Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1998 - 48

Corresponding stage interiors still exist in the collection that have cun'ed battens. It seems clear he
was thinking of using these curved battens in his
"domed theatre." Craig's and Duncan's letters
from March 1905 provide e\~dence that the two
were collaborating on the puppets. Duncan wrote
to Craig on two occasions, saying ''I'll look for
dollies." (Duncan's word for puppets) Later, from
BIWlels, she teased Craig in a letter \vith his obsession \vith the "dollies." She wrote: ''I've done a
great deal of hexerizing-l've sung Hocus Pokus
to the moon-I've danced wickedly in a Circle
enough to bring you on the ne:-.1 train-I can only
ascribe my defeat to the Baneful and Powerful influence of that Chief L1dy Marionette, ule Painted
]ebezel [sic] who keeps you glued to her side! So
you've decided you prefer 'em made of Wood!!!"
(Craig-Duncan Collection Folder 37-41)
Ironically, the marionette theatre was the
last project Craig and Duncan planned together. Several existing provisional contracts
describe that "Miss Duncan [was] to dance
only in the theatre which will be carried from
town to town for the semce of her art and
which will be erected within large halls which
are not used as a rule for theatrical production." (Steegmuller 231) The entire project,
according to Steegmuller, was to involve
Duncan over a five-year period; she was to appear exclusively in conjunction \\~th various
dramas acted by large marionettes, among
them The Temptation of St. Antbon)' and
Bethlebem, which Craig had produced earlier
in England (232). Although the project would
have once again joined Ule theatre and dance
worlds, Ule contract Craig created for
Duncan's participation in the project was economically ludicrous. Duncan turned down the
contract. Thus, the theatre and Ule dance
world was ultimately denied the privilege of
witnessing Duncan's and Craig's movement
theories becoming a reality in performance.
This proposed theatre was only the last in a series of ways in which Duncan inspired and influenced Craig.
The evidence found in this article strongly
suggests that Craig, through his work for
Duncan, mastered the techniques of illustrating movement. This discovery of Ule soft round
curve or circle was then applied to his drawings for the theatre on which he was also
working at Ule time. Also, Craig included a
puppet notebook with his sketchbooks of
1905 and 1906 in the Craig-Duncan Collection. This is odd, for all other puppet and
marionette notebooks are in one collection in
Paris. It appears Craig thought tlus "puppet"
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notebook had a more appropriate place in the
Craig-Duncan Collection. The sinlilarity between the puppets and the dra\\wgs of Duncan
nught be a clue why he left this early puppet
notebook of 1905 in uus collection.
The findings of this discussion suggest
that Craig, as a young designer, looked to
Duncan's movement as an "interim symbol"
for his own work. His designer's eye discerned
that what she was accomplishing through pure
movement could be applied to different plastic
elements for the theatre. Thus, not only was
Duncan an influence for Craig's design theories, but she was also a sort of "interim symbol" of pure movement. Craig attempted to
translate tlus idea of "pure movement" to his
designs by contrasting the square and the
circle in many of his works. He also wanted to
transfer this symbol of movement to Ius creation "of a supremely beautiful creature-

something like a Greek statue-which could
be made to move, and could be controlled like
a marionette, but would not suffer from, or be
affected by emotions-like Isadora." (E. A.
Craig 198)
Craig had begun with the idea of the
wooden "dollies," as his letters to Duncan
demonstrated, but as his study of movement
with Duncan progressed, the idea became
more "idealistic": the "being" became the
Uber-marionette. He wrote his mother concerning this new project: "If it succeeds, as I
trust it will, I shall this time have final success
as I have arranged to dispense with actorsand am not using marionettes. The marionette
is only a doll-the actor (for me) only an insuperable difficulty and an expense." (E. A.
Craig 199)
He wrote later to his confidant Martin
Shaw: "The actors must cease to speak and

'.~

Fig. 10

* "":<':'"

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