Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 11

spareness is never empty or bland.
John Gunter, William Dudley, and
John apier are scenographers whose
work has ranged from the restrained,
selective realism of the Royal Court,
where they all worked during the late
1960s or early 1970s, to considerably
more
theatricalized,
expressive
scenography involving much larger
budgets. While keeping their center of
gravity rooted in the school of understatement and authenticity of materials,
they have evolved in some of their productions toward increased size, color,
and sheer spectacle.

~I~
~
~ John

G unter

John Gunter (born 1938) is a classic
example of a British scenographer who
was imported to do English plays
abroad, especially in Germany and Switzerland, where he spent virtually the entire first hal f of the 1970s. A fter studying painting and theatre design at London's Central School, he did his earliest
work in English regional theatres such as
those in Coventry and Bristol, followed
in the late 1960s by extensive production
at the Royal Court, where he established

himself as primarily a painstaking realist
designer (especially in productions like a
D.H. Lawrence trilogy in 1968), thus
making him an appropriate choice to do
modern British plays on the continent.
At the same time, however, Gunter felt
the need to develop a greater range.
Reflecting on his experience in Europe,
he said:
I would love to find a middle way
between the English approach to
work in theatre and the continental approach. [n Germany the
theatre is inevitably a director's
theatre, very heavy on art. [n
England, theatre is primarily a
writer's medium, at least until recently-much more austere.
Working as a free lance designer
upon his return to England in the mid
1970s, he began to pick up assignments
at the ational Theatre and the RSC, as
well as work in the West End and in
regional repertory, with occasional projects in Europe and even in New York
and Buenos Aires. Concurrently he
functioned as head of the theatre design
program at his alma mater, the Central
School, from 1974 to 1982.
Gunter feels that the audience should
be encouraged to use their own fantasy,
to fill in the picture suggested by the
designer:

John Gllnter's model for All's Well That Ends Well, 1981. The basic stTl/clllre remained for all the
scenes.

Camel

John GIIllIer's set for Guys & Dolls, 1982.

Yes, it's wonderful to give it all,
but that's not what I think a theatre designer should do. He should
be evocat ive, suggest an am bience
and atmosphere, and lead the audience into it, but then the audience should carryon the fantasy
with the actor. It's the old story
of radio being much more exciting
to look at than a stage play.
He felt he had come very close to this
aim in a recent production, All's Well
Thai Ends Well (RSC 1981), a relatively heavy show scenically but concentrating on essentials rather than decoration. The basic set was a construction
resembling the iron framework ofa Victorian railroad station. With very flexible lighting and the addition of various
panels and screens, as well as key props
and furniture, it was transformed for
the variety of scenes indicated in the
play, which was updated to the Edwardian era.
Gunter's hankering for more spectacle was fulfilled with his production of
Guys & Dolls ( T 1982), during which

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