Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2005 - 12

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Beeb Salzer

To Vladivostok with Love
Twelve of the fourteen days in July were unseasonably cold and
wet. Rain, flooding, mud slides, ankle-high puddles. Negotiating the three-minute walk to the theatre did not always avoid
wet feet. So I marveled at the many gorgeous young women
wearing their form-fitting clothes and high-heeled open-toed
shoes as they waded through the streets. Vanity versus nature
was no contest.
I didn't go to the far east of Russia to ogle girls even
though it is generally agreed that there are more spectacular
beauties there than in most places. No, I went to design sets
costumes, and lights for a production of Romeo and Juliet at
the Maxim Gorky Theatre, the largest official theatre within
thousands of miles. With fifty actors employed year round and
a support staff to equal this size, the Gorky is recognized by the
government as one of just a few most important national cultural institutions.

When I first went to Vladivostok just after
glasnost, the stage crew was straightening nails
to use again. Thankfully, that has changed.
And I didn't go for the money. My fee was only a fraction
of what I would have been paid here but was probably what
most Russians earn each year. I went out of love for the people
I had worked with five times before, for the chance to design a
great play, and the thrill of seeing great actors perform with a
style seldom achieved in our theatre. Their voices are rich and
their gestures while dramatic, seem completely natural. They
create magic on stage.
The technical staff also makes magic. Their magic is done
with few of the resources we take for granted. In a way, what
they do is more impressive than what the actors do. When I
first went to Vladivostok just after glasnost, the stage crew was
straightening nails to use again. Thankfully, that has changed.
They even have some electric tools. The availability of materials is, however, a great problem.
The lesson to be learned from working under these conditions is that limitations do not hinder art. The Gorky operates in terms of technology and materials much the way small
theatres, strapped for cash, operate here. Moreover, the way
we are used to doing things is not necessarily the way in other
places. In fact, human nature seems to dictate that we all continue doing things the way we have done them in the past, even
though the technology changes.

When I first went to Vladivostok, the lighting control was
an ancient ten-scene preset board, ten feet wide with a daunting number of controllers. Now, there is a small computer
board that allows an operator to sit down instead of doing a
ballet in front of the old monster. Keep in mind that this theatre is a repertory theatre that performs at least five different
shows a week and fifteen shows each season. It has, of course,
a rep lighting plot, with small changes made each day to accommodate the play of the day. I thought that each play would
have the lighting cues on a disc. Not so. The operator ran
shows without recording cues, just as he had with the old
board. If an actor was not in the right place, a light would appear to cover him. I realized this as our tech rehearsals
showed slight differences in the lighting from day to day. The
result was just fine.
While nominally I was doing the lights, it was really
Natasha, who was in charge of the Gorky's lighting, who did
the work. I merely asked for more or less light here or there, a
color shift, and changing the timing of cues. In one instance,
she asked about lighting some panels that I didn't want lit but
she went ahead and lit them anyway. She was right When I saw
the result, I gratefully accepted her change.
I sent my costume sketches ahead and asked that the materials be natural fabrics-wool, linen, silk, and cotton. "We only
use natural fabrics" was the reply. Not so. The materials they can
get are bought at the local Gum department store and are synthetics of unknown provenance. But the shop's tailoring was
expert so the costumes were just fine. What would surprise
those used to our costume shops was that the sewing machines in
Vladivostok seemed to be from an era when electric machines
were first introduced. Again, artistry prevailed over equipment.
One more example. My set had a number of panels that
flew in at various heights. Changes in locales were signaled by
a change of panels. But while the theatre had battens that were
now run by electric winches, there were no read-outs of where
the battens were; no digital or analogue counters. The solution
to keeping track of the heights of panels was low-tech and it
worked. The crew attached strings to the off-stage edge of the
battens and marked off the various panel positions with ribbons fastened to the string.
It is difficult to be with friends in a foreign country and not
talk politics. When I complained about our present government
and how America is now hated around the world, the response
was, "Grow up, we have had governments we hate forever."
And then the observation from experience, "It's hard being a
super power." So when I left Russia I was wiser, grateful for my
colleague's generosity, and inspired by their artistry. ❖
TD & T

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