Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1976 - 20

music, architecture, etc. The course teaches theatre lighting from a design point of view. I deal in terms of art,
color, and form without getting very technical.
In addition to classwork during this first semester
(approximately four months!, the students are expected
to work on lighting crews for productions at the University and in the community under the supervision of my
three teaching assistants and my advanced students. At
this point I am not training lighting designers or theatre
technicians. I am concentrating on improving the student's sense of sight by opening their eyes to see light
and color and to participate in the joys and pains of production. I tell my students that I expect them to improve
their vision as they improve their taste for good whiskey.
Cream starts to rise to the top and of the original 120
students, 40 or 50 students from mixed disciplines will
continue into the second semester. The work consists of
a series of projects presented in class. Students work in
groups of two to four and I encourage competition and
a sense of scale. During these projects video cameras, film
projectors, dance groups, rock bands, paintings and
sculptures start appearing in the classroom as part of the
events. It is here that I start looking for the best students
of other disciplines. In the course of this semester they
start to assume roles of responsibility for productions at
the University and in the community. (It is a very exciting
process as the students begin to realize the potential
resources of the University and bring diverse elements
of related disciplines to their work.) The student that
has been diligent through these first nine months is welcomed to continue.
At this point, I begin personal guidance to discuss
each students educational deficiencies. I expect self-discipline and a good sense of humor. Life is too short to
push, or spend the time with, disagreeable people. I want
a full liberal education in the 19th century sense of history, art, music, and science. Then, add to that a working
knowledge of the 20th century in terms of physics, computers, economics, film, video, administration, and modern art. Actually, I prefer my theatre students not to
major in theatre until graduate school. This broad background will often take longer than the four years normally
needed for an undergraduate degree in America. Sometimes I demand that a student spend time working in the
"real world" and traveling abroad. There is nothing like
a 40 hour week washing dishes, or hitchhiking through
Europe, to make a student aware of the importance of
his education.
After the first year, I start taking these students to
work with me professionally.
Two Examples:
(1) This past summer I was production manager for the
Stuttgart Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet and Opera at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York. We opened 17 productions in 13 weeks. I used 14 former and present students
for the production office. Not all were from the theatre.
One was a musician; he organized follow-spot cues. Another was an architect; he took charge of drafting ground
plans. Half of these students are now back in Madison

SPRING,1976

continuing their education and training new students as
they have assumed the leadership positions in the Madison theatre community.
(2) Next month in Boston I will be lighting Sarah
Caldwell's production of Fidelio. The Production Manager and Stage Manager are both former assistants. In
addition, I am taking ten students from Madison to
work side by side for three weeks with the Boston union
crew and Ms. Caldwell's opera staff.
My students are currently staffing 26 different performing events in Madison between January and the end of
May. I should make it very clear that I expect my students
to work in rapid succession in a variety of media - One
week opera, next week dance, next a film or video project. At the same time he or she must maintain their
academic studies and be encouraged to experiment with
new applications.
To sum up my approach to training the theatre technician:
(1) An active and continuing dialogue-communicationwith artists from other disciplines.
(2) Continual production work in theatre and other
visual media both at the University and in the Madison
Community.
(3) To work with me professionally as an assistant outside of Madison.
(4) To continue his academic studies and seek to apply
them to his production work.
(5) To constantly be aware of, and work on, his leadership potential.
As we rush to know each other, the world needs leaders
who can bring people and their art together. I demand
this skill and hope to send out professionals who can
inspire the communication of art and theatre through
cooperative experience.
Gilbert Hemsley, Jr.
University of Wisconsin-Madison

AN EXPERIENCE IN THE TRAINING OF THEATRE
DESIGNERS AND ENGINEERS IN THE
UNITED STATES
The course of graduate study in theatre design-engineering and the engineering development carried on in the
electro-mechanical laboratory at the Yale University
School of Drama is unique in the Western hemisphere.
The course of study is for three years and the Masters of
Fine Arts Degree in theatre design-engineering is conferred upon those who successfully complete the coursework and a thesis. This course of study, developed over
the past twenty-five years from the status of a minor
elective in 1950 to a major in 1965, had its origin in a
laboratory and a theatre consulting practice, both of
which were founded by me in 1939. From the beginning
the laboratory and the practice were essential to a professional modus operandi and basic to the founding of
a formal course of study where from the very beginning
purely academic pursuits were considered as being subsidiary to attainment of professional competance. I believe it is essential that technical proficiency at the grad-

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

USITT

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