How do the theories of Edward Gordon Craig differ from those of Stanislavski and Brecht?
How does Craig view the theatre experience differently from other practitioners?
How does Craig see the relationship between the actor and the director?
How does Craig view the design elements of the theatre: set, space, light. sound?
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1. How do the theories of Edward Gordon Craig differ from those of Stanislavski and Brecht?
ReplyDeleteEdward Gordon Craig theories differ from Stanislavski and Brecht because Edward Gordon Craig focused more on set design and lighting rather than look at different techniques for actor to perform. (I read somewhere) that the works of Edward Gordon Craig influenced the like of Stanislavski and Brecht (the other guy from the booklet)
2. How does Craig view the theatre experience differently from other practitioners?
I think Craig views on the theatre experience differently from other practitioners because he was one an actor and a theatre director and a theatre theorist before he went on to focused more on stage design and lighting unlike most theatre practitioners.
3. How does Craig see the relationship between the actor and the director?
Craig stated that the director was “the true artist of the theatre” and then boldly
Proposed that viewing actors where not much more important than marionettes. (Marionettes are puppets controlled from above using wires or strings)
4. How does Craig view the design elements of the theatre: set, space, light, sound?
Set
Craig’s view on set was a stage setting based on the use of portable screens and the part played by the light the atmosphere draws out. Craig’s idea of using non- representational screens as his staging device is one of his most famous stenographic concepts.
Space
Craig view on space in a performance and the irony in his conversation and discourse between space (an ‘absolute space’) and his scene (an ‘archetypal architecture’) presented in relation to the potential in creating modern sites for performance.
Light
Craig’s second idea was in stage lighting. Taking away the traditional footlights, Craig lit the stage from above, placing the lights in the ceiling of the theatre. Colour and light also became central to Craig’s stage design. Craig’s view on light was the first to recognize the potential of electric light.
Sound
I could not find anything on sound sorry :/
(and im sorry of this is very long but i got to interested in the guy and spent like over an hour on this haha :p)
Adding a tiny bit more info for number 1
ReplyDeleteCraigs ideas in set design influenced Stanislavski, Artaud, and Brecht
1: Edward was known for his distaste for realism—the imitation of life—which was the predominant style of the period
ReplyDelete"Edward Gordon Craig became the reformer of the stage design which had been dominated by the aesthetic of depiction and illusionism. During his lifetime he was barely able to realise his radically new theatre concept and his abstract stage aesthetic, basing on light and shadow, but his journalistic influence still lasted in the 20th century.
Craig's drawings and woodcuts are formed by the style of the turn of the century and refer in their decorative line drawing, the sectioning of areas in clear forms and the high-contrast setting of light and shadow to Art Nouveau."
He created the idea of the actor as "ubermarionette," whose movement was not psychologically motivated or naturalistic, but rather symbolic. The actor should be like a mask for the audience to interpret.
"How does Craig view the design elements of the theatre: set, space, light. sound? How does Craig view the design elements of the theatre: set, space, light. sound?"
ReplyDeleteCraig intensively researched theatre of the past in order to ceat his "new" theatre.
He envisaged a new theatre which was a fusion of poetry, performer, colour and movement designed to appeal to the emotions based on visual suggestion, evocation and symbolic representation rather than a reproduction of reality.
He saw the need for an antidote to the phenomenon (starts singing Muppets song) of Naturalism and true to life representations so he designed and created scenic environments which were more about atmosphere than locality with a strong sense of mood. The term theatre is derived from the Greek "to see" not hear and Craig strongly believed in visual theatre.
* stolen from slide 6 of http://www.slideshare.net/guest4eb6f0/edward-gordon-craig-presentation
It is said Edward Gordon Craig was a proponent of 'Symbolist' ideas, placing a great value on the visual elements of performances, these ideas culminating in a predisposition towards lighting practices, mask work, movement, and a fondness for puppetry.
ReplyDeleteHis ideas often conflicted with the popular schools of realism and naturalism ubiquitous in his time, the early - mid 1900s, embracing his ideals effectively branding his work 'modernist'; a rejection of the realist school and instead of seeking to replicate real life, or to explain the behaviour and lives of characters as naturalism does, he desired to capture pure emotion through a combination of sound and aesthetics, with a strong inclination towards symbolic meanings. It was not simply his decisions to use masks or place greater importance on the technical virtues of theatre; it was the fact he saw greater import of direction, that the aesthetics, or rather, what the aesthetics could mean, was far more critical than the actual words an actor would use; they were by no means obsolete, but Craig's vision was composed of a united visual and aural picture, one he sought to paint on the canvas of the stage.
Done on paper just forgot to mention Monday
ReplyDelete