Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1996 - 25

7--------------------ill'~iliiiJ;ii;;;~iiiiiiiliil FIGURE
Roszkopfovcl's
II }~ar
in the Country. The tree trunk lasted until dress
rehear al: the "sky" remained. Irs hard to avoid the Freudian
overtones. even without the trunk.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ FIGURE

Zborilova's The Boors. Successive scenes developed as
sheets were removed; finally only a few bits of clothing
remained on the otherwise empty lines.
ttlre-the outdoors ... " Il As seen in her rendering, the jagged
top of the broken, phallic-like trunk was to rupttlre and penetrate through an abstractly stylized ceiling (or cloud?) of
tightly stretched, red-stained white canvas, held taut by lines
extending beyond the confines of the universal chamber that
became the place of action for all the interior and exterior
scenes, depending on whether it remained empty or had some
minimal furnittlre within it. l )
Like other instances of Roszkopfova's scenography, tllis
verged on the expressionistic or even surreal, yet still was
based on tangible, authentic, elemental reality. But tile special
"rub" in tllis instance was that the director made a decision at
dress rehearsal to eliminate the tree trunk, allegedly because
it hampered the blocking and sight lines. But the ceiling or
"cloud" remained, no longer with red streaks but all wllite. A
critic commented on the nlissing tree trunk in relation to
Roszkopfova's overall profile; "A director in the first phase accepts her intense dranlatic-design feel for the space of a play
and doesn't suspect how dangerous a partner for him is a
scenographer whom he doesn't want to or isn't able to follow."
H On the other hand, what remained was still very effective.
When I saw the play I was not aware tllat any tree was ever to
have been there, and I must say that I did not feel that anything
was missing. [ took the ruptured ceiling/cloud to be a poetically expressive symbol of tile various traumas generated by
the human element and its often erotic passions within the
grand cyclic flow of time and nature.
What is also striking in tllis production, wllich is still in
the repertoire, is that it seems to have nothing to do with action scenography, with which Roszkopfova has sometimes
been identified. Rather, it exemplifies her observation that
"even before the actors begin performing and the text begins
to reveal a particular event, it's possible-acoustically or visually-to determine the aim and even the focal point of a production," I; a remark which could be taken as a
commandment of most twentieth-centlllY stage design prior to
the advent of action scenography, and which seems inconsis-

tent with another of Roszkopfova 's observations: ''I'm in favor
of scenography that becomes justified only in the context of
the activity of the actor." 16 Alarger point to be made here is
that Roszkopfova seems likely to commit to a basic scenographic concept or image fairly early in the total production
process ratller than to let one evolve during the course of rehearsals.
The latter approach or method seems more charactelistic of the work of lana Zborilova. As she has written, "A production does not emerge at the writing table, but on stage
during rehearsals." 1- nlike Roszkopfovli's scenography,
wllich relies heavily on hard surfaced enclosures or "borders"
of hard edged (at times metallic) panels and boards, with
mostly hard, unyielding objects inside them, Zborilova 's scenography seems largely dependent on cloths and drapes to
f0l111 walls, ceilings, Doors, tents, and a vatiety of specific items
like sails, \\~ngs, 01; quite simpl)\ bed sheets. What is of interest at'e
tile vatious f0ll11S and functions of tile c10tllS, as well as tlleir
mode of suppOl1 and tlleir treatment \\~tll colors or grapllics.
A key principle for Zbor-ilova, which may help account

.J,
...-~z,

FIGURE

Zbol'i1ova's Before 1 was Born and Thereaner.
TD&T

ALL

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1996