Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1975 - 18

dominant. 8
Six years later H ilar and Hofman collaborated on
what many regard as their supreme achievement,
Oedipus, 1932 (Figure 9). Hofman referred to Hamlet
as a stepping stone toward Oedipus, and indeed the
latter did provide a more distilled, more metaphoric
stage image in architectonic terms. The setting
consisted of a massive double set of stairs that
spiralled upward from downstage ground level behind the columned entrance to the royal palace to
reach the plateau of the entablature above the
columns. The entire structure was centered on a
turntable twelve meters in diameter, thus allowing
for striking entrances and exits, counter movements
of chorus and principals, and a supremely dramatic
moment at the end of the play when, in Hofman's
words,
Oedipus, blinded by his own hand, voluntarily leaves his
home for the unknown, mounting slowly, step by step, during
the turning of the set, until he reaches the top, where he
stands during the complete darkening of the scene, alone,
sharply lit, like an outcry of tate. 9

F. Bruckner's Elizabeth of England, 1931 (Figure
10). The multi-scene play was mounted on a
turntable, allowing for occasional simultaneous
scenes next to each other or, at least once, above
each other.

Fig. 10. V. Hofman, Elizabeth 01 England (F. Bruckner), 28 Nov.
1931, National Theatre, Prague, dir: K. H. Hilar.

Hilar's last major production before his death,
and his last production with Hofman, was O'Neill's
Mourning Becomes Electra (Figure 11) in 1934. A
contemporary review referred to Hofman as a
"dramatist among designers," an epithet warranted
by his dramatically charged, monumental set which
suggested a partial return to his expressionistic
architectonic period (as indeed did Elizabeth of
England). The setting was marked by isolated,
sometimes distorted segments of reality placed
against black drapes. Columns and doorways were
major plastic elements, and lighting was again a key
dramatic component.
Fig. 9. V. Hofman, Oedipus (Sophocles), 4 Apr. 1932, National
Theatre, dir: K. H. Hilar.

The combining of pure architectonic functionalism
with elements of reality in an austere but powerful
dramatic image embodies what Hofman meant by
constructive realism. He also sensed a further
dimension in the setting: "The functionalism of the
setting in Oedipus is bound to one element. ..
symbolism. A symbolic reality - that other reality,
the revealing of which is the purpose of drama and
the stage." 10
Lighting, as well as the restricted use of kinetics,
played a vital role in the production, as Hofman's
description of the end of the play suggests. A special
effect was achieved by cutting holes in the risers of
the stairs to allow for spotlights behind the steps,
which suddenly illuminated actors during certain
entrances and exits.
Shortly before the staging of Oedipus, Hofman
produced one of his most massive, baroque sets, for

Fig. 11. V. Hofman, Mourning Becomes Electra (O'Neill), 18 Dec.
1934, National Theatre, Prague, dir: K. H. Hilar.

Hofman continued to design for over twenty more
years, but his vital, genuinely creative years ended
with the 1930's. His subsequent work, despite
occasional flashes of his old power, became increasingly academic, cOIh'entional, and literal, especially

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