Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1994 - 20

Allthor's lIlodel of his set design for Beth Henley's Abundance
perforllled at the Gorki Theatre ill \fladhfostok.
classic themes of morralitv, moralit)', 101'e, and honor. Our
writers b)' contrast, seem ro be tackling more specific problems, such as AIDS, feminism, and racial relations. The professors also menrioned that their biggest concern I\'as that studenr come ro them \\'ith a completeh- false \'iew of hisrorv.
Students in the nited States come ro college with no idea of
hisron' at all; they only knoll' and care about the present. In
both literature and hisrory, the Russians are looking through
the large end of the telescope \I·hile we are focusing on the
details of life.
:--'light it be that the technolog)' we enjo\', the relati\'e ease
of our existence, and the mass of information we command,
hal'e blinded us to the larger questions of life' Our artists
seem to produce more and more \\'ork reflecti\'e of \'en' personal concerns. Our tragedies stem not from some tragic fla\\',
mea urable on a uni\'ersal scale, but from the \'ictimization of
one or another sexual, ethnic, or gender group. \Ve are looking inro the wrong end of the telescope as \\'e back into the
future. The Russians still see the large picture.

The irony of our situation lies in the narrO\vness of our
vision at a time \\·hen our sciences have created \'ast possibilities and frightening problems. In 1935, Charles G. Finnel'
wrote The Circl/s of Dr. Lao, in which he described a man
who had e\'er~' conceil'able operation to implanr arrificial
parts. "One hundred ~'ears after he died they opened up his
coffin. All they found \\'ere string and \\'ires.·· - Today, more
miraculous implanr are pos ible and some of us mal' be an
assemblage of mechanical del'ices and parrs from other
humans. An article in the Nell' York Tillles titled, ,. \Ve Are
What We Alake." examine [\\'0 ne\\' books \\'hich until
recenrh- \I'ould ha\'e been science fiction. The rel'ie\\'er, Stel'en
Le\'y, reporrs that according ro the books being considered,
..... the barrier between humans and machines has already
el'aporated."- The \'ery titles of the books, The FOllrth
Discontinllity: The Co-Euollltion of HI/lllans and Machines,
and, Metal/Ian: The Merging of Hlllllan and Machines Into a
Global SlIperorganislll, are cultural sign posts. ' Is our future
evolution to be a merger \\'ith our machines? \\;tjll we then still
be human? Do we have any conrrol over our fate?
Beyond what may happen ro our bodies in the future, we
face a world in which computers may think like people, where
genetic engineering, gene splicing, and cloning are possible,
and where the information age has ah'ead~· made personal privac)' almost impossible. Our technology is producing an el'erwidening gap, not on'" between the rich and poor in our
counrr), but bem'een rich and poor nations.
According ro a scienrist friend, as technolog" adl'ances, the
rules gOl'erning the ethics of his \\'ork change almost daill'. For
the rest of us, the speed of change causes us to blindly enrer
this nor-so-brave nell' \\'orld with no philosophical, moral, or
conceptual rools up ro the task of charring our societal cour e.
To create these, we must ask the question theatre ha asked
throughout the ages, "\Xfhat does it mean to be human?"
To take conrrol, I belie\'e, twO connected tasks confronr
us. First, ro stal' ali\'e, theatre must rise abo\'e the themes of
victimization to speak of the larger human condition. It must
do so with metaphor, poerry, humor, 100'e, and pit~,. It must
question and comfort, inspire and console, It must break
down the isolation of modern life and allow us, gathered
together as a group, ro face the uncertainries of who we are.
Next, as designers, technicians, and arrists, we must control our rools, using them ro create what is arristically right,
not merel)' to show what is technicall), possible. As technolog)'
evolves, we must keep in mind the distancing that technology
creates and resist the temptation ro provide our audiences with
onl)' an experience. Large ideas and grand emotions are the
stuff of theatre. We have a moral responsibilin' to harness
technolog)' in their sen'ice .

BEEB SALZER is professor of design at San Diego State

Iliuersit)'.
He will retllm to Rllssia this Sl/llll11er to design sets. costllllles,
t71ld lights for the RI/ssian colllpan), 0/ the Gorki Theatre.
Endnotes
:'-like Sreek. "The ~or 0 Empr" p.Ke.·· AlI1eT/c.m The.llre Oeroher 1993: 22.
2 Beeb Salzer. "The Scenographer as .-\nisr:· The.llre DeS/gil ,,' TedJl/%gy
\'olume XII. ~umbers I. 2. .mJ 3.
3 lUlles Ogik\·. "Three Seenano, for Higher EJu(,uion: The Clliforni.l Clse:'
Thoughl.md Actioll Fall 1993: 29.
4 Lyn Her~hman. "Tollch- ensitl\'lry ,10J Olha Forl1l~ of Suh\"crslOn: Inrt:r~l("t1\'e
.-\rr\\"ork.·· Leoll.lrdo \'olume 26 19911. ~umher 5.
5 \\'illiam Sh,lkespe.ue. Sonner 29.
6 Ch.ub G. Finne,'. The C/TOt5 or Dr. Lw I~e\\" York: \'iking Press. 19351.
~t~\'en Lc\'y. .\ fell' )'orl.:. Tunes Book RCI'll'll' 24 Octoher 1993: 13.
Bruce .\ 1.1zlish. The Fourth DI5C0l1ll111(/I:: (~e\\" H.ln~n: '1'.11(' Uni\"cr:,iry
Press. 1993).
9 Gregory Sro..:L .\It.'l.mI.l11

~PRI~G

1994

TDc'T

(~t.:\\

York: Sllllon .1I1d

SLhll~tt.:r.

1993).

http://www.p.Ke http://www.Thoughl.md

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1994