEN 1- HAVE
TO MAKEj~kISI~NS
. QUICKLY~AND .
-

':~'

" .- 2:·

Scenography makes sense only when it
becomes an instrument in the hands of
a direcror, when it becomes a space for
inspiration, a kind of technical and
design plaything. Ptoduction space
should be a kind of piano, on which it is
possible to improvise, to test out any
idea whatever, or ro experiment with the
relationship among various components. Only by means of active, concrete
experiment is it possible for everyone's
creative ideas about the production ro
share the same objective realiry.

DEFINITIVELY. IT'S A

Josef Svoboda, who is still actively in-

METH~'~':~~AiIS

volved in theatre-primarily as head of
Laterna Magika in Prague-is an architect, teachel; autho}; and, arguably, the
most important and influential theatrical
designer ofthe 20th centJII)'-

VERY

Jarka Burian is a contributing editor of
TD&T, a proftssor in the Department of

~ISKY.

OlOmar Krejea (1921-) was a leading aelOr before
becoming a significant director. He evemually bCCll11e
head of drama at the National Theatre before leaving it
to form his own company at the Theatre Beyond [he

Gale (Di"adlo za Branou) in 1965.

Franti,ek Hrubin (1910-1971) was a well known
Czech poet who became a playwrighting mcmber of
Krcjca's production team at [hc National Theatre,

Alfred Radok (1914-19-6) was perhaps Svobodas
favorite director, the one with whol11 he functioned
most intuitively. Their association began even before
the end of the war. R.ldok later becamc insuulllemal
in developing thl' La[erna i\lagika sl,tging Icxhnique
with Svoboda.

TD&T wishes to extend its sincerest thanks
to Applause Theatre Books fOr allowing us
to publish excerpts of The Secret of
Theatrical Space in this issue.
9

The relation between direction and
scenography is extraordinarily impor-

-,.p..-,

establishment of the Theatre of the 5th of l\1ay and
subsequently developed illlo a successful internationaJ
opera directOr, as well as Svoboda's most frequent
directorial collaborator.

The Secret of Theatrical Space by josef

Svoboda, trallSlation and notes by jarka
Burian, is published by Applause Theatre
Books, 211 Wiest 71 Street, New York, NY
10023; phone: 212-496-7511, fax: 212721-2856 (ISBN 155783-137-8, 1992,
224 pp., 150 ill., $45, cloth.)

-. -

Vaelav Kaslik (1917-1989) was a driving force in ,he

Theatre at SUNY-Albany, the author of
The Scenography of Josef Svoboda and
Svoboda: Wagner, and the trallSlator of
The Secret of Theatrical Space.

It's necessary, then, not merely ro illustrate a literary text, but ro transform it
creatively into specific theatrical elements. It means adding to the triad of
Fact-Sign-Emotional Convention the
direct joining of facts and emotional
conventions, the expression of which we
used ro call a "ceremony," specifically a
familiar folk ceremony.

Part One of the Strehler~Svoboda FtlUSl opened in

i\lilan in 1989; Panl\vo in 1991.

TD&T

1992 FALL

1 9

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