Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1993 - 49

concerned with traditional preparation.
"We do need to teach the tradi tional
forms, because I think the most effective
and radical innovators in the theatre are
those who proceed with authority from a
base of knowledge of the historic forms,
of the icons as they exist. I think one can
be a much better iconoclast if one has a
thorough knowledge of the icons themselves. So I would continue to teach Aristotelian principles, and also the principles of Stanislavsky." Admitting that the
issue of art preparation for designers is
another subject for extended discussion,
Ezell argued for a "baseline of art training
for stage designers." He suggested programs emphasize process over product,
and called for greater exploration of our
literary heritage, citing for example the
great number of unproduced plays by
O'Neill and Wilder. And he told Students to learn a foreign language to serve
an increasingly international work environment, "actually, the more esoteric, the
bener," because of competition in the
more popular tongues.

Panelists lauded teachers who serve as
examples to their students. Students
should be able to see that their teachers
read, and that their teachers are living
artists.

BEAm:

EZELL:

He is emphasizing painting and drawing
less. The hardest thing to teach, he said,
besides attendance and promptness, is
collaboration and how to work with people. Students "want to be fed a consistent
solution to every problem. What I'm trying to teach them is to listen, and that
every situation you're going into with
every different director, every different
designer, is totally different, and our of
that I'm hoping that they're going to get

Many students are attracted to erudition,
as his contemporaries were drawn to
Donald Oenslager. We must make a personal commitment to standards, a view
shared by other panelists. We should
"demand of ourselves and our students
never less than our best effort."

smarr."

EZELL:
It's very important to see good theatre.
The real value of New York theatre is as a
reference point. We must go there "to
confront the best thing New York has to
offer to any of us as teachers, which are
standards, the national standards in the
profession." He said, "It's where we go
for our reality checks."

BEAm:
Lamenting the lack of exposure of some
of his students, he noted, "They see each
other's theatre, and they see theatre in
books. I thought-fool I-that I was
going to be confronted by these young
Turks who were going to question my
every preconception about theatre. On
the other hand, what I'm finding is these
sketches look like sort of mid-Jo Mielziner scenery coming in, and I'm trying to
get them to come a little more into the
late 20th century. A glossy floor is still a
revelation to many of my student. It's
very hard for me to bring them forward,
and I don't know how to do it without
them seeing other people's work."

Arguing for diversiry of experience,
Beany said his students finally began
challenging him after some classroom
work wirh Desmond Heeley. "This is
great," he said. "This is wonderful!
Because the more contradictions these
students see, the more they're going to
get wisdom."

STEPHENS:
Agreeing with the value of diversity,
Stephens noted that at least early on, Students acquire the values and perceptions
of their teachers. And students need to
realize they must go beyond the limits of
their experience with previous teachers,
to begin to think for themselves, to question, even to disagree.

What is the role of the teacher in the
equation?

STEPHENS:
The conscious separation of applied theatre activiry from scholarship and academics by some teachers is unfortunate
and a loss to both realms. Citing the persistent program of grade "entitlement,"
Stephens called for reassertion of defensible standards in faculty evaluation of students. Teachers in graduate programs
should give preference to students who
can get grades, compared to those who
spend all their time in production. "We
want students to be able to think and to
have a wider perspective. We're not saying doing theatre is wrong, bur doing
theatre at the expense of the other experiences is wrong."

What do you as teachers look for in students?

EZELL:
Self-motivation, a sense of where they
want to go and how they see themselves
in 20 years, and some indication of ability-someone who is lirerate, an innovative thinker, and who has art training.
Few come with it all, he said. He also
looks at the grade-point, and likes to see
that they have travelled, preferably in
Europe or Asia.

BEATTY:
Students are generally handed to him,
but he appreciates motivation and students with "a sense of frustration, a little
bit unhappy" because they know they can
do bener bur don't yet know how. He
admitted he can't fix the problems of students who lack passion or have yet to
really get in touch with themselves.

GATES:
Imagination and creativity. She has come
to trust the non-formal portfolio materials more as an indicator of underlying
crea tI VI ty.

STEPHENS:
Passionate motivation. Intelligence is
particularly critical for technical production, and he places a premium on imagination. All said few students come with
everything, but if rhey show enough
promise they are allowed to make up
their deficiencies.

What else should be considered in our
graduate programs?
The discussion suggested a number of
related issues which deserve to be
explored in depth on another occassion.
The group did not address the value of a
break of one or more years between
undergraduate and graduate programs,
although some panelists commented privately that it helps define commitment,
and the life experience is quite valuable.
Some acting programs, particularly in
conservatories, already encourage more
mature students.
Certainly there would be value in
clearly identifying, as Ezell suggested, a
minimum amount or character of art
training for each of the design fields. It
might be different for each, particularly
for lighting designers. Beatry also suggested developing a basic list of designers
with whose work every entering graduate
student should be familiar, as every art or
writing major has studied the masters in
those fields. Undergraduate programs
could teach to these requirements more
easily, as they already teach to the nowstandard requirements of theatre coursework.
As with any discussion, the responses
reflect only the observations and experiences of the participants and their institu tions. A broader perspective can be
found in the Fall 1990 USITT Education Commission survey of 41 graduate
programs in design and technical production, and how they characterize their
admission requirements. 1 It, toO, reflects
what schools say they are looking for,
which mayor may not be confirmed by
actual admissions.
TD&T

1993 FAll

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