Download Complete Meeting Minutes
1. Introduction
From 11 to 13 June 2016, OISTAT’s Research Commission celebrated the 250th anniversary of Drottningholm’s Slottsteater with a meeting in Stockholm and Drottningholm dedicated to the legacy of painted scenery. As a prelude to the conferences held by the International Federation of Theatre Research (13-17 June 2016) and Perspectiv- Association of Historic Theatres in Europe (16-19 June 2016), the event featured a one-day symposium with papers and workshops, visits behind the scenes of the Slottsteater and the Kungliga Operan, and attendance to a brand-new opera in Drottningholm. OISTAT Research thus sought to offer direct insights into the theatrical past while inspiring future possibilities.
The meeting was organized by commission chair Bruno Forment, and STTF members Anders Larsson and Mathias Clason. Anders’ institution, the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (Stockholms Dramatiska Högskola), hosted the Saturday colloquium, while Mathias took care of the Sunday and Monday tours.
2. List of delegates
Charlie Anderson (Sweden)
Andrew Barrett (USA)
Rick Boychuk (Canada)
Alexandra Caprara (Canada)
Mathias Clason (Sweden)
Greer Crawley (UK) – sent his regrets
Bruno Forment (Belgium)
Katherine Graham (UK)
Kazue Hatano (Japan)
Maki Horio (Japan)
Yukio Horio (Japan)
Nick Hunt (UK)
Ramon B. Ivars (Spain)
Anders Larsson (Sweden)
Jerôme Maeckelbergh (Belgium)
Peter McKinnon (Canada)
Yohei Ohno (Japan)
Scott Palmer (UK)
Vicky Simon (UK)
Taku Tamura (Japan)
Mahdi Troudi (Tunisia/Qatar)
Berta Vallribera (Spain)
Olivier Van der Linden (Belgium)
Chris Van Goethem (Belgium)
Fausto Viana (Brazil) – sent his regrets due to medical reasons
Wendy Waszut-Barrett (USA)
Mr. and Mrs. David Wilmore (UK)
3. Activities
3.1 Saturday 11 June 2016
The meeting opened Saturday at 9.30 am with registration of the delegates and coffee. At 10 am, Swedish hosts Torsten Nobling (STTF), Anders Larsson, and Mathias Clason gave welcome addresses, sharing practical details. Commission chair Bruno Forment explained the purposes of the meeting, while providing an apology for polychromy, pictorialism and playfulness in our age of ‘chromophobia’ and minimalism.
Due to the cancellation of Fausto Viana’s paper “Jean-Baptiste Debret and the Idealization of the Tropics,” David Wilmore opened the morning session with a discussion of Normansfield Amusement Hall and its nineteenthcentury scenic collection. Apart from discussing the Victorian venue, its unique scenery and restoration in the past three decades, David disclosed a spectacular discovery: original scenery from the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company first production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddygore; or, The Witch’s Curse (Savoy Theatre, London, 1887)! Bought at an auction by Dr Langdon-Down, the scenery has miraculously survived at Normansfield Amusement Hall and may be reused in a future revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera. Ramon B. Ivars subsequently talked about his set designs for Bournonville’s ballet Napoli (Finnish National Ballet, Helsinki, 2005). Incorporating perspective techniques mastered at Josep Mestres Cabanes’ seminar (Institut del Teatre, Barcelona), the production featured several intriguing trouvailles, such as a big ‘sea’ drop and a moving, curved machine to render the motions of the sea.
A business meeting of OISTAT Research was held at noon (see below), after which delegates had lunch and attended a second series of papers. Peter McKinnon presented finds of his quest to unravel the intricate, not so obvious relationships between sailors and stagehands (and their respective terminologies) using historical dictionaries. Wendy Waszut-Barrett and Rick Boychuk gave a joint paper on one of the many American Scottish Rite temples that have preserved their historical scenery and machinery, the Masonic Temple Theatre in Winona, Minnesota (1909). Their talk covered rarely seen hand-painted drops and technical contraptions produced by the Sosman & Landis Scenic Company. After a short coffee break, Jerôme Maeckelbergh presented the unexpected contemporary possibilities of historical theater machinery in a dynamic slide show. Anders Larsson and Chris Van Goethem discussed the dramaturgy of scene changes using a 1:4 scale model (see photo). The day was concluded with a guided visit to the facilities of Stockholms Dramatiska Högskola, among which two fully equipped black boxes and as many TV/film studios.
3.2 Sunday 12 June 2016
On Sunday ‘poetic’ delegates took the boat—while the more ‘prosaic’ ones used the bus—to reach Drottningholm and its UNESCO-protected Slottsteater. After a guided visit of the theater complex and its stagehouse (wings and understage), all attended a performance of Jan Sandström’s Rokokomaskineriet (‘The Rococo Machine’), a new opera composed for the 250th anniversary of the famous castle theater. The meta-theatrical play circled around crown prince Gustav (III), who in the disguise of a lighting crew member discovers the peculiarities of theatrical life in confrontation with a librettist, a coloratura soprano, a scenographer, and a ballet master. The staging was not devoid of flaws, however, for many delegates had vivid discussions concerning light and set changes in the interval and after the performance.
3.3 Monday 13 June 2016
On the third and last day of the meeting, delegates traveled by bus to the Kungliga Operan’s gigantic facilities in Nacka for a feast of surprises compiled by Mathias Clason: views of the Royal Opera’s library (with its beautiful array of set designs from the late eighteenth to the twentieth centuries), archives (at which delegates awed at, among others, a stunningly preserved harlequin costume from the Gustavian era, authentic scenery by Léon Bakst for the Ballets Russes, and full-scale set pieces and drops from the Romantic Era), and workshops. After lunch (sponsored by STTF), Mathias Clason discussed his personal interest in pictorialism through set designs, video captions and photographs of stagings designed for various Scandinavian theaters. Over coffee and cinnamon sweets, delegates were treated by Hans Öjmyr (Stadsmuseet och Medeltidsmuseet, Stockholm) to a complimentary copy of his dissertation on 19thcentury scenography at the royal theaters of Stockholm. To round off the meeting, Mathias made Swedish theater history come to life by having two fantastic opera singers, mezzo soprano Paulina Pfeiffer and tenor Mathias Zachariassen, and pianist Majsan Dahling perform excerpts from Giacomo Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine (‘Afrikanskan’ in Swedish) in historically inspired costumes and vintage scenery designed by Fritz Ahlgrensson (Stockholm, 1867)—the latter was made available through an intervention of Kurt Blomquist, the Royal Opera’s former technical director. All delegates were delighted by the spectacle and joined in thanking Mathias Clason for his enormous efforts.
4. Business meeting(s)
Two short but plenary business meetings were held over the long weekend. On Saturday 11 June, delegates discussed a project submitted by José Luis Ferrera (Architecture Commission) to OISTAT and other organizations: The Theatres of Latin America. Bruno Forment highlighted the main tenets of the initiative—its aims, scope, future outcomes, organization (division into four working groups), and budget—after which the Commission unanimously agreed to endorse The Theatres of Latin America, while also making some recommendations:
The Research Commission would like to remain informed about the progress of the project and hopes to be involved. On Monday 13 June, Bruno Forment communicated his decision to step down as chair of the Commission. Dr David Wilmore proposed his candidacy as vice chair, which all present approved.
5. Budget and administrative matters
The 2016 meeting of the OISTAT Research Commission was open to all center, associate and individual members of OISTAT. Papers were selected on the basis of an open call distributed by OISTAT and Bruno Forment. Registration to the symposium on Saturday 11 June was free. Delegates paid 15 € to attend the guided tour at Drottningholm’s Slottsteater on Sunday 12 and 80 € to attend Rokokomaskineriet (first-row seat). 15 € were charged for the guided tour at Kungliga Operan’s workshops on Monday 13 June. Due to safety restrictions, the number of participants to the guided tours was limited to 24 and 30, respectively. Transportation, accommodation and meals were not included in the fees, save for lunch on Monday 13 June. The meeting was officially sponsored by Stockholms Dramatiska Högskola, STTF and Kungliga Operan.
Delegates paid their fees via wire transfer to a newly opened bank account (IBAN BE08 9731 4929 0613 / BIC ARSPBE22XXX), PayPal, or in cash at the meeting. Due to PayPal’s variable transaction fees, some delegates were to pay additional sums in cash at the meeting, or were refunded. Bruno Forment collected 2266.99 € in all via IBAN and PayPal, and transfered that sum in four payments (17 May, 20 May, 7 June and 16 June 2016) to Mathias Clason who in turn made payments for tickets, guided tours, etc.
