Stage design
Sir: If your own dance, opera and theatre critics haven't already had a go at you for the 'Notebook' piece on stage design (17 July) then let me take you to task.
It is doubtless an easy, but nevertheless a bad mistake to assume that our leading painters have anything much to contribute to our stage design. In practice it's not that simple. Our present set designs may be, as you say, visually dull; that is a matter of opinion. You might, however, acknowledge that Britain won the gold medal for just this area of design at last year's Prague Quadriennale, in competition with some twentysix other countries—many with far larger arts subsidies than ours. In terms of theatre architecture and scenography, this is the international competition, by the way. As of Monday 19 July, the winning designs returned from touring the provinces and are now on display in the foyer of the Lyttelton Theatre, before setting off in September for a tour of Europe.
But, more to the point, stage design is a considerable art in itself: not to mention a
science. The financial and technical strictures are such that they amount to a virtual bugbear. (Required use of non-inflammable materials, government-approved paints, cheap and lightweight scenery. . . ) The golden days of' Leon Bakst, Erte and so on, with their flamboyant and carefree extravagances are over. Your suggestion of Bridget Riley's op art is adventurous but far-fetched: audiences would be dizzy just staring at her sets, long before dancers so much as moved a muscle! As for sculptors, it is hard to see just where they come in. Stage design is really not the panacea you suggest.
There are various design courses such as that run by the English National Opera (whose annual exhibition is now running at 29 King Street, Covent Garden, WC2) tO select and train promising and even successful artists in the rudiments of the field which are considerable.
Final point: all artists struggle, not just those outside theatre. And you are much mistaken in thinking that theatrical managements are anything other than stingy, by and large, with budgets for set design. There is no money, and virtually all shows make a loss.
Anthony McCall 19-21 Tavistock Street, London WC2
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