Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1976 - 36

experimental with a whole series of pictures. I am not
quite sure what is supposed to happen; there is some male
and female confusion. They may have used two people a man and a woman - to play his Julie: It is not quite
clear. By doing a scenario of designs, a whole sense of
what happens, how things are to be blocked, and how
things are to be used, is evident. Springs Awakening
designs have some good ideas, which are very clear in
the sketches.
A costume by Lothar Scharisch for Tarelk in's Death
done in Brandenburg, 1971, is very intriguing. There is
a collage sketch showing how the "fabric" will be put
together with pieces of paper and then made into an overcoat. There are sketches indicating how the actor would
walk in the coat, wearing big boots. In the actual costume it is apparent the fabric was probably printed with
photosensitive chemicals to get it to look like pieces of
newspaper, very much like the collage sketch. Some of the
pencil sketches for that show are fascinating.

trend towards a particular style. A great variety of artistic styles, impeccable craftsmanship and highest artistic
quality, maybe a bit pedestrian, especially with too many
photos of productions and theatres.
Leon I. Brauner
The costumes from the German Democratic Republic
were often very small and cartoon-like {cartoon storyboard, in some cases}. The characters in the designs of
Manfred Grund for Brecht's The Days of the Commune
are sad and disquieting. The wrinkled yellowed paper,
dirty colors and loosely applied washes help imbue the
costumed figures with a sense of a rough life. The costumes provide strong character statements without achieving focus on any particular costume. Detail is used sparingly. The sad, frustrated faces are lightly sketched into
the drawings.
GREAT BRITAIN
Harold J. Hunter
The general caliber of the material was good, with
beautiful models and well developed concepts for the
productions. Most outstand ing of the designers was the
team of Timothy O'Brien and Tazeena Firth. This couple
apparently works in an all encompassing manner; i.e.
neither one specializes in one aspect of a production, but
the entire design is developed as one, with both persons
contributing to each phase. I feel the outcome is very
successful especially with their model for Gorky's Summerfolk.

Hamlet. Giinther Altman, German Democratic Republic.
Photo by John Rothgeb.

The work of John Bury and the other English designers
is also very good, but there was one major failing in the
exhibit as I saw it. There was no representation of any
note by designers outside the National Theatre. The
question arose in my mind; what about all the regional
theatre in England? Surely there are some good, talented
designers in the "hinterlands" who should be a part of
an exhibit of the caliber of the Quadrennial?

Some clever designs by Gabriel Koerbl were created
for Chekhov's The Seagull done in Potsdam. She has
taken photographs of the actors and actresses, a whole
series of them, and painted the costumes on over them.
It's a fascinating idea. The different poses work very
effectively.
Kristina Biedermann has some interesting, boldly
colorful designs for Tartuffe. She overpowers the play,
but so would her set, which is white with suggestions
of painted chairs and candelabra. There is a big white
floor; the costumes have some white on them and fit
a very interesting production concept.
Eleonore Kleiber has some very handsome renderings for Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Komische
Oper, Berlin, 1975. They are done in brown ink with
gray washes over them. There is a sense of characterization and drama, without being overdone. There is no nonsense; they are right to the point.
Brigitte Sitte
East Germany's large exhibit put the emphasis on
"theatre for the working class." There was no discernable

FALL,1976

Landscape. John Bury, Great Britain. Photo by John
Rothgeb.

Brigitte Sitte
Great Britain's exhibit on scene design gave me an
intellectual pleasure sans pareil. Ralph Koltai's scene design for "Tannhauser," a large, curved green plane, with
only two vertical focus points - one a tree and the

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1976