Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1996 - 29

ence ... Theatre to me is a microcosm of life. a kind of condensation or monogram of our mried lires. Through it I discorer the truth or relatire truth of my own Iife."!i And not to
be forgotten is the earll' influence on her of josef Szajna. to
Irhom she probably OIl'es much of her strong. harsh imagery
as IreLi as her inclination to make directorial-like choices Irith
her scenography. jana Zbofilorfs scenography. on the other
hand. seems not only lighter. softer. and more fanciful and
pla~ful. but also less rooted in deepII' felt personal allilUdes.
She seems not onll' more detached (and therebr willier). but
also more focused on creating scenography thal is less a personal statement than an instrument to be used bl' the director
and actors :lI1d perhaps help shape their style in performance.
Rather than being iIllimately bound up witlt her own Life and
convictions, scenograplty for her is an ongoing professional
challenge to her skills and ingenuity in combining form and
function with a special touch of theatricality. \eedless to sal',
when I suggest that scenography to Roszkopfoni seems more
fused to a subjectively evolvedlife-Yiell' than does scenography
to Zborilova. I am simply trring to account for some of the
characteristics of each one's artistrr rather than passing any
value judgement on the theatrical or aesthetic merits of
either's Irork.!& .:.
jal'ka M. Burian confribIlfesfreqIlenf~J'fa TD&T. He is
allfhor a/The Scenography ofjosef Sroboda. Svoboda: Wagner.
and fralls/afor o/Sroboda's The Secret of Theatrical Space.

NOTES
1. 1interriewed jana Zborilora in Prague in the pring of 1988 and
again in the spring of 199-1. ~ll' attempts to meet ~\arta
Roszkopfol'a in the lI'inter and spring of 199-1 did not lI'ork out due
to our conflicting chedules. But in respon e to ml' request she
wrote me a substantial letter in jull' 199-1. ~lr other ource will be
eriden belOlr.

2. [muh's articles numbered fire. lI'ith the following subtitles:
"Practical Problems of Space." TD&T'0-."\l ~ (Summer 1990): 33-10: "Philosophical Problems of Space." TD&T'0-.''I'1. -I (Fall 1990):
~5-3~: "The Problem of Co lUmes." TD&TX\"'dl. I (\\'inter 1991):
T'-3-1: "The Problem of Acting Strle." TD&T :0..''1'11. ~ (Spring
1991): 29-3-1: and "The Problem of Production Stde." TD&T
!L\\·II. 3 (Summer 1991): ~1-29.
Illustrations of and comments on the \\'Ork of Roszkopfora and
Zboi'ilova appeared in the first three installments.
3. I am concentrating on their \\'Ork in what is nOli' the Czech Republic because that is where the orel'lhelming majoritr of it has
occurred. In facl. although Zbofi!OIa has Irorked abroad. she has
done nothing in Slol'akia.
4. Like all such terms. concepts. and practi es. "action design" is
inherentlr imprecise and elastic. To begin Irith. action design lI'as
es entially a br-product of the earlier and broader rejection of traditionaltheatre and its literaI" piaI' cripts that could be felt from the
late 1950s ol1\l·ard. lI'ith Jerzr Grotowski and his "poor theatre" as
its epitome. The actor lI'as to be paramount in this "humanized"

BACKDROPS

Your One Stop Shop Now Has
Two
- - Locations For:
Fabrics
Draperies
Drops
Hardware
Rigging
Cable
Lighting
Control
Dimming
Lamps
Paint
Consulting
Installation
and More!

-~_

~SUPPLV~
Sening till' Ellft'l"winlllelllllldllstry
28 Logan Ave .. Glens Falls. NY 12801
(518)793·6706

-~_

SCENERY

DISPLAYS

POSTERS

MURALS

CREATE BACKDROPS

UP TO 10,000 SQUARE FEET!
With PosterWorks, you'll quickly import, resize
and crop your favorite Macintosh·based page
layouts, images and i1lustrotians-on a
pasteboord up to 10,000 squore feet.
PosterWorks will drive your PostScript printer beyond the bounds of
any other desktop application, giving you voriable tile sizes, overlap
and hundreds of lorge-format tools. Once printed, you can easily trim
and mount the tiles on ascrim, foomboord or canvas.

_-

.. ----------_--.a.__**
.._-- ~~$~~~~

-~-~------=~==-=~=

PROPS

-SC>LJ,H=
Sen·i".!: ,j,e Entertainmet/t Indllury
60 AIf~ ....... Dr GI"tro .. ~ SC 1%07
16!l)12&!-IHJ

And using PosterWorks, you can send life-size layouts to one of
our lorge-format service bureaus, giving you access to the latest
lorge-format color printers and colossal sheets. Full color.
.. '~.
Mounted and laminated. Big.
: ;~~ .
,-r-_---.-_----,__r""·**NO""'N90 ***.
Only PosterWorks makes
\~ ~~..-'
production and assembly
..-:....
of multi·tile jobs easy,
whether you're creating a
3x4foot poster or a 40
foot backdrop.
VERSiON ~.o
ow Shippmg. ISO

dtete' e o~el
Otdel noW °d \o~ou\) de,iqned b~
~te-\OImod~e monu\otlUlei>1
leo Inq

For more info:
(617) 338·2222 (617) 338·2223 fox
Now at MocWorehouse! 1·80(}255·6227

Write on your letterhead for free catalog

s\i>;,H 313'/l'&CO
BuiIS

..\

SdOld

I

I

SdOIJO)l)V'8

27
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1996
