Space 1: Scene/Machine (1876–1933)
Space 1: Scene/Machine (1876–1933)
This chapter demonstrates the machine-age influence on the practice of creating theatrical and architectural space. In it, the author takes up the example of composer Richard Wagner’s “Festspielhaus” on the world premiere of Wagner’s colossal fifteen-hour opera Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)of the music-theater work. The chapter discusses Wagner’s production of stage technology, which was used to create a lot of control over the perceptual experience of the audience. Further, it discusses in detail the machine transformation of scenography in the pre-World War II era. In the chapter the author selects the Italian and Russian Futurists, Bauhaus, the Russian Constructivists, Weimar Germany, the Swiss and French Schools of Dada, and the works of Antonin Artaud as examples.
Keywords: machine-age influence, theatrical space, stage technology, scenography, Wagner
MIT Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.