Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1998 - 43

tlle Craig-Duncan relationship, Craig developed a
preoccupation Ilitll sketches and designs conwning Duncan. This preoccupation el'entually led
to his mastery ofcertain elenlenls Ilitidl erolred into
tlle designs of 11'ltich he spoke in his Index.
Craig was a man of m~ tery and most often
he used tltis m~ tery to his 01111 adl'antage. He
consistently told his listeners omy enough to
pique tlleir interest. Rood, in his book, Craig on
,llovell/en! and Dance, relates his misgilings
about Craig's selective memory and mystelious
nature when he sa) ,"as I ponder Gordon Craig's
Wlitings, my cUliosity is increasingly whetted, not
omy by what he sa) or by what he does not saIl
but by what he ltints at ..... (xi) Many of Cntig's
hints, unconscious tl1ltllS, and intelinl S)l11bols
lie in his sketchbooks. These visual hints will be

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Fig, 7

discussed in liglll of Craig's relationsltip Ilitll
Duncan to illustrate how Craig, tllrough his
sketchbook, Iras documenting a lisual histol~' of
tlle relationship, including details tlJat he might
not IlaI'e meant for tlle general public to undel'
stand. Inadvertentl~; tllese piCtOlial "hints" or
"intelim S)111bols" prOlide a clearer understanding of Dunc,'Ul's influence on tlle m) telious
Craig's design for the tlleatre,
TIle first sketch conceming Duncan appear'ed on a letter she WI'ote Craig from St. Petersburg less tllan a montll after tlley had met. Craig's
sketch prOlides an answer to a romantic question
Duncan posed in tlle letter. She asked, "Will
we---? Will we?" Craig's answer was a double
sketch of two heads, a man's and a girl's, peeking
from under what appear'S to be a blanket. TIle

sketch mirrol'S tlle pair's romantic inl'Olrement at
tlle tinle and also illustrates tlle beginning of
Craig's visual document.1tion of tlle relationship.
Craig soon went on tour Ilitll Duncan. At tlle
end of 1904, he l\Tote in Book Topsy: "for tlle
ne:\1 few montlls we are LOgetller near'ly all tlle
time, r e go to SI. Petel'Sburg. MoscOlI", Hanlburg.
Dresden, Cologne, Breslau, Frankfm1-LOgetller-she dancing and I doing little-resting
and being happy Ilitll her." (Book Topsy 29)
Among otller tllings. what "little" Cntig did was to
sketch, continually. For instance, from JanuaJ~1
24-31, wltile tlley were in Hanlburg, DunCaJl
held her first auditions for her school. Craig Ilitnessed tlle auditions aJld wltile he watched, he
also drew caricatures of her future students. One
of tllese sketches, of a Ilide-moutlled c1tild is culious. The cltild's traditional appaJ'el of boots, hat
and horrified moutll suggests iliat tl1e c1tild was
not omy afraid of tlle audition but also of Dunc,'Ul,
Ilitll her unconventional, flolling Greek robes,
which aJ'e depicted to tlle ligllt of tlle c1tild's side.
Inm Duncan's 111itten account of tllis audition
matches Craig's lisual one. She IITote: "The installt she [Duncan) stepped fOl"lraJ'd to greet me
in baJ'efeet aIld ankle lengtll Irhite nll1ic, looking
indeed like a Greek goddess come to life, I had
eyes omy for her, . , I had nerer seen aIlyone so
lovely and angelic-looking or anyone dressed in
iliat way. Beside motller's long blackdress made
in tlle ViCtOliaJl fashion, Isadora's sinlple attire
gave her tlle appearance of a creanlre from anotller plaJlet." (Il1lla Duncan 10)
TIle ne:\1 sketches in Craig's book aJ'e of
DUnc,1I1 looking out a Ilindow in Bl1Issels (Fig.
I) aJld aJlotller in a field somewhere in Belgium
(see cover illustration). The wliting at tlle bottom
of tl1e sketches is Cntig's. He edited tllese drawings several times in his life and has left comments on his work at tlle bottom of some of tlle
pages. These dnlllings aJ'e notell'011hy for tlleir
kinship to Craig's ear'lier draWings in EnglaJld.
Each sketch creates a "grounded" feeling in
which tlle figure, Duncan, appear'S stiff aIld unmOl'ing. Funu'e dnlllings contrast dramatically
Ilitll tllese eaJ'ly sketches.
Coming home on the train from Hamburg, Craig again was busy sketching, this time
a study of Duncall's face as she read FallS! (see
illustration on p. 37) and a first draft of a logo
for her school and business (Fig. 3). This logo
was the first evidence of Craig's involvement in
Duncan's work and lras a visual prelude to his
plan for them when they retlll'ned to Berlin.
Not long after this train ride home, Craig and
Duncan went into business together, just as the
logo had foreshadowed.
TD&T

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1998