Seeing and Being Seen: The Theatre of Ernst Plischke

<p>Ernst Plischke is one of the most well documented and evaluated architects in the New Zealand architectural discourse. However, when we look at the work he is the most well-known for, such as residences, churches and public spaces there is something missing within the language and value we place on this work. Articulating this lack, this thesis will evaluate the oeuvre of Plischke’s work for a more theatrical interpretation which asks the question: what if Ernst Plischke was viewed as an interior architect? By consuming a five-course meal of design-led inquiry, this research samples Plischke’s body of work and finds an inherent theatricality within it. In exploring the people-centred aspect of this modernist’s oeuvre will look through the lenses of the total experience such as gesamtkunstwerk and mise-en-scène Pursuing these thematic motifs will produce a restaurant scenography, which will be interpreted at shifting scales to establish a theatrical design language.</p>

Seeing and Being Seen: The Theatre of Ernst Plischke

<p>Ernst Plischke is one of the most well documented and evaluated architects in the New Zealand architectural discourse. However, when we look at the work he is the most well-known for, such as residences, churches and public spaces there is something missing within the language and value we place on this work. Articulating this lack, this thesis will evaluate the oeuvre of Plischke’s work for a more theatrical interpretation which asks the question: what if Ernst Plischke was viewed as an interior architect? By consuming a five-course meal of design-led inquiry, this research samples Plischke’s body of work and finds an inherent theatricality within it. In exploring the people-centred aspect of this modernist’s oeuvre will look through the lenses of the total experience such as gesamtkunstwerk and mise-en-scène Pursuing these thematic motifs will produce a restaurant scenography, which will be interpreted at shifting scales to establish a theatrical design language.</p>

Dramaturgical, Theoretical, and Musical Associations between Max Brand’s Maschinist Hopkins and Alban Berg’s Operas

In the German-speaking countries during the morally uninhibited years of the Weimar Republic, the opposing cultural epochs of Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit dominated the aesthetic landscape. Opera was a central proponent of both movements, as implemented by the Expressionist practitioners and those who favored the subsequent topical and objectifying Zeitoper that sought to move away from representations of psychological distortion to depict social realism that emphasized mechanical technology and lighter, popular narrative themes. Max Brand’s famous Zeitoper, Maschinist Hopkins, will be analyzed to illustrate how it bore fundamental trace elements back to Alban Berg’s Expressionist opera Wozzeck, and likewise, how Hopkins in turn influenced Berg’s second opera Lulu, to constitute a linear association of narrative, music, and theatrical design that simultaneously conformed to and defied the operatic models that all three operas are historically associated with. It will also be suggested that both composers were consequentially influenced by Richard Wagner, promoting vestiges of an even older lineage, which contributed to this association between the three operas at a time when Wagner was less applicable to the trends of innovation and progress.

Kharkiv Scenography School of O. Khvostenko-Khvostov: The Experience of Professionalization

The article is devoted to the early years of formation of Kharkiv scenography school and to the creative and pedagogical activities of Olexander Khvostenko-Khvostov (1895–1967). It was reported that the bold experiments of this artist, in the field of theatrical design of 1918–1922, made him one of the central figures of Kharkiv avant-garde scene (“Mystery Buff”; “The Army in the City”; “Lilyuli”, etc), strengthening the reputation of an innovator and causing the beginning of pedagogical activity at the Kharkiv Art College in 1921. The theatrical and decorative workshop was opened at the faculty of painting at the Kharkiv Art College in 1922, it was headed by A. Khvostenko-Khvostov. Among the first graduates were such bright alumni as A. Volnenko, P. Suponin, V. Ryftin, A. Bosulaev, B. Chernyshov, and others. Fundamental provisions of the educational program, which A. Khvostenko borrowed from the teaching practice of A. Exter (Kyiv Studio, 1918–1920), reflected the formation idea of future theater artist’s synthetic thinking. It is known that the education program of the Theater and Scenery Workshop of KAC, equally with the Studio of A. Exter, in addition to the subjects common to all students of painting and drawing faculty as special subjects (theatrical scenery, technique and technology of the stage, etc.) included also the history of theater (I. Turkeltaub), material culture, costume, music and literature (A. Beletsky). O. Khvostenko paid special attention to theoretical and practical issues of composition. He introduced the course of fundamentals of directing (V. Vasilko) as a compulsory subject. Much of what the students mastered at the Workshop was tested on the professional stages of Kharkiv theaters. Associated with the Kharkiv Art School for a quarter of a century (1921–1946), O. Khvostenko-Khvostov has not still been included in the pantheon of its outstanding teachers.

Colour and light: Colour theory and mechanization in Sunday in the Park with George’s Chromolume

This article explores how Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George conveys Seurat’s scientific influences, how the show’s Chromolume engages with Seurat and his modernist legacy, and how the 1984 and 2017 Chromolume designs reflect Seurat’s work and legacy. Using original oral history interviews, this article compares the 1984 and 2017 Broadway Chromolume designs to explore how production decisions inform the show’s engagement with pointillism, Seurat and colour theory. By analysing Sunday, this article sets out to provide a case study highlighting how science and technology inform and influence the book, music and theatrical design of a major American musical.

The A.I. storyteller: Perpetuating orality using developments in machine learning

Oral histories are a part of all cultures and societies, however, our knowledge and interest in these practices has waned, and arguably with it, a sense of social identity and belonging in many contemporary communities and cultures. This paper pulls from aspects of experiential and theatrical design, generative art philosophy, physical computing, and machine learning in artificial intelligence research combined with a theoretical foundation of Adorno, Benjamin, and Ong to discuss and propose the creation of an embodied and immersive story experience. This project will overturn key aspects of traditional orality to encourage interactivity with, and ownership of, the stories and will prompt discussion about its use as an archival process that will promote perpetuation rather than preservation, moving beyond the current processes of audio and video recordings.

The A.I. storyteller: Perpetuating orality using developments in machine learning

Oral histories are a part of all cultures and societies, however, our knowledge and interest in these practices has waned, and arguably with it, a sense of social identity and belonging in many contemporary communities and cultures. This paper pulls from aspects of experiential and theatrical design, generative art philosophy, physical computing, and machine learning in artificial intelligence research combined with a theoretical foundation of Adorno, Benjamin, and Ong to discuss and propose the creation of an embodied and immersive story experience. This project will overturn key aspects of traditional orality to encourage interactivity with, and ownership of, the stories and will prompt discussion about its use as an archival process that will promote perpetuation rather than preservation, moving beyond the current processes of audio and video recordings.

Defending the Standard Contract: Unmeasured Work, Class, and Design Professionalism in United Scenic Artists Local 829

How much is a theatrical design idea worth? Alternatively, how much should a professional theatre designer be paid? For many working today, standard minimum contract scales and “industry standards” help guide fee negotiations. In the United States, United Scenic Artists (USA) Local 829 was among the first bodies to align theatrical design with organized labor activism, and as such, its standard minimum contract for design is an object lesson in the value of artistic labor. These scales were developed nearly a century ago, and were the product of hard negotiation and legal action taken by US-American designers in the interwar period. Lee Simonson and Jo Mielziner are best remembered for their revolutionary use of space, scenery, and lighting, yet their professional advocacy within USA Local 829 provided the basis for today's standard design fees. Further, their defense of fair payment during the Depression and war years preserved scenic design as a form of labor analogous to other backstage crafts and trades.