Theatre Design & Technology - May 1967 - 30

REPORTS ON THEATRE DESIGN AS THEATRE_c.RaySmith
Viet Rock, Megan Terry's highly touted, satirical antiwar protest, never relates itself to other wars, or to causes
and effects; it never relates itself to the world at large. It
seems 10 spring only from the visceral and selfish non-involvement in the world's business of the students, lovers,
and mothers who must admittedly sacrifice their immediate
activities and perhaps their lives. Yet it is about the world
at large in that these perennial emotions are the stuff of
man's civilization. At the same time, the work contains an
abundance of sentimentality, and therein a base of glibness and sensationalism.
Viet Rock's significance, however, is not the unstructured,
non-narrative intellectuality of its anti-war message (which
remains surprisingly unagressive, a weak and uninfuriating
assault). Rather its significance is in the theatrical means
employed 10 make that statement: pageant, mime, happening, revivalist-meeting technique, Theatre of the Absuro
(the Artaud theory that Peter Brook demonstrated for us sc
brilliantly in Marat-Sade; the chanting, stamping, romping,

ranting, stripping, dancing, screaming, crying chorus ritual).
Emotional statements inspire revolutionary means.
Thin as Viet Rock's statement may be, it is nevertheless
a statement and compared to the 9 Evenings, Theatre
and Engineering (TD&T No.8), it has substance. Only
two of those had content as well as technology (and, interestingly, they also were anti-Viet Nam war protests).
Despite all parochial protestations, however, technology alone
constitutes no art form.
The Viet Rock New York production--a good universitylike show--is essentially antitechnology. It produces strong
effects with the simple means of the pageant maker and
the choreographer. It therefore stands as an early work of
the New Theatre.
The
"9
the
two

intriguing question is, when will the technology of the
Evenings" be incorporated inlO such a statement by
New Theatre people? And, more hesitantly, are the
irrevocably incompatible?

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
04.3.3. "Saving the Dresden Opera House from Demol ition,
1948." by Walther Unruh
Adapted and summarized by Gary W. Gaiser from the German of Walther
Unruh,"Wie das Dresdner. Opernhaus 1948 vor dem Abbruch Gerettet
Wurde," Maske und Kothurn, Vol XI. No.2 (1965). pp. 110-119.
with permission of the author.

In a dramatic and well-reasoned statement, Professor Walther
Unruh details the consultation procedure which led to the
reversal of the decision 10 destroy the remains of the
famous Dresden Opera House. An illuminating insight into
the problems of consultation and theatre design is afforded
by Professor Unruh's many-faceted examination ranging from
sky silhouette and site relationships to the many complex
questions involved in restoring such a structure.
As a result of this professional evaluation, the opera house
was enclosed 10 prevent further deterioration and await rebuilding, plans for which are now in process (1965).
The Royal Opera House in Dresden was created by Gottfried Semper in 1841 and rebuilt in 1878, after the fire
of 1869, according to his plans. It was again extensively
ruined by fire bombs in February, 1945 at the end of
WW II. The auditorium and the stage house were almost
completely burned, but remaining was the outer ring with
its facade so characteristic of Dresden.
In 1948 the Communist regime of the State of Saxony decided to clear away the ruins of the opera house in order
to make way in the theatre area for a large parade ground.
Discerning specialists and the Dresden population were
aroused against this plan. The commissioner of buildings,

GARY W. GAISER

at this time Prof. Dr. Beyer, implemented this position by
the appointment of Prof. Hans Freese as consulting architect. The latter had been the Dean of the School of Architecture in Dresden and, at the time of appointment, was
similarly engaged in Berlin. To enlarge his area of authority,
Prof. Freese allied himself with Prof. Ing. Walther Unruh, a
specialist in theatre technology. As a result of the able
support provided in the Freese I Unruh report, the opera
theatre was saved.
The report
The decision on the fate of this partially destroyed building
revolves around four issues:
1.

Is the building so valuable historically, architecturally, and as a civic monument that it should be
restored 7

Is the site of the theatre still desirable in the light
of present day developments?

Can the preserved exterior and essential areas of
the interior still fulfill the requirements according
to present day standards 7

Does the favorable resolution of the above issues
offer cost reduction and time increments more acceptable than such expenditures in material and
time for the removal of the present structure and
the construction of a new building 7

In the case of the Dresden Opera Theatre a special question
arises in addition to the above four more general ones:

THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

MAY 1967

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - May 1967