He is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama. His designs sought to integrate scenic elements into the storytelling instead of having them stand separate and indifferent from the play's action. His visual style, often referred to as simplified realism, combined bold vivid use of color and simple, yet dramatic, lighting.
Lifeedit
Set design by Robert Edmond Jones for the courtroom in Machinal (1928)
Set design by Robert Edmond Jones for the condemned woman's cell in Machinal (1928)
Born in Milton, New Hampshire, Jones attended Harvard University and graduated in 1910. Jones eventually moved to New York (1912), where, with friends made at Harvard, he began to do small design jobs. In 1913 Jones and several friends sailed to Europe to study the new stagecraft with Edward Gordon Craig in Florence. The school in Florence would not accept Jones, so he went to Berlin instead, spending a year in informal study with Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater.
For a 1915 production of The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife directed by Harley Granville-Barker, Jones designed a fairly simple set that complemented the action and the other design elements of the production rather than overwhelming it.
Though he created a makeshift set for the very first "production" of the Provincetown Players in the living room of Neith Boyce and Hutchins Hapgood's cottage in July 1915, Jones was not a member but a friend of the Provincetown Players and he worked closely with his friend Eugene O'Neill on many of his productions including Anna Christie, The Great God Brown, and Desire Under the Elms. He was a member of the Triumvirate leadership (with O'Neill and Kenneth Macgowan) of the Experimental Theatre, Inc., that look over the Provincetown Playhouse in 1924 for two years.
Jones published many articles on theatre design in the course of his career. His books include Drawings for the Theatre (1925), and The Dramatic Imagination (1941); he also illustrated Kenneth Macgowan'sContinental Stagecraft (1922).
His book The Dramatic Imagination is considered the definitive work on modern stage design in the first half of the 20th century.
He died in the house he was born in on Thanksgiving Day, 1954.
Referencesedit
^Biersdorfer, J. D. (May 22, 2009). "Setting the Stage With Shadows". The New York Times.
robert, edmond, jones, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, marc. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Robert Edmond Jones news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Robert Edmond Jones December 12 1887 November 26 1954 was an American scenic lighting and costume designer 1 Robert Edmond JonesRobert Edmond Jones circa 1920 Born 1887 12 12 December 12 1887Milton New Hampshire United StatesDiedNovember 26 1954 1954 11 26 aged 66 United StatesOccupationCostume designerHe is credited with incorporating the new stagecraft into the American drama His designs sought to integrate scenic elements into the storytelling instead of having them stand separate and indifferent from the play s action His visual style often referred to as simplified realism combined bold vivid use of color and simple yet dramatic lighting Life edit nbsp Set design by Robert Edmond Jones for the courtroom in Machinal 1928 nbsp Set design by Robert Edmond Jones for the condemned woman s cell in Machinal 1928 Born in Milton New Hampshire Jones attended Harvard University and graduated in 1910 Jones eventually moved to New York 1912 where with friends made at Harvard he began to do small design jobs In 1913 Jones and several friends sailed to Europe to study the new stagecraft with Edward Gordon Craig in Florence The school in Florence would not accept Jones so he went to Berlin instead spending a year in informal study with Max Reinhardt s Deutsches Theater For a 1915 production of The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife directed by Harley Granville Barker Jones designed a fairly simple set that complemented the action and the other design elements of the production rather than overwhelming it His innovative designs for Vladimir Rosing s American Opera Company in 1927 and 1928 were praised by critics Jones also brought his expressionistic style to many productions put on by the Theatre Guild with innovative designs for The Philadelphia Story 1937 Othello 1943 and The Iceman Cometh 1946 Jones s biggest commercial success was with The Green Pastures 1930 which if we include its revival in 1951 played for a total of 1 642 performances This revival was Jones s last production Other Broadway credits include Holiday 1928 Mourning Becomes Electra 1931 Ah Wilderness 1933 Juno and the Paycock 1940 and Lute Song 1946 Jones was also the production designer for some early three color Technicolor films such as La Cucaracha 1934 and Becky Sharp 1935 for which he also designed the costumes Though he created a makeshift set for the very first production of the Provincetown Players in the living room of Neith Boyce and Hutchins Hapgood s cottage in July 1915 Jones was not a member but a friend of the Provincetown Players and he worked closely with his friend Eugene O Neill on many of his productions including Anna Christie The Great God Brown and Desire Under the Elms He was a member of the Triumvirate leadership with O Neill and Kenneth Macgowan of the Experimental Theatre Inc that look over the Provincetown Playhouse in 1924 for two years Jones published many articles on theatre design in the course of his career His books include Drawings for the Theatre 1925 and The Dramatic Imagination 1941 he also illustrated Kenneth Macgowan s Continental Stagecraft 1922 His book The Dramatic Imagination is considered the definitive work on modern stage design in the first half of the 20th century He died in the house he was born in on Thanksgiving Day 1954 References edit Biersdorfer J D May 22 2009 Setting the Stage With Shadows The New York Times External links editRobert Edmond Jones at the Internet Broadway Database nbsp Robert Edmond Jones at IMDb Robert Edmond Jones designs and originals 1913 1943 held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Robert Edmond Jones correspondence 1930 1941 held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Costume and Scenic Design Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robert Edmond Jones amp oldid 1212235386, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
