Tyrone Guthrie and the open stage controversy in postwar Britain

grantor: University of TorontoTyrone Guthrie directed for the Stratford Festival Theatre, Ontario, on a large open stage that was designed for ritual performances of Shakespeare in 1953. Ten years later in Minneapolis he created a similar open stage modified to suit a wider repertoire. The appeal of these stages was their intimacy and economy of means as an alternative to proscenium staging. Although Guthrie was not the first director to be involved with the architecture of theatres, he emphasized the important role of theatre artists in such work. His stages directly inspired the development of open stages in Britain at Chichester (1962) and Sheffield (1972) and stimulated controversy which effectively started in 1962. This debate was at its peak between traditionalists and neo-Brechtians on the Building Committee for Britain's National Theatre (1962-1976). A unique large open stage (Olivier Theatre) was planned for the National, primarily influenced by Peter Hall's ideas for acting on such stages. Under Hall's direction, the RSC developed a large open stage innovation for the Barbican Theatre (1982), which became the locus of social and political arguments about arts complexes and took the controversy beyond the realm of artistic considerations. The open form continued to interest British directors who were looking for alternative forms for mainstream venues. Later innovations are exemplified by the Swan Theatre (1986), a small wooden conversion planned by Trevor Nunn, built in the Conference Hall of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.Ph.D