Development of Western Theatre Buildings
2.6 Twentieth century theatres
2.6.1 Changes to the Theatre Building
One of the first practitioners to move away from the proscenium arch arrangement was Max Reinhart (1873–1943) who introduced "the use of technology on-stage"
(Athanasopulos, 1983:125). He broke away from realism and was able to put the theories of Appia and Craig into practice. One of his early ideas was to open a small three hundred-seat venue, the Kammerspielhaus (1906), next to the main Deutsches Theatre in Berlin, in order to provide flexibility in the productions he could present. He realized "that no single approach is appropriate to the staging of all plays" (Brockett and Hildy, 2003:418). This combination of a large theatre and a smaller performance space within a single venue became a popular layout in a number of theatre complexes around the world.
Walter Gropius (1883-1969), a member of the Bauhaus movement, also explored new concepts for a theatre building and designed the "Total Theatre" in 1927 for director Erwin Piscator (1893–1966) (Brockett and Hildy, 2003:437-438). The idea behind the theatre was to combine all three basic stage shapes – proscenium arch, thrust and arena - into one 'total theatre'. He accomplished this by mounting a section of the seating and a performance space onto a large revolving disc and by changing the configurations, the venue could morph into each of the three basic stage shapes (figure 2.23. overleaf). He also added a platform around the outside of the audience seating area that provided additional places for the performer to act and interact with the spectators. Unfortunately the theatre was never built, but his innovative ideas, with regard to the auditorium
layout and the stage, were to influence a number of later twentieth century theatre designs (Baugh, 2005:160-161).
a b c
Figure 2.23. Gropius's 'Total Theatre' (Athanasopulos, 1983:141)
(a) theatre in the round or arena stage, (b) proscenium arch layout, (c) thrust stage or open stage
Another theatre practitioner, Terence Gray, working at the Cambridge Festival Theatre (1926-1933), removed the proscenium arch and constructed a thrust stage in front with stairs leading into the auditorium (Rosenfeld, 1973:182-183). The stage had a five metre hand operated revolve and a thirteen metre high curved cyclorama at the back.
No attempt was made to mask the side stage areas or hide any of the machinery. The settings were simple and functional and consisted of ramps, platforms, stairs and columns (figure 2.24. overleaf). Many of the sets were painted in an aluminium paint that helped reflect the lighting (Baugh, 2005:156-157). Despite his innovations with the stage layout, Gray viewed the text as "an excuse for a directors' improvisations"
(Brockett and Hildy, 2003:455), and often changed the text to suit his productions.
In Russia, Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874–1940) explored biomechanics as a means to train performers and applied constructivism to his settings by arranging "nonrepresentational platforms, ramps, turning wheels, trapezes, and other objects to create a 'machine for acting', more practicable than decorative" (Brockett and Hildy, 2003:429). He removed all the decorative plasterwork from the proscenium arch and the mechanics and side stage areas were visible to the spectators (Baugh, 2005:71-72). Meyerhold was able to expand on Appia and Craig's scenic theories and provide a functional setting that allowed the spectator to use his/her own imagination to interpret the environment for the production.
Figure 2.24. Designs for Terence Gray Cambridge Festival Theatre (Baugh, 2005:156) In France, Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) felt "the role of theatre [was] not to mirror everyday life but to bring out in the spectator all that is most primitive that culture and civilization have submerged" and recommended a "theatre of Cruelty" that would 'shock' the audience out of their complacent attitude to theatre (Chambers, 2002:42).
After the Second World War a number of theatre groups and individuals explored new ways of performance that again rejected the 'traditional' forms of theatre. These included Richard Schechner who proposed an 'environmental theatre' where all parts of the theatre, both where the audience was seated and the stage, were intertwined and seen as a whole. Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) also rejected all forms of illusion and special effects and explored the pivotal role of the performer in relation to the text (Baugh, 2005:167-169). He believed that "by the controlled use of gesture, actors could turn anything or nothing into that which they wish an audience to perceive" (Pickering, 1978b:126). In his production of Kordian (1962) (figure 2.25. overleaf), set in a mental hospital, the audience was seated on sections of the scenery and the actors performed amongst them (Baugh, 2005:168).
In the latter half of the twentieth century many theatre architects, often because of financial constraints, moved towards creating flexible performance spaces that could suit a number of different purposes such as a concert hall, sports facility and civic auditorium. Inspired by Gropius's vision, these venues are able to be reconfigured using engineering and electronic technologies to move the seating and stages. In most cases
the traditional proscenium arch was eliminated and lighting equipment, formerly hidden from view, was rigged so that it can accommodate the different layouts. In addition to these large flexible venues a number of smaller experimental or studio theatres were built to provide a more intimate space for the director and the designer to work in (Baugh, 2005:163-166).
Figure 2.25. A sketch of the setting for Kordian (1962) (Mackey and Cooper, 2000:341) In England, the Royal Shakespeare Company was founded in 1961. At first they performed at Stratford and the Aldwych theatre in London (Trussler, 2000:234-235). In 1982 the Barbican Theatre was built to accommodate the company. The building has a small flexible space that sits two hundred people and a larger theatre for just over a thousand spectators. In 1997 the New Globe Theatre (figure 2.26. overleaf), based on the first Globe theatre of 1599, opened and provides a venue for people to watch Shakespeare as close as possible to how his plays were historically performed (Brockett and Hildy, 2003:531, 562).
Figure 2.26. New Globe Theatre (The Shakespeare's Globe Trust, 2012: Internet) 2.6.2 Changes to Scenery
In the twentieth century with the development of a number of new materials such as plastics, polystyrene and polyurethane, designers were and are able to combine these products to create visually stimulating designs. Steel or aluminium often replaces the more traditional timber construction, which allows for stronger, sometimes lighter and less bulky settings.
Lighting and projections can now be used to create scenic backgrounds instead of the 'old-fashioned' painted scene (Rosenfeld, 1973:193-195). The invention of new technologies such as miniaturised hydraulics and below stage tracking has created a new form of spectacle where scenery can be 'magically' manipulated without using the conventional methods of lifting, pulling or pushing. In addition the personal computer has enabled complex lighting, scenic and multi-media presentations to be saved and replicated in theatres across the world (Baugh, 2005:209-211). Scenic backdrops can now be computer-printed onto banner paper using software such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel's Painter. The process is quick and not as time-consuming as the hand- painted designs, as the images or designs can be quickly altered. The result may have a slight plastic artificial appearance and the print inks, applied by using tiny dots of
primary or secondary colour, may react differently under light than paint pigments (Allison and Boyer, 2002:14-22). Some of the first designers to experiment with these new technologies were Svoboda, whose work, together with the designs of Lee and Koltai will be discussed in a later chapter.