Adolphe Appia

Adolphe Appia , 1862-1928, Swiss theorist of modern stage lighting and décor. In interpreting Wagner's ideas in scenic designs for his operas, Appia rejected painted scenery for the three-dimensional set; he felt that shade was as necessary as light to link the actor to this setting in time and space. His use of light, through intensity, color, and mobility, to set the atmosphere and mood of a play created a new perspective in scene design and stage lighting .

Bibliography: See his Work of Living Art and Man Is the Measure of All Things, in a single volume, ed. by B. Hewitt (tr. 1960); R. C. Beacham, Adolphe Appia: Theatre Artist (1987).

Appia, Adolphe (1862–1928), French-speaking Swiss artist whose theories on stage design, and particularly on stage lighting, had an immense influence on 20th-century methods of play production. He rejected the flat painted scenery of the late 19th century in favour of an environment more suitable for a three-dimensional actor, and employed light (helped by the introduction of electricity) as the visual counterpart of music, enhancing the mood of the play and linking the actor to the setting. Appia formulated his ideas so clearly in Die Musik und die Inscenierung (1899) and his extremely simple but effective designs for plays by Shaw and Ibsen that the modern theatre has been able to put them into practice without the need for special apparatus. Mobile lighting, which breaks up and diversifies the direction, intensity, and colour of light, is used today by many who do not realize that the techniques derive from Appia's experiments.

Appia, Adolphe (François) (b Geneva, 1862; d Nyon, 1928). Swiss scenic artist. Pioneered modern operatic trend for imaginative lighting and minimum of scenery. Designed Tristan und Isolde for La Scala (Toscanini, 1923), and Das Rheingold and Die Walküre for Basle (1924–5). Never employed at Bayreuth but his ideas were an influence on Wieland and Wolfgang Wagner.