Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1976 - 32

use of texture as a surface to play light upon that relieves
the coldly rational quality found in Svoboda's work.
Former students of Vychod ii, such as ,Ian Hanak in his
design for Tartuffe, exhibit that they have learned their
lessons well and provide a rich and painterly approach
to design for the theatre.
Don Stowell
Ludmila Purkynova's designs for Eugene Onegin at
the Slovakian National Theatre, Bratislava, 1972, are
lovely subtle gray costumes against a gray background.
Her work for Marco Millions is also very subtle, with grayish backgrounds from which the costumes barely emerge.
They are specific, but not bold or brassy. Her work for
Mother's Field is much more utilitarian and direct. It
has no nonsense, emphasizing the shape. Her work for
Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle is a little looser, a little
bigger, with more character in the face. The coloration
of the peasants is subtle. The masks are striking, very
handsome. For The New Figaro she has designed crazylooking things. They would work for the shop, but have
strange shapes to them. For Adamov's Spring 71 she again
beautifully designed altered shapes and figures that work
in a rendering style. For Dessau's Lucullus' Condemnation
the costumes barely come out of the background; they
do not stand boldy on their own. Her entries are very
handsome indeed.
Irena Griefova's designs for Beaumarchais' The Marriage of Figaro at the Theatre of Zabradli, Prague, 1972,
show a figure in the middle and the detai Is all around.
They are very handsomely done with specific notes,
swatches and what the swatches cost. They would communicate to the director because of the boldness of the
figures in the middle, and to the shop because of the
surrounding sketches. There is also a little border that
completes some of the renderings. Her sketches of Moliere-Brecht's Don Juan for the Elbe Elster Theatre of the
DDR are drawn on a green ground. Although they are not
quite so effective as the Figaro they are handsomely done.
Her raggedy gypsies for The Threepenny Opera are not
quite as interesting as the Figaro renderings, but they
are very nice indeed.
Jarmila Konecna's large renderings for Berlioz' The
Trojans at The Grand Theatre, Geneva, 1975, are clear
and definite. Her modernist approach to classical costume
should be realized with no problem. Her work for Gogol's
Dead Souls at the National Theatre, Prague, 1975, is very
good theatre design. They could be more specific in the
exact detail, but the photographs show that she probably
got what she wanted from the shop. She uses nice layerings of colored laces and other trim to get rich effects.
The sketches are very clear in terms of period and social
class, are easily recognizable and very effective. For a play
by Srnec called Amoroso, Cerne Theatre, Prague, 1975,
she designed some nice, light, airy costumes that could
be constructed. She creates good characters and a sense of
movement. For Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
National Theatre, Prague, 1975, she has a very simple and
clever idea, using tunics, overtunics, capes, and other
garments with very specific photographs of roses on the
front of the ladies' tunics. She uses a lot of painted pat-

FALL, 1976

The Marriage of Figaro, Irena Greifova, Czechoslovakia.
Photo courtesy of Czech Theatre Institute.

terns with these specific roses coming out of the patterns.
These costumes would work well.
Jarmila Opletalova's designs for Jenufa State Theatre,
8rno, are rather intriguing. They are partially paste-andcut, and have a very good sense of movement and characterization. For Tschaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty of the
State Theatre, Ostrava, her designs have a sense of stateliness. She uses painted glue as well as fabric and achieves,
very effectively, the sense of the richness, the textures,
and the colors she is after, Her designs for Brecht's The
Mother for the Theatre Pracujicich, Gotwaldov, are good
character statements. Her designs for Klicpera's The Evil
Stag at the State Theatre, Ostrava are more interesting
character designs that could be built.
Otakar Schinkler has very handsome ideas for Chekhov's The Seagull at the Cinoherni Club in Prague. He
combines photographs from the period with modern
photographs to give an impression of where he is going.
Then he sketches the progression on the page. It is an
interesting layout. He gives a good idea of the concept
and the designs can be built. This is one of the most
effective rendering and communication techniques that I
have seen here. His wonderful renderings for Chekhov's
The Wood Demon and for The Stubborn Women at the
National Theatre, Prague, are done on what looks like
handout cards of some sort. They could very definitely
be built. Schindler's designs for The Wedding of Krechniski at the Theatre Petra Bezruce, Ostrava, have a good

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