{"id":559,"date":"2014-04-04T09:55:05","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T09:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craigscreens.blog.oldabbeytheatre.net\/?p=559"},"modified":"2014-04-08T22:24:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T22:24:00","slug":"reception-of-the-screens-in-contemporary-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craigscreens.blog.oldabbeytheatre.net\/?p=559","title":{"rendered":"Reception of the Screens in Contemporary Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edward Gordon Craig\u2019s screens received a not insignificant amount of attention the Irish press. This attention focused on two seminal periods. In 1911, on the screens debut on the Abbey stage and in 1913 on the occasion of an exhibition devoted to Craig\u2019s screens in Dublin.
\nThere was some expectation in the run up to the screens debut at the Abbey. They were to be first employed in a double bill, Lady Gregory\u2019s The Deliverer<\/em> followed by W.B. Yeats The Hour-Glass<\/em>. In January In 1911, a short piece speaks in great anticipation of the screens being used for the first time at the Abbey Theatre \u201cThis week will be one of exceptional interest at the Abbey Theatre as the Gordon Craig\u2019s new scenery will be used for the first time. This remarkable invention has been much discussed in theatrical circles both in England and on the continent. Lady Gregory\u2019s new play \u201cThe Deliverer\u201d will be presented for the first time and will be the first played with the new scenery. It will be followed by Mr Yeats\u2019s morality play \u201cThe Hour Glass\u201d for which Mr Craig himself painted the scene and designed the costumes.\u201d (Irish Times<\/em>, 11 January 1911). An article in the Freemans Journal described the mechanics of the screens and interviewed W.B. Yeats about the reasoning behind the screens \u201cThe primary value of Mr. Craig\u2019s invention, is that it enables one to use light in a more natural and more beautiful way than ever before\u2026..it is now possible to substitute in the shading of one scene real light and shadow for painted light and shadow\u2026the extraordinary beauty of delicate light and shade\u201d. (Freemans Journal<\/em>, 10 January 1911).
\nA few days later in a review in The Irish Times<\/em>, the reviewer praises the practicality of the screens and hopes that the new method of staging will \u201cenable the Abbey Theatre Company to shorten its intervals, and make an evening at the theatre a brighter experience\u201d. He praises the many \u201cstriking points of merit\u201d of the new system of staging and the \u201capplication of genius to the methods and details of staging\u201d. He surmises that \u201cthe main point, however is the fact that the new settings are far better than the old\u201d. He describes the scenery as an \u201carrangement of neutral tinted scenes\u201d and the only props being the Wise Man\u2019s seat \u201cbuilt of the name neutral tinted material\u201d and the Wise Man\u2019s illuminated book, bell and the hour glass. He spoke of the \u201cvariations in the lighting of the stage which supplied as powerful an aid to the expression of the emotional progress of the play as that afforded by incidental music in many productions\u201d. (The Irish Times<\/em>, 13 January 1911).
\nThe screens did not receive the same applause the following year when they were used to stage a further two plays at the Abbey, Lady Gregory\u2019s The Canavans<\/em> and Dr Douglas Hyde\u2019s The Thinker and the Fairy<\/em>. A commentator in The Irish Times<\/em> noted that unless the staging was upon the Gordon Craig method and they would have \u201cotherwise would not have aroused more than a passing notice\u201d. The journalist goes on to comment \u201cThough there is much to be said in favour of Mr Craig\u2019s system of lighting and scenic arrangement, it can hardly be said that its merits are best illustrated in a play such as \u201cThe Canavans\u201d\u2026\u201d and continues to remark that this new method is best suited to plays such as Dierdre and The Hour-Glass rather than a \u201cgrotesque comedy\u201d. (The Irish Times<\/em>, 16 February 1912).
\nThere was sufficient interest in Gordon Craig\u2019s ideas to warrant an exhibition in the Central Hall on Westmoreland Street for a week in March 1913 (The Irish Times<\/em>, 15 and 17 March 1913). In conjunction with this exhibition there is an interesting interview with Yeats about Gordon Craig\u2019s method. Yeats calls Gordon Craig \u201cThe most influential producer and stage director in Europe\u201d. (The Irish Times<\/em>, 8 March 1913).
\nThere are other small references to Gordon Craig as a set designer over the next couple of decades in the Irish Press. While set design would hardly be a regular feature of discussion in mainstream newspapers today, it must be remembered that theatre was one of the main attractions of the period and discussed and critiqued as such. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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