Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966 - 39

David Peacock

I.R. CODE: architecture - consulting - mUlti-purpose

In the old days, when in difficulty, the Greeks would send
messages to the Delphic oracle; the Romans would investigate the intestines of a sheep, and theatre builders
now send for theatre consultants,

advice of the consultant on the concept, they go as far
as presentation of the concept, and then, when they find
that they haven't enough money {and this is when they
need the consultant most l , they chop without asking him,
and then blame him because it doesn't work. So that
one of the essentials for a satisfactory relationship and
satisfactory dialogue between client and consultant is
complete honesty.

There is an increasing danger, because of the increasing
technical complexity of theatre building and of theatre
construction, that the role of the technical expert or the
theatre consultant begins to be shrouded in superstition;
and that he himself becomes prophet-like, provider of the
only truth, surrounded by an aura of infallibility, None of
these things, unfortunately, is true,
The consultant - again it is necessary to define the word the consultant is somebody who can offer a solution, but
he and nobody else will ever pretend that the solution
is the final solution or the only solution. It is simply a
solution to a given problem, But to maintain the dialogue
between the client and the consultant it is necessary for
the client to have some problems to pose to his consultant. One of the recurring themes throughout this conference has been a need for a program in the planning
of a theatre. If the client does not know exactly what
use his theatre is going to be put to; if he is just building a theatre to have a theatre (because the town next
door has a theatre) but nevertheless wants to put everything in it; if, because "multi-purpose" has now become
a dirty word, he uses the word "flexible" instead, it still
means the same thing, It still makes the job of the consultant almost impossible, If the client provides the consultant with no program, the consultant then has to devise
his program for him. Because nobody wants to be placed
in a position of being asked later on why, when someone
wants to put an agricultural show on the stage, the consultant didn't think of providing facilities for doing this,
there is a tendency (because of the lack of clear guidance
for the consultant, and for everybody concerned in the
planning of the theatre) to over-foresee, By trying to anticipate every possibility, by trying to foresee every possible use the building is going to be put to, you run the
danger of finishing with a neutral, a "multi-purpose"
whole. Although a theatre as big as Montreal's Place
des Arts is used for concerts, for opera, for trade shows,
for solo recitals, for chamber music, and even for a company that toured, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe"
(which really got a little bit lost in the middle of that
stage), it is unreasonable to blame either the designer
or anybody else for the fact that the theatre does not
satisfactorily fulfill all the needs or the uses to which
that theatre is put.
Another essential for a satisfactory relationship between the
consultant and the people with whom he works IS that
they be honest with him, that they tell him all the facts.
Too much time, for example, is wasted in conceptual
discussions, diSCUSSions as to the ideal theatre which
every consultant dreams of one day being able to pro·
duce, without reference to a firm budget, without an admission that they haven't got enough money. Particularly, again, in relation to smaller theatres and smaller units,
there seems to be the fear of admiSSion to the gentle·
man from New York or wherever, that they cannot really
afford it. What is even more dangerous, they seek the
advice of the consultant on the program, they seek the

OCTOBER 1966

No firm in its right senses would buy an IBM machine,
install it in the office, and then send to the local garage
to maintain it. There is a danger in separation of use
from design and planning, To me, the ideal solution
occurs where the people who are going to work in that
theatre grow with it. Colonel Powers stated that the last
man to leave the theatre was the electrician - the electrical contractor. The last man should be the electrician,
the chief electrician that is going to work in that theatre.
If the people who are going to run that theatre come in
with the contractors, grow with the theatre, find out
where the wiring goes, find out how the rigging is installed, then they will, when that theatre opens, know
their theatre, They will know what their theatre can do,
It is useless to turn around to your designer, or architect or consultant and say that the theatre does not do
what you said it would. Of course it won't, if you don't
have people who know how to use the tools that you
have given them, and who know how to use the equipment that has been installed.
Finally, there is the danger of labels. Inevitably, because
no man alive is an expert in every field of the theatre,
your acoustic consultant, engineering consultant, sight
line consultant, and seating consultant are all brought
in. It breeds departmentalism in the mind of the client
who sees these as separate problems, and because consultants come from different places, from different towns,
and occasionally have a different field, the danger of
independent discussion arises. Because most consultants
have a passion for their own field, and passion for the
work that they themselves do, they want to see their
particular work as successful as possible, The danger
arises that a view of the over-all effect may be lost.
The client may feel that it is a waste of money to put
this instead of that, and doesn't realize that a slight
change in the shape of the ceiling is going to affect
every other aspect of the theatre. It is going to affect
the sight lines, it is going to affect lots of things. It is
not a waste of money, rather it is an asset, if the dialogue is permanently maintained. If the buyer understands that there are no set answers; if he understands,
and is not therefore bemused when he finds that different consultants give different answers, Just as the fact
that drama critics may give opposite or conflicting criticisms, does not invalidate dramatic criticism: so the fact
that consultants can find more than one solution to the
same problem does not invalidate theatrical consultion!
The responsibility of the client to his consultant, therefore, is to supply a clear program, to understand that he
is being offered solutions not necessarily final and irrevocable answers, and to give all the facts to his consultants and allow them to see the project through. He

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966
