If, as Shakespeare wrote, “all the world's a stage,” a theatrical stage can encompass many worlds.
You can get a glimpse of many of these worlds at Union College starting Jan. 12 in a retrospective exhibit of nearly 100 shows of stage designs crafted by Charles Steckler, professor of theater and designer-in-residence at Union College. The exhibit is in Mandeville Gallery at the Nott Memorial, former home to a good number of these shows. It runs through March 12. The opening reception is Thursday, Jan. 12, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The exhibit features many of Steckler's stage designs, as well as drawings and construction models and interesting artifacts – a piece of cloth from a curtain, painted tiles, moldings, puppets, masks and other props, such as a large “rock” from the set of Waiting for Godot.
Over the years Steckler has taken hundreds of photographs. “Stage design is an ephemeral art form,” he explains. “After the play is over, my work ceases to exist. In fact, it is literally destroyed. All that remains is a memory and these few images. It is an unusual occasion where a stage designer's art can have a second life in a gallery exhibition.”
Curator Rachel Seligman notes that stage design is both a rigorous and an unappreciated field, “bound as it is to its functional aspects. Exhibiting these artifacts, removed from their original function, emphasizes their visual artistry and strength as aesthetic objects.”
Steckler's style is layered and eclectic. His dioramas and collage art connect him to Joseph Cornell and Robert Rauschenberg, says Seligman.
“I call it 'accretion style,'” adds Steckler. “I love the idea of layering. Not every play necessarily lends itself to that treatment, but when it comes up, I feel I'm released into a territory I'm most comfortable inhabiting.”
Theater is a collaborative art, the intersection of several disciplines and crafts. But it is a distinction that defines community as well. At Union, that community is small, but made up of a core of talented people. Says Steckler, “I feel lucky to work with such stimulating artists [and Union colleagues] as Bill Finlay, Joann Yarrow, Patsy Culbert, Lloyd Waiwaiole, Miryam Moutillet, and John Miller. But the backbone of this community, of course, is our students. They are smart, energetic, curious, and inventive. I learn from them every day.”
When Steckler arrived at Union in 1971, it was for a “half-time” position in the Department of Arts. But, together with colleague Barry Smith, he produced an ambitious first year. Both had just graduated from the Yale School of Drama, “although we had never met before,” recalls Steckler. “It was the beginning of a 28-year collaboration that inspired and challenged me. I had not planned to remain at Union beyond that first year. But my work with Barry and our new theater program was reason enough to remain at least another year. The rest, as they say, is history.”
He cites Moliere's Tartuffe (2004) as a show that was great fun to work on. “We created an authentic-looking kitchen of a great house in 1671 Paris, complete with a double fireplace, masonry walls with cornice moldings, Delft wall tiles, marble floor tiles, a cantilevered balcony, oculus window, and crystal chandeliers as well as smoked ham hocks, sausages, and cheeses made of papier-mâché, pastries of Styrofoam, and all manner of cooking and serving utensils.”
Another play that stands out is the Joann Yarrow (artist in residence at Union) production of Metamorphoses (2004) – a fanciful retelling of myths and stories from Ovid. “It was a beautiful production. The script called for a pool, so in the Yulman Theater [home to Union productions since 1995], we built an 800-gallon pool, with advice from former Engineering Dean Bob Balmer and members of the Facilities Department. The entire set was black with the reflecting pool at the center, a wall frieze of classical figures in a nighttime constellation panorama surrounded by thousands of twinkling stars. Against that background, the actors in sumptuous costumes stood out in bright relief.”
For a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest (1993), “We transformed the Nott Memorial into a postcolonial island strewn with the debris of technology and popular culture. We filled the theater with 11 tons of white beach sand and built a split-level beachcomber shack out of distressed barn wood, truck tires, Salvation Army furniture, old TVs, and the front end of a Volkswagen Beetle which served as Caliban's cave. On the surrounding walls, skeletons danced with glowing stars. It was like being in some Surrealist planetarium.”
Who are Steckler's principal influences? “Buddha and Picasso. As I understand it, one examined the nature of existence and the other, the nature of perception. Cubism challenged centuries-old habits of rendering space – something I am aware of each time I design a stage set which is both an image and a space. Buddhist teaching and meditation give me a sense of perspective about myself and the workings of my own mind. Early in my life, as a young artist, I was excited by the Dadaist and Surrealist painters and sculptors. Dali infected my adolescent brain as did Joseph Cornell. I attended the High School of Music and Art, in Manhattan, and spent a lot of time at the Museum of Modern Art and the old Whitney Museum, junking out on art. At Queens College, professor Jay B. Keene taught me theater design, sets, costumes, color theory, scene painting, rendering and model-making. He set the spark under my britches and recommended that I apply to the Yale School of Drama. I had many wonderful teachers at Yale; the two notable standouts were Donald Oenslager and Ming Cho Lee. Once my professional training began in earnest, my influences became many, from contemporary American and European designers to the great masters of the past.”