Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1975 - 26

The Professional Work of Theatre Engineers.
Theatre engineers help to design equipment and
buildings as employees of equipment manufacturers
and as consultants to theatre architects. They can
contribute to theatrical productions by themselves
serving as consultants to technical directors, stage
managers, and theatre administrators when those
people encounter quantitative problems which are
beyond the.ir own considerable expertise. By experimenting with new analytical methods and with the
application of quantitative analysis in situations
where it has not been used before, they can enrich
and unify the field of theatre engineering itself.
Finally, theatre engineers can inform others about
quantitative techniques by teaching theatre engibeering and by publishing the results of their
research.
The Future Development of Theatre Engineering.
The technical demands of modern rotating repertory
production, the recent construction of several multiuse performance facilities, rising economic pressures
on theatre companies, and the prospective artistic
benefits of improved theatrical production all motivate the advance of theatre engineering. Theatre
consultants, equipment manufacturers, contract
sceneshops, and professional theatre companies can
contribute to that advance by underwriting some
experimentation with new engineering applications.
For several reasons, however, university schools
of drama are uniquely suited to the task of innovation
in theatre engineering. They have the freedom to
undertake some research which, while promising
great rewards if successful, would be considered too
risky or too ethereal to ever be given industry
support. Their production activities are varied and
often, so that opportunities arise frequently for the
application of engineering to new problems in
technical theatre. Finally, they can provide an
intellectual atmosphere which is receptive to experiment and thereby encourage the growth of a
community of interest in theatre engineering.
Current research enjoys a mixture of industrial
and academic support, and addresses such diverse
problems as optimal sceneshop inventory control, the
design of precision spotline winches, and lighting
control without branch circuits.
Theatre engineering may vanish someday, at least
as a formal discipline. History may decide that it was
too special a specialty, or television and film may
supplant live theatrical production altogether, so that
there are no more theatres to engineer. There are far
bigger threats to the survival of the subject,
however: the rise of antiscience; the reluctance to
abandon bad traditions; inadequate communication
amongst workers in the field; and the easy intro-

duction of manufactured obscurity, high-priesthood,
and dilettantism as substitutes for simple words,
hard work, and intellectual honesty.

Conclusion. Engineering can facilitate the solution
of many problems in theatrical production. If proper
support is given to the study and teaching of theatre
engineering, and to research on new applications of
quantitative analysis, this benefit to the theatre can
continue and increase.
*
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Tony Straiges did the artwork for the first and third illustrative
examples.
SUGGESTED READING
on the subjects of the illustrative examples

On the design of theatre buildings: Izenour, George C., Theater
Design. New York: McGraw-Hili Book Company, in press
On electric circuits: Close, Charles M., The Analysis of Linear
Circuits. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc., 1966.
On structural mec~anics: Den Hartzog, J.P., Strength of Materials. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1961.
On engineering economics: Grant, Eugene L., and W. Grant
Ireson, Principles of Engineering Economy, fifth edition. New
York: The Ronald Press Company, 1970.
On mathematical programming: Wagner, Harvey M., Principles of
Operations Research. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969.

ANNOUNCING THE 1st U.S.A. USE OF THE
POWERFUL "PANI" METALLOGEN
WIDE-ANGLE SCENIC PROJECTORS FROM
VIENNA IN A NEW PRODUCTION OF

~~Caa,~~eY1~~
by

The New Jersey State Opera

Alfredo Silipigni,
Artistic Director & Conductor
Production Designed & Projections
by Lee Watson - Staged by Michael
Rennison, Covent Garden Opera
with

Olivia Stapp

Wm. Lewis Vern Shinall

Andrea Guiot

Performances:
Trenton, N.J., Sat., May 3rd at War Memorial
Auditorium, 8 pm.
Newark, N.J., Sun., May 11th ay Symphony Hall, 7
pm.
For tickets or information: N. J. State Opera, 141
So. Harrison St., East Orange, N. J. 07018 or
Tel. (201) 675-6665.
Projectors mfg. by: Ludwig Pani, Kandlgasse 23, A-l070.
Vienna, Austria
Projectors supplied by: CENTURY STRAND, INC.
20 Bushes Lane, Elmwood Park, N.J. 07407
Tel. (201) 791-7000 or (212) 947-2475.
OSRAM Metallogen HMllamps by: MACBETH SALES CORP.,
Newburgh, N.Y. 12500. Tel. (9141561-7300.

Watch for U.S.I.T.T. Eastern States Projection Symposium
Symphony Hall, Newark, N.J. Sun., May 11th, 10:00 a.m.

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

SPRING.1975

http://www.the.ir

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