A
Glimpse of Theatre History
THE RISE OF THE REGISSEUR
| Regisseur: a stage director with complete control over every aspect of production |
The modern stage director with a distinct purpose and function is arelatively recent phenomenon. The obvious advantages of unifying production under the vision of a single artist eventually won the day. Some of the more important contributers to the rise of the regisseur include:
David
Garrick single-handed changed the way theatre was produced during
his tenure as manager of Drury Lane in the 1760's and 70's. After banishing
audience members from sitting on the stage, he introduced stage lighting,
utilized the extraordinary designs of Phillipe Jacques de Loutherbourg,
surrounded himself with a company of unequalled skill and introduced a
style of naturalism which at first shocked and them charmed his audiences.
Note the connection with the Star System which lasts though the Kembles,
Macready, Irving, Beerbohm-Tree, etc. The appeal of a star coupled with
the artistic unification of a regisseur proved a durable combination.
Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe instituted rigorous reforms at Weimar while he managed
the Ducal Court Theatre from 1791 to 1817. Among these reforms were:
| a. insisted on absolute obedience b. sought an ideal beauty instead of realism c. marked off the stage in squares to control blocking d. "composed" scenes for pictorial value e. literally conducted rehearsals using a baton to establish rhythms and tempi f. instituted actor training g. used a "semi-rhetorical approach" |
Mme
Vestris (1797-1856) Madame Vestris revolutionized
staging methods in England through the introduction of shorter programs
(evening entertainments were concluded by eleven), and by an increased
emphasis on realistic staging methods, most notably with the introduction
of the box set. In a bold move for a woman, she took over the Olympic
Theatre in 1830, opening with J. R. Planché's Olympic Revels,
a series of burlesques and farces designed to exploit Mme. Vestris' special
gifts. During her management there, she introduced "real" as
opposed to fake props, doors, rugs, furniture, etc. and took special care
with costuming. She chose her casts with great care, and oversaw every
aspect of production "with an iron hand." By 1841, she had successfully
used a box set complete with a ceiling unit. Through her influence,
attendance at the theatre became not just socially acceptable, but fashionable.
René
Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt wrote sensational
melodramas, the effects of which could only be achieved through careful
attention to staging and rehearsal; he therefore directed his own.
Samuel
Phelps transformed Sadler's Wells, famous now as a leading ballet
theatre, into an enormously successful Shakespearean theatre. Through
mismanagement and neglect, it had sunk to presenting animal acts like
the trained monkey featured in the advertisement on the right. Sadler's
Wells had even gone so far as to install a water tank in its stage in
which newsreel-like, miniature 
naumachia
of events of the day were staged, but the novelty of the approach (and
a dearth of sea-battles) soon caused a huge slide to be installed down
which a remarkable horse slid into the water. When even that failed to
attract an audience, the tank and water were opened to bathers. Phelps
took the space and presented "totally integrated" productions
of Shakespeare. His success was due to his high production standards.
Sadler's Wells became a truly "national" theatre. Says biographer
Shirley allen, "...He discarded the star system of acting Shakespeare,
bringing back to the stage the complete parts of minor characters and
giving a new emphasis to the total effect of the play. He applied to his
Shakespearean productions the methods of directing which have become standard
in the twentieth-century theatre, imposing his own conception of a play
and dupervising both acting and staging to carry out his intention."
At the same time he made his theatre a training school for actors probiding
both instruction and the opportunity to progress from the lowest ranks
of a repertory company to a position of importance.
Charles Kean, during nine years at London's Princess Theatre and
later on the road, presented meticulously researched and lavishly executed
"antiquarian" productions of Shakespeare.
Adolphe Montigny made contributions to the rise of the Regisseur
at the Gymnase Theatre, Paris from 1853 on. He:
| a. placed a table DC to keep actors from standing there b. made actors talk to each other instead of the audience c. placed props (eg. handkerchief, boxes of cigars, etc.) onstage to motivate movement |
Squire Bancroft and Effie (Wilton) Bancroft gave playwright Tom Robertson permission to coach their company in the style of acting he wanted for his Society, produced in 1865 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Robertson urged his actors to emphasize understatement and ensemble effects. As regisseurs, the Bancrofts went on to establish a unique production style.
| a. Casting ignored lines of business b. There were no stars; even the Bancrofts themselves took small roles c. They utilized box sets with real furniture d. Characters did everyday, mundane tasks light lighting fires, etc. hence the critics' label "cup and saucer" school of acting |
Each of the following deserve their own page:
Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen was perhaps the mos influential Regisseur of his time.
Richard Wagner the ultimate regisseur.
Augustin Daly the first truly American regisseur.
David Belasco the consummate American regisseur.