Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1978 - 46

reader is constantly engaged in inference, the principal mechanism
for producing impressions and emotions.
The delight of playscript reading, then, is that all signs are treated
as potentially ironic, what he calls the Pervasive Irony of drama. Since
this also is the bane of interpretation, Gross proceeds to explain a
process of signification-reader responses selected on the basis of
their aptness in a particular communication with a particular author
according to the author's sign system.
Gross refers to and clarifies a number of other considerations in
interpretation: consciousness as a constant process of abstracting;
an artist's process of coping with the delicate (and sometimes seemingly uncontrollable) interplay of subject and medium; the proper
control of the interplay of the three states of conscious, supra-conscious, and sub-conscious in complex mental "acts" or "conditions"
as crucial in interpretation; abstracting the most effective sign pattern
from the sign-potential of the script as interpretation's goal, rather
than "looking for the author's intention."
Gross clarifies the metaphorical functions usually called Symbolism, critiques the Kant/Langer schools, takes on Character and Action (a play does not have an Action, but is seen as being an Action,
or a Master Psychic Event), and in the process deals with the limitations of numerous theorists, critics, and directors, among others
Clurman, Fergusson, Kazan, and even Stanislavsky. Along the way
Gross explains some useful types of analysis, helpful tools in avoiding the reductive capitulation of "polar" or "continuum" thinking/
classifying.
Most importantly, he bases his method on the interpreter's final
correlation of the Functional Script with the Fictional. The Functional,
or the organic strategy or function of each act in the service of the
vision of the playas a whole, must in the end correlate with the
Fictional, the pattern of implicit motivational purposes for the characters. The Fictional sub-text of needs must be in the script for a
specific purpose; the Functional then explains why what's there is
there.
The complex problem of playscript analysis is well served by
Gross's method, but unfortunately not well enough. The book's material is important; it must be integrated into the already established
work of analysis, but we must accept or reject the material piecemeal
because the book does not present a total method as much as it does
vast and rich thinking on the subject. The work is incomplete and
unsatisfying in its present form.
The book is a reworking of a dissertation plus many years of
thought. On the one hand, the scope is incredible and constantly
touches at "truths" of interpretation (I continuously found myself
saying "right, right!" to approaches, methods, clarifications, definitions, and the like, which either I knew intuitively or was taught
somewhere in the dim past, or thought I knew but which were
actually Gross's insights-the sign of a great work). On the other
hand, the immense scope is the book's central problem. Salient
verbal abstractions are needed to cope with the process of interpretation. Yet Gross seems too often overly abstract; obfuscation, not
clarity, is the result both in terminology and approach. He wants a
clear system, yet the book creates such a monumental structure that
the method becomes too unwieldy, and concepts and approaches
too obscure, to be easily and readily usable.
Perhaps Gross' inductive method is the problem. More explicit
direction, more statements of principle, followed by qualifications,
are needed. Too often the reader is inundated with terms, definitions,
arguments, counterarguments, analogies (some obtuse), examples
of other critics' shortcomings, etc. without a clear indication of their
precise purpose. More synthesis, signposts, clarification, summaries,
and conclusions would seem to serve the material well. In short, there
is a multiplicity of "parts," but no sense of a "whole"-ness about the
book.
The work is an acknowledged milestone; it is pervasive and persuasive, a vast exploration in "high probability thinking," a giant step
of solid analysis which Gross contends is only the first. It is a study for
all literate theatre practitioners dealing with playscripts. Hopefully his
follOW-Up work will provide further insights and techniques, pointed
and spare exempla, perhaps using one playscript upon which we will
allow his method free rein.
Robert Zyromskl

Wabash College

The Shakespeare Complex: A Guide to Summer Festivals and YearRound Repertory In North America by Glenn Loney and Patricia
MacKay. New York: Drama Book Specialists (Publishers), 1975,ISBN
0-910482-61-6, 0-910482-62-4, viii, 184 pp., i1lus.

The Shakespeare Complex is both an intriguing and a frustrating
work. The authors immediately point out that The Shakespeare Complex is a compendium of theatre organizations as well as repertory
companies, colleges and universities which are primarily devoted to
the production of the Shakespeare canon. More important, however,
the authors point out that The Shakespeare Complex is "a state of
mind."
It is in the first of the five parts composing the book that the more
subtle theme is defined and developed. It is by far the most successful portion of the book, providing not only an overview of Shakespearean activity in North America, but also the reasons for its usual
success. "The state of mind" involved in the Complex is one which
"seems to encourage ecstatic reverence for the Bard's work," particularly in North America. Of course Shakespeare is, admittedly, the
most popular English-speaking playwright and attracts audiences
which might not otherwise attend live theatre. Among the reasons
offered for this attraction are the variety within the canon, the audiences' desire for culture, its previous knowledge of some of the
plays, the desire of actors and directors to work with the Bard and,
with some justification, the lack of royalty payments.
The second chapter of this section deals with standards, again
presenting a very clear overview. Among the problems facing the
Complex are: the variety of professionalism in personnel and their
accomplishments (Equity membership is no guarantee for quality),
the risks involved in outdoor presentation, the lack of an objective
self-perception, the quality of criticism. However, much can be improved by an aware audience and sensitive criticism.
Another chapter deals with the Complex as a constructive training
ground in the classics for actors and directors alike, always remembering that, ultimately, the performances must bear the audience in
mind. The authors also make much of the visual elements, particularly pointing out the frequent neglect of lighting and make-up. Further, there is the desire to make the production "relevant" through
using period costumes and settings foreign to the plays. Scholars
carp at the distorted editing of the texts in the 18th and 19th centuries
but we do not see that the treatment, in our times, of the visual
elements can be comparable distortions of the plays. Of course,
simple productions do tend to expose weaknesses in the acting and
direction.
The authors deal with the playing spaces and their adaptations in
the same vein. They effectively underscore the limited knowledge
and information available regarding Elizabethan playhouse interiors
and the uses of those interiors. Their general solution to this question
is a relatively simple one, to use varied levels and spaces so that the
plays can move at an appropriate pace while scenery and players are
shifted.
The fi nal chapter of the Complex concerns itself with fi nances, that
all-too-important, basic factor of all productions. With one exception
the solution, according to the authors, is subsidy, not only financial
subsidy but also of goods and services.
The following four sections of the book, "Shakespeare YearRound," "Shakespeare in the Summer," "Shakespeare Tours" and
"Shakespeare Celebrations," although of interest prove to be less
successful, and frustrating to this reader: the content is fi ne, the
writing is fine, but already, "A guide to summer festivals and yearround repertory in North America" is dated. The American Shakespeare Theatre in Connecticut has closed its doors, the New York
Shakespeare Festival presented The Threepenny Opera and Agamemnon in Central Park drawing them from its last season at its
Lincoln Center Home. The problem is that the book was planned as a
guide and, as such, demands periodic supplements for its continued
use. If this suggestion is effected, perhaps the publisher would correct the spelling of the co-author's name on the title page and that of
the late co-founder of The Theatre Guild. Or, perhaps, the first part of
the book could be re-issued as a separate, useful booklet which
could easily stand by itself with little need for continued revision.
Arnold Rood

Dowling College

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1978