The primary aim of the CANON of TECHNICAL THEATRE HISTORY is to create awareness and understanding about the historic background of the theatre technical field in an European context. The project contributes to the current discourse on the preservation of the cultural heritage of transnational and international theatre technology. We not only want to value history as essential element in the education process and the building of the identity of a professional, but also stress the importance and usefulness of sharing heritage for innovative development. Students and staff of 9 European university institutes, research centres and dual education programs - from Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, Italy, Sweden and United Kingdom – collaborate to develop a digital (and physical) timeline and a Canon of technical theatre during six workshop meetings. The methodology used and the developed tools are documented. Adopting multiple perspectives from the disciplines of art history, engineering design, scenography, architecture and theatre studies, the project is dedicated to the epistemic and archival research. It includes the tangible as well as the intangible cultural heritage of the performing arts field. The concrete result of the project is a set of digital course materials that can be used as a whole, but also can be implemented in different field specific courses or can be used as reference material. This flexible approach empowers the teacher to structure their courses in a flexible way, adapted to the needs of the target group. The methodology guidelines and the developed tools inspire for new teaching practice and support the different uses. The project setup and methodology guarantees that research from both teachers and students feeds back to education and to the larger professional field. The results can be used by local stakeholders, which reinforces the link between the local community and the institutes. The network that originates from this cooperation guarantees future development and sustainability of the results.
The primary aim of the CANON of TECHNICAL THEATRE HISTORY was to create awareness and understanding about the historic background of the theatre technical field in an European context. The project contributes to the current discourse on the preservation of the cultural heritage of transnational and international theatre technology. We not only wanted to value history as essential element in the education process and the building of the identity of a professional, but also stress the importance and usefulness of sharing heritage for innovative development.
The history of technical theatre spans over 2500 years, but yet the main developments are recent, the last 200 years have brought more change and innovation than ever before. Technical theatre contains a wide range of fields: machinery, scenography, architecture, lighting, sound, image, stage management and special effects are the most obvious. But it also relates to other interdisciplinary topics: industrial heritage, military history and how technology travels and spreads. History of theatre technology is more than theatre alone, it includes the cross fertilization between the subfields Rock´n & Roll, festivals, dance halls, events, opera and cinema. The interest in this history, with a primary focus on the technology is recent. Education programs in the field are emerging and so is the need for teaching materials, structured information and methodologies. The theatre technical heritage is not well documented and often the physical occurrences are in danger.