Theatrical Presentations

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 852, 21 December 1929, Page 17 (Supplement)

Theatrical Presentations

Art Director Tells How They are Made

Auckland will shortly have reason to feel proud of the artistry shown in many of its picture theatre prologues. Good stage presentations add immeasurably to the success of the show., but audiences rarely realise the amount of thought and money that are devoted to making these prologues ap-

propriate introductions to the picture: thrown on the screen.

A talk with H. Rupert Browne, the art director engaged for the Civic, is enlightening on this subject. He knows what he is talking about because his experience includes over five years behind the scenes at Drury Dane, London. There he was initiated into many stage mysteries by Bruce Smi’ h, recognised as one of the finest mechanical scenic artists in the world. Secrets of stage craft learnt there Mr. Browne hat used to ad-

vantage in Melbourne, and will use in Auckland. Born in New South Wales, he began to study art at ten years of age when his people moved to Bendigo. He was a pupil with Phil Goatcher at the Theatre Royal when he dropped his brushes and paint pots to take up a rifle. After having served throughout the war, he joined a scenic staff at Drury Lane.

‘‘With a huge stage measuring 90ft. by 90ft. by 90ft., on which to operate,” said Mr. Browne, ‘‘and an amazing series of mechanical contrivances to assist, the Drury Lane staff can present shipwrecks, train collisions, race meetings, earthquakes, floods, and so on with uncanny realism. “I can remember a remarkable flooding scene in a drama called ‘The Great Day,’ in which the Seine was supposed tc burst its banks and flood a Paris cabaret. So realistic was the illusion that the audience believed that it actually saw the flood waters pour ing into the cafe, in which men, women, tables and chairs could be viewed floating about. It was applauded as one of the most convincing scenes ever staged at Drury Lane.”

The amazing thing about that stage triumph was that not a drop of water was used, although the audience could see the entire cabaret and its occupants swallowed up in the irresistible flood from the Seine. It was all done by mechanical and lighting effects. “My procedure,” says Mr. Browne, "is to work out the scene in miniature on a scale so exact that if a model and the finished scene were photographed it would be impossible to see any difference between them. “The Civic presentations will be as elaborate as time, money and ingenuity permit,” said the artist, “and it is wonderful what can be done with cardboard, cheescloth and colour. By the intelligent use of vari-tinted electric globes surprisingly artistic results can be achieved.”