Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1970 - 10

(photo: Jaromir Svoboda)

Fig. 12. Verdi's Sicilian Vespers (Hamburg
1969) marked a temporary peak in Svoboda's
use of specially designed low-voltage instruments that create "curtains of light" with
their high intensity, white light.
A Svoboda Chronology
Before 194B - Head scenographer of Prague 5 May
Theatre
Since 194B - Head scenographer of Prague National
Theatre
Head scenographer of Laterna Magika
Theatre
1946
1946
1947
1947
1950
19 54
1956
1956
1957
1957
1958
1958
1959
1959
1960
1960
1960
1961
1961
1961
1961

-

1962
1962
1963
1963
1963
1963
1963

-

1964
1964
19 64
1965

-

1965 1965 1965 1965 1965 1965 1965 1965 1966 1966 1968 1968 -

10

"Tales of HoHman"
"A ibis Action"
"Betrothal in a Convent"
"Rigoletto"
"The Eleventh Commandment"
awarded the State Prize
Capek's "The Robber"
Nizval "Atlantis"
"The Golden Coach"
"The Entertainer"
Devised the Polyecran
"August Sunday"
Janacek's "Villet Pana Bro.;'cka"
Laterna Magika II
"The Seagull"
"The Lantern"
"Drohomira and Her Sons"
"Dalibor"
"Magic Flute"
"Intolleranza" (La Fenice)
Gold Medal - Sao Paulo Biennale of
Scenic Design
"The Owners of the Keys"
"Romeo, Juliet and the Darkness"
"The Tempest" Theatre Olomouc
"Juliette"
"Oedipus Rex"
"Midsummer Night's Dream"
The "Order of Work" conferred on
Svoboda
"The Solitude'~
Janaceki's "Katya Kabanova"
.. End of Carnival"
"Romeo and Juliet" (Teatre Malia Havana)
"The Malcropulos Case"
"Atomic Death" (Piccolo Scala-Milano)
"Hamlet" (Theatre National de Belgique-Brussels)
"The Insect Play"
"Romeo and Juliet" (Theatre National
Prague)
"Faust" (Warsaw)
"Electra" (Study)
L'Abbergo Dli Poveri (Teatro La ScalaMilano)
"Macbeth" (Teatro San Bibila-Milano)
Title of "Artist of Merit" conferred on
Svoboda
Ort!'s "Prometheus" (Bayerischer
Staatsoper-Munichl
Title "National A:1ist" conferred

Fig.'s 13 and 14. Pelleas et Melisande by
Debussy (London 1969). Svoboda's scenography for the opera was noteworthy for its
creation of "pseudo" space almost entirely
by colored lighting, with virtually no projection of clearly shaped, defined images. Having sophisticated materials and instruments
at hand in London, especially a cyclorama
screen of material that took both front and

rear proj ections but also allowed projections
as well as additive lighting to pass through
it, Svoboda was able to create startling new
combinations of color tones and shapes. In
relation to the earlier Frau Ohne Schatten
(fig. 7), opaque cutouts were here abandoned
in favor of loosely hung scrim materials to
provide shape and texture for the colored
space.

(photo: Jaromir Svoboda)

A Very Brief Handlist of Materials on Svoboda's Recent Work, Emphasizing English
and German Publications
(compiled
by
Henry
Heymann
and
Ned A Bowman)
Burian, Jarka M. "Theatre Artist in an Age of Science," Educational Theatre Journal," (to be
published May 1970).
Dorra, Karl-Heinz. "Die Szene der Oper 'Die Soldaten'
von Bernd A. Zimmermann," BUHNENTECHNISCHE RUNDSCHAU (3/1969). p. 12-14.
Hrbas, Kiri. NEARLY ALL ABOUT THE MAGIC
LANTERN. Prague: the Czechoslovak Film Institute, 1968.
JOSEF SVOBODA: BUHNENBILDER UNO SZENOGRAPHIEN. Exhibition catalog prepared for
a 1969 exhibit at the Akadamie der Kunste
(Berlin 21, Hanseatenweg 10).

~

JOSEF SVOBODA; catalogue of exhibition, introduction by Denis Bablet; Theatre Institute,
Prague, 1966, Two Versions exist.
..Josef Svoboda: New Elements in Scenography,"
TULANE DRAMA REVIEW (Fall 1966), pp.
146-149.
"Laterna Magika," TULANE DRAMA REVIEW, T33
(Fall 1966). pp. 141-145.
Kouril, Miroslav; New values and New Forms of
Scenography, transcript of proceedings of June
1966 Interscena conference in Prague - (unpublished)
Telcova, The Scenography of Janacek's Operas, transcript of proceedings of June 1966 Interscena
conference in Prague - (unpublished)
Trager, Josef. Artistic and Scenographic Experiments in the History of Czechoslovak Theatre
Development, transcript of proceedings of June
1966 Interscena conference in Prague - (unpublished)

THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FEBRUARY, 1970
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Feb 1970
