Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1974 - 34

expressions and actions, to the animals, plants, prescribed

the one book that says it all about stage managing in the

colors, and all objects natural and artifical which are their

New York

artificial attributes.

Stern's Stage Management, there are two excellent hand-

H is text went through many un-illustrated editions. In
the eighteenth century Johann Georg Hertel of Augsburg
produced what is considered the finest illustrated version
of

the

Iconologia.

In the

Hertel edition almost all

descriptive script is removed in favor of the pictographic
representation

the

factual

material

found

the

professional

theatre. Now, with Lawrence

books on the subject, and the two books complement
each other nicely. Where Gruver concentrated primarily
on

the

professional

Broadway

musical

and

touring

situations, Stern is more applicable to non-union amateur,
community, educational, and

summer stock

theatres;

where Gruver's background was in New York, Stern's
experience is mostly on the West Coast; where Gruver uses
a third-person objective style, Stern's warm subjective

symbolic attributes.
I n an attempt to present a usable modern Engl ish

narrative at times approaches conversation.

edition of the Iconologia, Edward Maser has employed
much of the original Ripa text to supplement the Hertel
illustrations,

that

detail

well

known

the

contemporaries of Ripa and Hertel would be totally lost
on our own contemporaries. Maser not only translates the
Latin and German captions of the Hertel edition, but
includes relevant details from many of the earlier editions.
The commentary, then, draws on the whole period of the
development of iconography, 1603-1767. Maser hopes
that by so combining versions of the book, " . . . this
edition becomes what Hertel ... intended it to be, a
handbook of visual imagery for both the artist and his
public, a source book for visual ideas for the use of the
one, and an explanation for the edification of the other."
For the scenic designer and costumer the book becomes
a rare combination of elements. One has available within
one source, ideas for detail from the period, sources of
major iconograph ic ideas which can be translated into
major

design

themes,

and

a source for

the use of

pictographic representation within its proper context.
Lastly, the book contains a detailed discussion of color
and its significant and symbolic use. In short, a storehouse
of detailed and overall conception applicable to period

design. Of course the problem becomes the problem
which drove Ripa and Hertel to produce the original:
Using I conography as the basis for design one needs to
produce an Iconologia for your audience to fully grasp
what you have done. Facetiousness aside, the Maser
edition, Baroque and Rococo Pictorial Imagery, will be a
useful source for both scenic and costume designers
working within the Baroque and Rococo periods.
Briant Hamor Lee
Bowling Green State University

inexperienced stage managers on his productions. He was
apparently also concered with the lack of stage
management training available today, and so intended this
as a textbook. It would indeed make a good text for a
course, but its sales will have to depend on far more than
that, as there are no more than seven or eight courses in
stage management presently offered in the United States.
What the book may do is stimulate some interest in stage
management as a subject for a course; it is far too
neglected at present, considering the importance of the
stage manager in a production.
The arrangement of the subject matter in the book is
somewhat confusing. The first eight chapters cover the
stage manager's duties in a somewhat chronological order
right up through opening night. The next three chapters
involve knowledge of the scenery and lighting, followed
by chapters on "Closing and Moving," "Keeping the Cast
on Time," "Keeping the Show in Hand," "Department
Management and Property Management," and "Working
with

the

House Manager." The final

chapters cover

personal and professional information.
The early chapters on the stage manager's responsibilities during a production are extremely thorough. Stern's
discussions on scheduling, company rules, auditions,
preparation of the promt script, and rehearsal procedures
are excellent, with plenty of examples and an overabu ndance of forms, plots, charts, and reports. In fact, the
only disappointment with the book lies in areas which
were heavily pu bl icized in the saturated advertising
campaign. The brochure promised to help the reader
"conduct a technical rehearsal combining production with
lighting, sound cues, special effects, scene changes, and
curtain closings" and "arrange a back-stage 'scene dock',"

STAGE MANAGEMENT
A Guidebook of Practical Techniques
Lawrence Stern
Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Boston, 1974
323 Pages
$11.95

and it boasted "more than 100 full page i!!ustrations of
clearly defined models and specific outlines describing the
stage manager and his work." The discussion on technical

Ever since Bert Gruver wrote The Stage Manager's
Handbook in 1952, it has remained the only practical
handbook on the craft; as revised by Frank Hamilton, it is

Lawrence Stern is a director in the Los Angeles area
who wrote Stage Management primarily as a guide for

rehearsals never even touches methods of cueing and lasts
only four pages, while 40 pages are devoted to acting
rehearsals. The section on arranging a backstage scene
dock is reduced to a very short paragraph. There are less
than 100 illustrations, many of which are silly collage

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

OCTOBER. 1974

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1974