Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2025 - 37

of Hallie Flanagan. But that enterprise
possessed neither a central theatre building,
nor a permanent acting company, nor
a classical dramatic canon; it presented
a vast array of productions from all performance
genres in venues all across the
country. And given the size and diversity
of the U.S., the philosophical questions
were, and still are, too complex to yield
a simple or even functional answer. But
for over 400 years Great Britain has
had, if not a national theatre, a national
playwright: Shakespeare. The tricentenary
of Shakespeare's birth in 1864 led
to the first iteration of the Shakespeare
Memorial Theatre, which was erected in
Stratford-on-Avon in 1879-an important
home of British culture, if not quite a national
theatre. Pilbrow provides a history
and overview of the various transformations
of this theatre right up to the present,
with special focus on the rebuilding
after the fire of 1926 that destroyed all
but the shell of the building. The architect
chosen for the project was, remarkably, a
young woman, Elisabeth Scott, trained in
Modernist design. The result was spare;
the horseshoe balconies were replaced by
barren side walls, " something like a cinema "
in Pilbrow's words. Although praised
by the architectural community for its
good sightlines, at least from the stalls,
it was hated by the actors. Pilbrow notes
that the proscenium was too small, there
was a disconnect between the forestage
and the " elaborate stage behind " and " the
gap between stage and the front row was
too wide. " One performer, bemoaning this
distance, said it was like " acting to Calais
from the cliffs of Dover. " These sorts of
problems were top of mind for the theatre
artists advising the architects on the creation
of the NT.
Despite the architectural issues with
the theatre at Stratford, it was the artistic
home for productions of Shakespeare
and ultimately led to the creation of the
Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961 under
the direction of Peter Hall, at roughly
the same time that plans for the National
Theatre company under Laurence Olivier
were coming to fruition in London.
Discussions about the possibility of
somehow merging the two companies occurred,
but questions of leadership, funding,
purpose, and perhaps egos, thwarted
any possible success.
The idea for a National Theatre in
Great Britain was first broached in 1848,
and over the next century, numerous
theatre luminaries kept this dream alive.
Pilbrow turns the story of proposals, endless
fits and starts, clashes of egos, and
a recalcitrant government into a compelling
and sometimes amusing narrative.
Finally, in 1949, Parliament passed the
National Theatre Act to authorize such a
company. It then took another 13 years,
after financial crises, artistic and personal
battles, and a seemingly ever-changing
cast of characters, for Laurence Olivier
to be announced as the director of the
National Theatre. The NT would occupy
the historic Old Vic theatre-which itself
had functioned somewhat as de facto national
theatre-until the opening of the
new building in 1976. Ideas and plans for
the new building were floated and abandoned
from 1949 until Olivier assembled
the Theatre Building Committee in 1962,
which included 15 distinguished individuals,
mostly directors and designers, including
Peter Brook, Michel Saint-Denis,
and Sean Kenny. But others were also
involved: various political and administrative
persons and ultimately architects.
This committee was tasked with selecting
the architect and determining the number
of theatre spaces, as well as their size and
shape. This, of course, meant grappling
once again with the philosophical questions.
The question of theatre shapes was
a contested one since this was the period
when thrust stages, theatres-in the-round,
open-space theatres, and the like were
becoming more common around the
world. Early plans also included a separate
opera theatre to be built next to the
NT building, though that was ultimately
abandoned.
Part two of the book contains what is
perhaps Pilbrow's greatest gift to future
researchers: the publication of the minutes
of the 30 meetings of the Building
Committee from January 1963 to January
1969. (The minutes of a few meetings
have been lost.) These are supplemented
by Pilbrow's commentary along with relevant
correspondence and reactions of
many of those involved, as well as notes of
secondary meetings and subcommittees.
The problem with designing a theatre by
committee was that there were multiple,
Richard Pilbrow signing a nameplate for Tammy Honesty at the 2013 booksigning event. | USITT/
Barbara Lucas.
ISSUE 4, 2024 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | 37

Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2025