New Stagecraft

新舞台芸術 / 1890s–1930s / Style / Stage Design

The stage reform that dropped painted realism for light, levels and simple volumes shaping space for music and the body. Appia's living light and Craig's moving screens created the very profession of lighting design.

New Stagecraft — Appia, stage design for Little Eyolf — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Appia, stage design for Little Eyolf — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

New Stagecraft — Adolphe Appia, stage design for Die Walküre 1892 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Adolphe Appia, stage design for Die Walküre 1892 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

New Stagecraft — Jacques Copeau's staging of La Carosse — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Jacques Copeau's staging of La Carosse — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Form made by light
Abstract space of steps and ramps
Painted flats banished
Compositions of simple volumes

Best used for

Opera and music theatre where light and levels alone change the scene
Lighting plans that stand performers in abstract space for small houses

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Dictionary entry

Type: Keep lettering minimal and let projected titles follow the light values
Composition: Carve the floor with steps and ramps, cut depth with hanging planes
Material: Plain grey surfaces and drapes, with color carried only by light
Caution: Assuming that light alone makes abstraction leaves the step heights and the performer's paths undecided, and the stage becomes merely a dim room.
Further study: Adolphe Appia / Edward Gordon Craig / Robert Edmond Jones

Related entries

Bauhaus Stage (バウハウスの舞台)Same Stage Design lineage.Compare New Stagecraft and Bauhaus Stage
German Expressionist Film (ドイツ表現主義映画)Shared effects: Calm.Compare New Stagecraft and German Expressionist Film

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