Sparks of Energy
6 Designers Share Vivid Impressions of the 2011 Prague Quadrennial
The catalogue for the U.S. exhibition at the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design deploys some heavy terminology: obsession, tension, loss, anger and anxiety all figure into the introductory text. When asked about the tone of the exhibition, which included images and materials from about 37 recent productions, its artistic director Susan Tsu concedes, "Some of that darkness might have been just what we as a team were drawn to. But it was also what we found." She adds, "Often we are seen as a very technologically savvy nation, but a lot of our colleagues around the world think American theatre is light on politics, that we don't care deeply about social issues. And we know that's not true—there is a body of significant, visionary work in the U.S., and we wanted to show that this year."
The "we" in question includes designers Chris Barreca, Linda Cho, Allen Hahn and Don Tindall—who curated scenic, costume, lighting and sound elements, respectively—and journalist/artist Randy Gener as curatorial advisor. The exhibit also came to fruition through the efforts of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) international liaison Sandy Bonds. A group from the University of Montana drama department built the structure for the exhibit, which was designed by William Bloodgood, brick by brick. Tsu and company spent three years culling about a tenth of the total submissions and organizing a pavilion that took its place this past June among that of some 60 countries, plus an abundance of student work.
Every four years, this Czech-hosted event aims to dizzy visitors with seemingly endless exhibits, shows and talks: Turn a corner and you're navigating a mini-colony of 30 cubes, each hosting a performance project; try to find the restroom, and suddenly you're picking your way through a bathroom-themed installation. Due to a fire in Prague's Industrial Palace, the PQ's traditional home since the Cold War, this year's events filled the National Gallery at the Veletržní Palace, and spilled into venues citywide.
Every country interprets differently the invitation to share a dispatch from its scenographic ranks. Some highlight a single production, others a motif; some create new work. The U.S. tends to present a wide sampling, but this year's theme, "From the Edge," steered the curatorial team toward younger ensembles, groups working intensively within communities and established but small companies that consistently tackle tricky social issues (e.g., the Civilians, Bond Street Theatre, Ping Chong & Company, PHAMALY). Commercial works that tap into deeper currents of U.S. society (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot) also made the cut, as did a few un-ignorable fresh takes on classics and tributes to some recently retired design-savvy companies. Rather than zooming in on a particularly ingenious costume or ravishingly positioned pinspot, the curators singled out whole productions whose creative team's efforts added up to something special—something worth showing the world.
Two performers, Paul Zaloom and Pat Oleszko, did live shows in and around a U.S. pavilion constructed to resemble the sort of garage space from which many of the ensembles come ("dispelling the myth," says Tsu, "that America is all about money and rich theatres and rich patrons"). Passing spectators could watch Oleszko portraying a drowning Statue of Liberty while her inflatable "WarUSaurus" devoured a man clad in the Stars and Stripes. "One of the things Americans do pretty well is make fun of ourselves," Tsu reflects proudly.
In the end, Brazil took PQ's top honor, the Golden Triga, for couching its painstakingly curated display in an evocative, homelike structure, and the exhibitors packed up and went home. Americans can see "From the Edge" stateside in Long Beach, Calif., this coming March at the USITT annual meeting, as well as in New York City (location pending). And countless artists returned from Prague with mental images that will sustain and inspire them for years to come.
We asked half a dozen American designers who visited PQ to give us a glimpse into the productions they worked on that won a place in the U.S. pavilion, and to single out the one international offering they saw at PQ that they couldn't wait to get home and describe to their colleagues. —Nicole Estvanik Taylor