Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2009 - 76

book

reviews
Exhibition on the Stage

Problems of exhibiting scenography

Reflections on the 2007 Prague Quadrennial

Edited by Arnold Aronson, with contributions by Thea brejzek,
dorita Hannah, Ian Herbert, Thomas Irmer, and Marie
Zdenˇková; Prague, Arts Institute-Theatre Institute, 2008. 112
pp., b/w and color photographs. Paper, 499 CZK (c. $22.00).
Reviewed by Geoffrey Marsh
For those who missed the 11th Prague
Quadrennial Exhibition of Scenography
and Theatre Architecture in June 2007,
this summary, efficiently published
within a year, is a bargain. It is always
difficult to summarize such massive
international shows-more than fifty
countries exhibited-but Exhibition
on the Stage gives an effective overview in its hundred pages. It provides
over 150 photographs of the national
exhibits, individual displays, and activities, evoking a good sense of the overall
event. If the captions were removed from the photos, many of
the exhibits might be taken for contemporary art installations,
a reminder of how theatre design now merges into broader issues of culture, space, and technology. Effective as this book
is as a summary of PQ 07, however, a more difficult issue is
to what extent PQ 07 itself was an effective summary of recent
international work and a guide to key trends for the future.
The book contains an introduction and essays by Arnold
Aronson (USA - General Commissioner), Thea brejzek (Switzerland), dorita Hannah (New Zealand - PQ Jury member), Ian
Herbert (Great britain), Thomas Irmer (Germany) and Marie
Zdenˇková (Czech Republic). They encapsulate a range of differing views, countries, and interests. However, so much of the
impact of these kinds of "festival" exhibitions (Aronson likens
PQ 07 to a "medieval market fair") depends on all the personal
interactions and encounters one has in and around the event.
This was particularly the case at this quadrennial due to the addition of the parallel Scenofest organized by Sodja lotker. It is
impossible for any individual to pull together the impact of all
the debates in official and unofficial venues, the arguments over
exhibits and the other experiences which nurture insights long
after the exhibition ends. To document this aspect, it might be
interesting in a future PQ review to have a section of very short
comments by a hundred or so attendees on what they thought
were the most significant elements.

theatre

design

technology

S P R I N G

2009

As Aronson notes in his introduction, five of the contributors
choose to write about the problems of exhibiting scenography
rather than trends within it. He draws an analogy between these
practical problems and the difficulties faced by museums in
displaying historic artefacts. Although this approach may seem
a little arcane to design practitioners, it does raise fascinating
questions about how scenography is viewed by both the profession and outsiders. This, in turn, raises the issue of whether
the problems of communicating the potential of theatre design
are limiting its use-both inside theatre buildings and in found
spaces.
As someone managing a small team of museum curators
and archivists aiming to preserve an adequate record of performance (not just theatre!) in the United Kingdom, I found
such a summary a sharp prod to consider how effectively we do
our task. Space and resources are limited. Should we try and
keep photographs of most sets? Should we select a few "representative" set models from each year? What is the basis of
selection? Would the designers be willing to give their work to a
museum? Would we be better off recording interviews with key
practitioners or those who commission designers? How does
this plethora of potential approaches to documenting theatre
production stand with traditional historic records limited to the
techniques of the past?
These are not simply theoretical questions. Following the
Society for british Theatre designers "Collaborators" exhibition at the victoria & Albert Museum (November 2007-August
2008), we had to make practical decisions about what we
could keep for posterity. This exhibition showed the work of
over 100 U.K. theatre designers and was very popular with the
public-over 150,000 visited. In the end we kept just five models. However, we also filmed interviews with a selection of designers. Will this, combined with the SbTd's excellent catalog,
be an adequate record in a hundred years time?

Four approaches
In considering these issues, Arnold Aronson's essay "Exhibiting Scenography: The loss of the Artifact" provides a useful
overview of the problems of recording, archiving, and exhibiting intangible heritage such as performance. While much of
the ground will be familiar territory to curators, its distillation
into a concise and engaging summary is valuable. Furthermore,
at the end, he explores his theoretical approach in practice
through analyzing the actual design of a number of the pavilions. He categorizes four approaches, 1. Capturing an instant of
production, e.g., through drawing, photography, etc., 2. Kinetic

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2009