Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2005 - 5

from the

Editor
THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

or many editors, writing stories for their magazines is part of
the job. Not for me. However, since the USITT Conference &
Stage Expo is coming to my home town in 2006, I volunteered to help promote it by writing stories for Sightlines and TD&T. My very first TD&T article appears in this issue. It's about the fascinating work being done at
Actors Theatre of Louisville with video and multimedia projectors.
Next in this issue is Dan Culhane's illustrated description of how basic fire curtains work. As is true with many kinds of safety equipment, using them is easy, but making sure they work when needed requires regular maintenance, testing, and an understanding of
how they operate. Following that, Karl Brake, an artist, scenic designer, and instructor at Eastern
Wyoming College, explains his philosophy of scenic design which is metaphorically centered on the
human body. Then, Erik Viker and Andrew Rich explore the educational value of giving undergraduates at Susquehanna University the opportunity to produce-design, direct, manage-a public performance of one-act plays. Dr. Kimberly Poppiti next traces the development of some
common stage machinery-treadmills, turntables, scenic panoramas-to very popular nineteenth-century entertainments called hippodramas ("hippos" is Greek for horse.) Finally, Gregg
Henry, artistic director of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, shares the winners
of their annual design awards: the Barbizon Awards for Excellence in Scenic, Costume, and Lighting
Design, and the Mehron Award for Excellence in Makeup Design.
We also have some news to report about our associate editors. First, Nancy Arnfield, who has
served as associate editor for education since the position was created in 1998 is stepping down to
take care of other priorities in her life. Education Commissioner William Kenyon will be our new
associate editor for education. He came on board after the editorial deadline for the fall issue and
offered to get started right away. His help with this issue is much appreciated.
Next, we are delighted to report that our associate editor for costumes, Peggy Rosefeldt, safely
left her home in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit and she and her husband Paul are living
with relatives in Baton Rouge. Even with her life upside down (her only e-mail connection has been
in half-hour chunks at the local public library), Peggy insisted I send her manuscripts of submitted
stories so she can work on them.
Lastly, it is with great sadness that we report the passing of a long-time contributing editor,
Jarka Burian. His numerous scholarly contributions to the world's appreciation of Czech theatre,
especially the work of Josef Svoboda, are described on page 9. -dr

The journal for
design, production and technolog y professionals in the
performing arts and entertainment industry.

EDITORIAL OFFICE

DAVID RODGER
Editor
DEBORAH HAZLETT
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A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R S

RAYMOND KENT
Architecture
PEGGY ROSEFELDT
Costume Design & Technology
PATRICK M. FINELLI
Computers & Software
WILLIAM KENYON
Education
JERRY GORRELL
Engineering
WILLIAM B. HEKTNER
Health & Safety
RICHARD DEVIN
Lighting Design
RICHARD PETERSON
Management
ROBERT L. SMITH & HEIDI HOFFER
Scenic Design
DAVE TOSTI-LANE
Sound Design
BILL BROWNING
Technical Production
ELBIN CLEVELAND
New Product Reviews
ARNOLD WENGROW
Book Reviews
WILLIAM J. BYRNES
Inside USITT
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

U S I T T M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T
United States Institute for Theatre Technology is the association of design, production and technology professionals in
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2005