A House Is Not A Home

Abstract

New York producer Joseph Papp recently caused a flurry of headlines across Canada when he addressed some 250 arts managers in Ottawa and told them that the design of the 800-seat theatre in the National Arts Centre was “lousy” and that it “doesn’t work as a theatre.” He said that its layout was “divisive” separating the audience from the stage and the seating was “sprawled.” And it was “obvious,” he said during his talk, that people in the arts were not consulted in the design of the NAC. One of the first people to respond to Papp’s attack was Montreal architect Fred Lebensold, designer of the NAC. Lebensold pointed out that “a great number of people in dance, theatre and opera were consulted all along. No other arts centre has had as much artistic input as the NAC.” When CTR requested a copy of the full text of his remark s for publication, Papp agreed but pointed out that his specific comments on the NA C were made “off-the-cuff.” Nevertheless, his comments on arts centres in general were significant enough to warrant publication even without, what has come to be known around the country as, “the Papp smear.”