GORDON CRAIG, PROPHET OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATRE.
Item
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Title
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GORDON CRAIG, PROPHET OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATRE.
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Identifier
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AAI8103957
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identifier
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8103957
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Creator
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ROOD, ARNOLD.
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Contributor
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Stanley A. Waren
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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Edward Gordon Craig, son of Ellen Terry, the actress, and E. W. Godwin, architect and theatre practitioner, was born in Hertfordshire on January 16, 1872. The theatrical genealogy from which he descended suggested that he pursue a career in theatre. This began with childhood appearances, after which he made his formal debut with Henry Irving's company at London's Lyceum Theatre. Before he left acting in 1897, he played a variety of roles at the Lyceum as well as a number of leading ones in the provinces when the Lyceum was dark.;In 1893 he received an opportunity to direct a production in the village where he lived. This initial effort was influenced by Irving's historical-archaeological approach. At the turn of the century Craig joined the Purcell Operatic Society for which he directed and designed three works, Dido and Aeneas, The Masque of Love, and Acis and Galatea, which, in their simplicity of design and staging and imaginative use of light, color, and movement, created a revolution much lauded by contemporary artists. These were followed by productions in London, Berlin, Florence, Moscow, Copenhagen, and New York, Craig working with such artists as Terry, Brahm, Duse, Stanislavsky, Poulsen, and Tyler respectively. Not only were these productions widely influential, but Craig gained recognition as an artist outside the theatre as well.;In 1905 Craig published his first book, enlarged in 1911 as On the Art of the Theatre which is still in print in many parts of the world. In addition, other volumes appeared. To further disseminate his ideas and those of the new movement in the theatre, he edited The Mask, the first journal devoted to the art of the theatre, and he wrote hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines. In 1913 he successfully established a school in Florence, which was forced to close by the exigencies of World War I.;His ideas about the visual elements of the theatre combined with his experience as an actor led him to a vision of a new form of theatre in which moving setting and light on the non-verbal actor could lead to an emotional response, but a lack of technological ability caused him to suppress the vision.;Craig's contribution and value as a theatre artist is as a theoretician whose prophecies are being fulfilled only now, and perhaps more important, his continuing ability, through his published work, to kindle the imaginations of those interested in theatre as art.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Theatre
