Scenography in Canada: Selected Designers by Natalie Rewa (review)

Reviews 553 the plays are mentioned but do not fonn the focus of this study, which functions more as a general handbook on the treatment of political themes in the drama of the period in question. In this respect, the book could also serve as useful reference for undergraduate study of recent Gennan theatre. NATALIE REWA. Scenography in COllado: Selected Designers. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004. Pp. 249, illustrated. $98.00 (Hb); $63.00 (Pb). Reviewed by Wes D. Pearce, University ofRegina In her new book, Scenography in Canada: Selected Designers, Natalie Rewa attempts to define and locate contemporary scenographic practice within a Canadian context. Writing in the introduction that the book is an attempt "to draw attention to the designer's vocabularies," Rewa provides a multi-layered approach to understanding the vocabularies (and the work) of a number of Canadian scenographers (1I9). Such a book is timely and necessary, even if the author's own vocabulary (indicated by the use of the tenn "designers" in the title) betrays a certain misgiving about the tenn "scenography" that is entirely Canadian. . Rewa examines seven well-known Canadian scenographers: Astrid Janson, Susan Benson, Mary Kerr, Jim Plaxton, Michael Levine, Ken MacDonald, and Teresa Pryzbylski. All have exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial and all have well-established reputations within and outside of Canada. The book (and, by default, the work of each scenographer) is divided into three sections: the portfolio; portfolio captions; and open discussions that are part interview, part artist's statement, and part narrative description of the various productions covered in the book, productions that Rewa has experienced and/or extensively researched. The book's most significant feature is the over two-hundred colour images that comprise almost half its contents. The images cover everything from the expected costume renderings, lighting plots, and ground plans to more unusual images. including shots of sets in the midst of construction, preliminary artist doodles, and some unusual production photos. These images certainly help to define the visual style of each scenographer but, even with the captions, are sometimes difficult to appreciate in isolation. Thus the third, discursive section of the book is invaluable insofar as it provides context for both the scenographer and the images. Rewa succeeds in capturing the visual excitement that the scenography of a particular production generated as well in providing a narrative and interpretative link between the images and the intentions of the individual artist. While Rewa, in her introduc- 554 REVIEWS tion, offers the caveat that "the volume attempts the impossible task of trying to convey on the page ideas about a moving spectacle," she nonetheless animates the two-dimensional images through her own observations as a viewer (128). Despite the title (or possibly my expectations) there is no attempt by Rewa to provide a larger, national context for either the scenographers or their work. That is, despite her extensive chronicling of both scenographers and productions , not to mention her provision of a historical and cultural definition of scenography in Canada, Rewa resists drawing conclusions from eitherher work or the work of the scenographers. Such an analysis might truly enable the reader to understand the place and role scenography has (or has not) both in Canada and in the world today. Thisbeing said, Rewa's book isa valuable resource and a great snapshot of some of Canada's most prolific scenographers. ELINOR FUCHS and UNA CHAUDHURI. cds. LandlScapefTheater. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002. Pp. 390, illustrated. $29.95 (Pb). Reviewed by Sophie Nield, University ofSurrey Roehampton ~ Theatre and performance studies has recently seen much critical energy focused on place, space, and performance. This new collection of essays, edited by Elinor Fuchs and Una Chaudhuri, situates itself both within and beyond these areas of concern, explicitly moving through both the unfeatured "space" and the over-specificity of "place" into what they describe as a new spatial paradigm: landscape. Insisting on both the material and conceptual application of the tenn, the editors make clear that this book does not represent an attempt to define and detennine the field of landscape analysis. In a sense, the book provides a landscape of approaches, each of which serves as a provocation...