Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1976 - 39

which was programmed to eight preset positions for the
various scenes of the play. The entire set was constructed
of bare pine boards, very stark but very effective.
Norwegian costuming was very fine. Renderings were
clear, con cise, and defined the character. F req uently
they included back and side views as well as small sketches
illustrating construction details. Coloring was very subtle
and complex in most cases, and very effective. Several
examples of the actual costumes from Romeo and Juliet
were included in the exhibit. These were done in shades
of blue and green, most of low value but frequently of
high intensity. The overall effect was one of elegance and
simplicity.
RUMANIA
Leon I. Brauner

SPAIN
Harold J. Hunter
The scale was at times difficult to identify because
there were often no human figures included in the rendering's or the models. Thus there did not exist any means
for comparison of the size of one object to another. In
some cases this was compounded more by the inclusion
of a figure, but a failure of the artist to keep the other
objects in the same proportion. One example was a
Spanish design for Marat/Sade which included a ladder,
a little brown jug, and the carcass of an animal (beef?),
none of which agreed in scale with each other and none
of which gave an indication that the distortion was
intentional. In this particular case there was no human
figure included.

The Rumanian exhibit deserves special note. The bulk
of the work presented was by students at the University
at Bucharesti. The student work represented various
levels of development, not just final projects although
there were several outstand ing of the latter displayed.
The costume designs of Dragos Geogescu, Demetriade
Michael, Dan Octavian and Batrageanu Elena Veakis
were notable. The costume figures all had a strong
sense of characterization. The media used to render the
designs varied from pen and ink with wash to the overdrawing of photographs. These young designers were all
able to catch mood and uniqueness of both the characters
and the play. Each young designer's work was highly
individual, held my interest and seemed to grow out of
the designer's need to communicate his ideas and feelings
about the play and its characters. There was no apparent
leveling effect of a "school."
There were two final projects in stage design. The
scene designs were exciting. The style showed both an
understanding of the period and the play. The drawing
and painting was excellent. The working drawings seemed
nearly flawless and the full scale furniture detail drawings
were overwhelmingly handsome. These talented students
are a credit to excellent training.

Peace. F. Puigserver, Spain. Photo courtesy of Czech
Theatre Institute.
Don Stowell
Vincent Vela Francisco Nieva has some bold designs.
They are dramatic and tell you something about the production.
SWEDEN
Leon I. Brauner
A set of costume designs for the Marriage of Figaro was
a unique example of good fabric applique rendering.
Usually drawings incorporating areas of draped fabric
appear to be distorted and just a bit precious. Barbara
Oberg applied light weight fabrics lightly colored and
draped to provide a nice feel for the movement of the
Mozart characters. The designs were, of course, tactilely
strong and actually provided me with a fair amount of
readable costume detail.
SWITZERLAND
Harold J. Hunter

Elisabeth. F. Malureanu, Rumania. Photo courtesy of
Czech Theatre Institute.

USITT

Switzerland should have received a prize for one of the
more confusing models as well as the most ingenious
lighting device. For the first prize in perplexity I would
nominate the model of the production for the Cathedral
of Lausanne. Many questions arose about the production
which the model represented, not the least of which
was, where is the audience? Since the production appar-

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

FALL.1976

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