Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1980 - 15

Robert Wilson's Theatre Visions*
The critics are agreed that Robert Wilson's Death, Destruction,
and Detroit, a 'play with music in two acts', could not have
been written if Peter Stein and his West Berlin Schaubuhne am
Halleschen Ufer did not exist. The premiere of these sixteen
scenes plus prologue and epilogue lasted five and a half hours.
Three couples of different ages are present throughout the play
in different conjunctions. They do not have any biography or
any past. "They merely confront us with the present moment of
their relationships whatever they may be "-wrote Claus.-H.
Bachmann. The play is partly concerned with these relationships and partly with myths and fairy tales. The Zeit's critic,
Benjamin Henrichs, and other reviewers also saw the playas
"magical theatre", and the public-whom the program left to
"take intervals as thought fit "--remained spellbound in their
seats even during scenes that were strangely protracted as if
bound to a dreamlike, unreal measure of time. "Wilson's texts
are not dialogues for the theatre. They are endless sequences
and litanies, riddles and incantations ... The props are magical objects ... Light is not just light, it is mystification ... and
the music-from Richard Strauss to Keith Jarrett-and the
sounds serve as hypnotic rather than aesthetic means" (B.
Henrichs). Space does not permit consideration of individual
scenes here but it is clear that what action-artist Wilson presents at the Schaubuhne is not theatre in the traditional sense.
The Neue Zurcher Zeitung wrote of: "Living images, issuing
out of a visionary imagination, which extend from the pre-history of the age of the dinosaurs to the science fiction epoch of
men walking around distant stars" (Gunther Grack). The doyen
of Berlin's critics, Friedrich Luft, called the play "arrogantly exclusive" but conceded that" A miracle man is at work. A celebration is taking place for the happy few, a chaotic exertion for
the initiated, idlers, and compliant follwers into a night realm of
a panoramic theatre of depth psychology".
* Reprinted from International Theatre Information, Summer,
1979, p. 24.

carriage height 15 mm, and various furnishings had to be
built. The mobile elephant tusk, which had to be able to move
up and down and left and right, was also bothersome.
Cloth and scarfing were used for coverings in accordance
with the system of hanging rigips covering. At the rear of the
stage a suspended mobile wall with six doors was installed.
The suspension system consisted of roof rails and 48 mm tubing.
Forty-one 10 cm diameter holes were drilled into the floor
and covered with plexiglass for lighting with forty-one

Figure 5 Stage Designer's Drawing of Elephant Tusk

spotlights installed beneath the floor, one under each hole.
Four follow spots were used with six electricians on the stage
itself. Two dimmer-rack electricians operated 276 light settings manually via three lines with 60 levers. A total of approximately 150 spotlights were installed.
A part of the basic concept of Death, Destruction, and Detroit is the fact that the voices of the actors are separated from
their bodies. In order to achieve this we used microphone
equipment which allowed the speakers to maintain their freedom of movement. The disadvantage of this type of equipment
is the relatively high tendency of the equipment to experience
interference-a problem, however, which we were able to reduce through favorable antenna positioning and through the
use of such systems as the Diversity System with two receivers per transmission channel. The text of the actors was amplified and transmitted via a long row of acoustic speakers
lined up behind the audience.
Another part of the production concept was the blending-in
of music and noise. Many scenes are accompanied by constantly repeating brief passages of music or continuous background noise.
Approximately 18 km of recording tape was played during
the performance. Since many of the acoustic events overlap
or different sounds occur simultaneously, five tape recorders
had to be used at the same time: one four-track machine and
four stereophonic recorders. In order to maintain the transparency of the music and to provide certain sounds (such as
moving traffic) with their own dynamics we played many
tracks stereophonically which affected the positioning of the
loudspeakers. Thus, three loudspeakers were installed in the
front of the house alone. Central control of the electroacoustics was maintained from a 20/8 channel mixing
panel installed in the auditorium. This mixing panel was used
to remotely control the tape recorders as well as sound levels
and special effects.
For the entire evening's performance-which took six
hours-thirty-six technicians, ten wardrobe mistresses, five
makeup men, and twenty actors were required-all who had
to fight their way through a one-meter wide entrance! Thus, although the audience did not notice, events on and offstage
were often like "jungle warfare!" Passages were also occasionally blocked by two "dinosaurs" with people inside.
All scenery was made of noncombustible material or of material which was flame-retardant in accordance with German
Industrial Standard DIN 4102. The safety systems were
viewed by the authorities for approval, and respective certification showing the systems had been tested and passed were
in hand at the start of construction. The sprinkler system was
installed between the individual panels of the girdering, directly beneath the concrete ceiling so that all scenery would
be sprinkled with water from above should fire occur. The auditorium had 375 seats.
We had much to deal with because of the limited production time, the narrowness of the stage, and the precise staging
required. In addition, we had to deal with the extremely severe
weather prevailing at the time of the production. The
enormous amount of snow in Berlin meant difficult transportation conditions in setting up the workshop, stage, and rehearsal room, and the delivery schedules of some firms were
disrupted.
In the end, however, as so often, everything turned out all
right and even the press mentioned the technical direction.
Director: Robert Wilson
Scenery: Robert Wilson
Scenery Assistant: Manfred Dittrich
Costumes: Moidele Bickel
Costume Assistant: Dorothea Katzer
Technical Direction: Volker Butzmann, Eberhard Dolch
Stage Manager: Ditmar Baschin
Sound: Hans Peter KuhnD

Translated by Terry Hill

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1980