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The Use of the Design Elements in the Stage Designs of Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson

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The Use of the Design Elements in the Stage Designs of Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson THE USE OF THE DESIGN ELEMENTS IN THE STAGE DESIGNS OF ROBERT EDMOND JONES AND LEE SIMONSON By HERMAN DAVID MIDDLETON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GR,\DUATE COUNQL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA August, 1964 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 3 1262 08552 2489 Copyright by Herman David kiddleton 1964 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For the use of illustrations the vo'iter gratefully acknowledges the cooperation of the following individuals and organizations: Victor Jackson, for the photograph of the setting from The Rhine Gold : Ojrville Larson, for photographs of the settings of Robert Sdmond Jones; Marshall Metze of Sandak, Inc., for photographs of the paintings of Franz Kline and settings by Lee ^iimonson; Crown Publishers, Inc., for the Gauguin print; and The Museum of Modern Art for the print of Jackson Pollock, Special assistance was given by bidward Kook, Peter Larkin, Ralph Pendleton, Mary Hall Furber, Orville Larson, and the staffs of The Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, and The University of Florida Library, The study was conceived and executed under the direction of Ur, L, L, Zimraez*man, Other suggestions and encouragement were given by the late Dr. Dallas C, Dickey, Professor H. P. Constans, and conunittee members Dr. Welvin Baker, Dr. August Staub, and Dr. Roy E, Tew, The problems of the study have been lived with and shared by the writer's faiaily - his wife, Amelia, son, David, and daughter, Kathleen, iii For the interest and aid of all of these the writer is most grateful. IV TABL3 OF Cji4 TENTS Chapter Page acknov;lsdgmi<;nts iii LIST OF PLATES vi INTRODUCTION 1 Limitations of the xiedium of Theatre on Scene Design I THE DESIGN PROCESS: THE BASIS OF SCENIC CREATION 15 The Process of Artistic Conception The Process of Artistic liixecution II ROBERT EDMOKD JONES' USE OF THE DESIGN ELEMENTS 59 A Touch of the Poet Kacbeth Henry VIII Summary III LEE SmONS0N»S USE OF THE DESIGN ELEi-lENTS 134 The Adding Machine DynaiiiO i-uaphitr' on ^8 The ihine C^old Suiruiiaz*y IV CONCLUSION Igg A Comparison of Jones' and Simonson's Use of the Design iillements Values of the Design Process and Scene Analysis BIBLIOGFJIPHY 203 LIST OF PLATES Plate Page 1 Jackson Pollock, "Number One," 1950 21 2 Paul Gauguin, "Still-Life," 1^90 26 3 Franz Kline, "Painting No. 7," 1952 29 4 Frana Kline, "Mahoning," 1956 33 5 Robert fidmond Jones, A Touch of the Poet . "Ilelody's Tavern," 1946 62 6 Robert Edmond Jones, Macbeth . Act III, Cicene 4, 'The Banquet," 1921 77 7 Robert Edmond Jones, Henry VIII . Act II, Scene 1, "Buckin^haja's Farewell," 1944 92 & Robert Edmond Jones, Henry VIII . Act II, bcene 4, "Katharine's Trial," 1944 102 9 Robert Edmond Jones, Henry VIII . Act III, Scene 2, "The King's Apartment," 1944 112 10 Robert Edmond Jones, Henry VIII . Act IV, Scene 1, "The Coronatioii of Anne," 1944 117 11 Robert Edmond Jones, Henry VIII . Act V, Scene 5, "The Christening of iilissa- beth," 1944 124 12 Lee Simonson, The Adding Machine . Scene 4, "A Place of Justice,'" 1923 142 13 Lee Simonson, Dynamo . Act III, "The Dynamo," 1929 151 14 Lee Simonson, Ariiphitryon 3g . Act I, "iunphitryon ' s x'alace," 1936 158 15 Lee Simonson, The Rhine Gold , Scene 1, "The Bottom oi the Rhine," 194^ 174 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study is to analyze the way in which the elements of design have been used in the exe- cution of selected stage settings of Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson. These elements are: line, mass, color, and, light and shade. Designers Jones and Simonson were selected since they are generally acknowledged to be the finest of the first generation' of scene designers of the United States. The need for such a study was shown when the writer taught advanced courses in scene design and theatre history at the University of Delaware. It was discovered that only a few books contained reproductions of the work of modern scene designers, and that color reproductions of their work was almost non-existent, i^oreover, none of these published designs is analyzed in detail. They exist in a vacuum with no suggestions as to how the student ought to approach viewing them, and with essentially no descriptions of how they represent a particular designer *s ^ Prior to the twentieth century scenery for the proscenium arch stage was designed by easel painters. The modern theatre, which uses scenery as an organic part of the production, has necessitated the development of a particular kind of artist, the scene designer. 1 2 method of creating an organic setting for a given play script. This study's purpose demands that a framework or basis for scene design analysis be established, one I'^hich makes it possible to discover how the design elements - line, mass, color, light and shade - were used by Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson, It is to be inferred that this, in turn, might become the basis for a study of the work of any theatrical designer. Furthermore, this writer believes it is only through understanding the artist's problems, the process by which the work of art was pro- duced, that one may deeply appreciate a work of art and be able to analyze it. The process of scene design has two parts: concep- tion and execution. It derives from two sources: modern aesthetics and design theory as it is found in the space arts, painting, sculpture, and architecture. An artist is always restricted in his conception and execution by the limitations of the particular medium in which he works. In examining the artistic process involved in scene design, it should be remembered that probably no medium restricts the artist as much as the theatre does the scene designer. Therefore, before the design process operative in scenic art can be isolated and considered, the major limitations of the medium must be explored. Limitations of the Medium of Theatre on Scene Design The scene designer must remember that theatre is a motion art since a performance of a play consists of actors moving in space. Usually these actors are sur- rounded by scenery and are illuminated with varying degrees of light. Sometimes the scenery moves and fre- quently there are changes in the patterns of light and shade. While the easel painter captures the movement of his subject in his mind*s eye and executes it on a two- dimensional canvas in a stationary picture, the scene designer must provide the actors with a decor which allows them to move around according to the dictates of the ideas,] emotions, and physical necessities of the script being ) interpreted. This limitation is peculiar to theatre. The only other space art in which movement may exist is in some modern sculpture. Mobile sculpture moves and presents a constantly changing stimulus to the viewer. The complexity and demands of that movement, however, do not reach the proportions of that found in a stage production. Movement in the latter becomes highly complex with the actor,, segments of scenery, and/or light and shade moving in various combinations. The artistic processes of the modern scene designer also are affected significantly by the fact that he is working in an era in which the theatre is dominated by 4 the playwright. The twentieth century theatre bases its production of plays upon the playv/right*s script, in contrast to the last two centuries in which the theatre was dominated by the actor, and in which virtuoso painters were needed to create an artistically satisfying picture before which the great stars could perform. Today, the script becomes the blueprint from which the many artists * director, actors, scene designer, costume designer - build the play, with the director's interpretation of the script as the means of unifying the final composite product. Consequently, in his design process the contem- porary designer must employ the design elements in a manner capable of satisfying the needs of the playwright's script as interpreted by the director, —-— The scene designer also is controlled by the types and styles of scenery peculiar to his age, ".Tiile spe- cialized types of settings such as arena and platform staging do exist, the twentieth century proscenium theatre inherited and retained two basic types of stage scenery - the wing and drop setting and the box setting. These types function within a space whose maximum and minimum limits are determined by the size of the human figure, and they are revealed to audiences primarily through the use of the picture frame stage of the proscenium theatre. The stylistic development or treatment of these types, however, is no longer limited to the representational 2 5 styles of the nineteenth century - realism and naturalism. Today, one also discovers such presentational styles of scenic art as constructivism, theatricalisra, and expres- sionism. John Colby Lewis has summarized the emergence of these presentational art styles in these words, First the realistic elements were reduced in number and simplified. Thus the complete nature of the object was conveyed by sug estions, and imagination once raore returned to art. It was then but a step to the symbol, a sign which would stand, not for the material n?ture of the object but for its essential inner meaning. The iiapressionists syrabolif.ed the v^'holc \nth a r^art of the whole. The expressionists employ a syrobol which is pure form. The form is carefully organized so that every part of it is a necessary statement of the idea.
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