Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1977 - 16

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Olivier Theatre: Section.
the architecture of the Olivier auditorium and when he
had got that right he worked from there outwards. This is
an inside-out theatre which what all good theatres ought
to be.
The Olivier is the heart of the National theatre. After
listening to all the many advisers and after making many
models, the architect came up with this form as his idea
of what the open stage should be. It is Sir Denys Lasdun's
design and it is stamped all over with his creative personality. No one else would have produced th is particular
solution to the problem of an open stage auditorium for
1160 seats. If I go on later to declare that the Olivier is
not an open stage, this is not to say that I do not believe
that this is an architectural masterpiece and that the
theatre is not better off for having it. It is a special - a
one of - something that London ought to be able to
indulge in: it is not a general purpose theatre for drama.
To go to this theatre is a memorable experience provided the particular director has taken the trouble to
study how best to use it. It is necessary to say this because
there has been a rather high proportion of unsuitable
productions since the 01 ivier opened six months ago. So
much so, that Bernard Levine (theatre critic to the Sunday Times) has used the headline 'Further lessons in how
not to do it' for his review of a recent production there.
Of course, the success of a visit to any theatre is at
the mercy of the show one saw but at the Olivier the
hazard is greater than in any other new theatre I know.
The reason is that although this theatre has a very strong
architectural personality it is absolutely dependent, from
the moment one enters the auditorium, on what is set on
the stage. As befits an open stage, there is no safety curtain and there can· be no house tabs but there is - right
in the focus of all eyes - a vast chasm to be filled with
the production. Whether the show employs a cast of one
or one hundred, that space has to be occupied with something - even if it is only a background of black drapes.
If it is, then the Olivier will look and feel quite different
from when the space is filled with, say, gaily painted
scenery. And it will register that impression long before
the play itself begins.
This effect was well demonstrated in the opening
production Tamburlaine the Great. I have no doubt
whatever that the impression of the Olivier that most of
the audience took away was that of John Bury's set. The
16

SUMMER,1977

circle on the floor which drew the eye and the great ring
hanging above which limited its upward wanderings were
both scenery, just for that production. Incidentally
they - the focus - bore no direct relationship to the
drum stage, the heart of the stage mechanics - of which
more anon. To say that a theatre takes on the character
of the particular setting on the stage is surely a compl iment. The auditorium is an accompaniment to each show:
what more can one ask? And th is in spite of its strong
architectural character which shows right up to the
boundary between the auditorium and the stage. This is
not a balcony full of people but a balcony of concrete
topped by a polished steel rail. Mind you, we have to be
careful how we use that word, as there is nothing in the
Olivier which can correctly be described as a 'balcony:
What this theatre suggests is a classic Greek theatre but
of SO-degrees and broken-up into terraces. The last seven
rows form one great terrace sweeping around and there
are two others, one either side of the stalls, at an intermediate level. Close examination on plan shows the
geometry not to be as simple as a superficial glance may
suggest. There are several axis to the seats as their curves
are struck from five different centres. Since one tends
to base one's focal point on the axis of the seat occupied,
the result is rather curious. Normally one is conscious in a
theatre of being at or towards the side when looking at
the stage. At the Olivier, however, when seated in a side
terrace there is no effect of being in a side seat so none of
the subconscious allowances go into action. One looks
out at the stage and expects a full view, though as far
as the background is concerned it must be of a totally
different part of the setting from that confronting the
stalls proper.
It should be noted that the view is of the scenic setting and in no 'case is the acting area seen as backed by
members of the audience, although on plan the stage
appears to thrust out among them. It is almost the duty
of the scene designer to provide three settings; one for
the majority, one for those on the left and another for
those on the right. This really did happen in Tamburlaine. We had our bits of scenery to confront and the
fact that we did not see a thing of his noisy triumphant
first entry in his chariot - one of the great visual moments in this production - has not put me off the side
terrace. It was noticeable from there how Peter Hall had
arranged the actors' moves in depth - as if they were

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