Edward Gordon Craig revolutionised 20th Century theatre with his 19th Century ideas

Total theatre consisted of five main aspects, colour, rhythm, action, words and line. Craig wanted to make costume, stage and set all completely from scratch; and normally wanted his set ready before rehearsal. Unfortunately his ideas never really worked because of the cost, as every idea was too adventurous.

Craig sought performers whose "body was a slave to a mechanical mind" . He wanted the actor to be depersonalised so his character did not interfere with the character he was playing, and take a rightful place in Craig's anti-realist world of theatre. Craig believed that to fit in with the changes he made in theatre, a new type of actor must be created, and given the name "Ubermarionette". The use of masks and robes would cover the actor's face and body, therefore "suppression of egoism" was achieved. This would allow the actor to perform role without the interaction of audience. Craig wished the Ubermarionette to offer his intelligence and imagination to a production rather than his passion, but many people criticised Craig's views, believing that he wished actors to just become mere puppets.

With this change to theatre Craig strongly believed that the director, producer, and designer should be as one, and that the role of this person was to dictate all aspects of the production, (including the acting) to ensure complete unity. He believed that the director should have total artistic control and that often the play should be left open to his/her interpretation, with the playwright having to work with only his ideas.

With this Craig began to look at stage space in the way an architect might design a building. His designs were three dimensional, and using height and depth they allowed the actor to move in and through a space which could be changed using subtle variations in light. In summary, the following motifs appear throughout his work:-

* Tall doors and windows

* Pools of light

* Half opened doors

* Huddled people in a doorway

* Long straight lines

* The sense of height and space

* Bare surfaces

* Subtle significant shadows

The next logical step was to make a setting which also moved, a marriage of theatre technology with the figure in motion. A set of drawings entitled 'Scene' made in 1907, illustrated a 'kinetic' mobile stage which enabled the scenic environment to change with the changing rhythm of the drama. The design for Scene was inspired by Serlio (Italian Renaissance architect) and consisted of a stage floor made up of blocks which could be raised or lowered at different speeds and a ceiling which was a mirror image of the floor. Craig imagined they would be controlled by a single person at the back of the auditorium (most probably the director). Light would play across these surfaces and change with the mood.

The difficulty in this was the technology available to him, which led Craig to experiment with portable, movable screens: canvas flats which could be moved around and arranged in different configurations and lit in any colour according to mood. It was this idea which was used in staging Hamlet but he continued to experiment with this idea throughout his life in order to create a setting that by invisible means could move in ways analogous to the actor and to light.

As for movement, Craig regularly preferred jesters that had no curves in them. For example the arms to be held out straight up, forward, or out sideways. He liked kneeling in which the body was bent into a sharp angle, and believed that by creating his own rules and logic (all within strict limit's) the audience would be held from wondering or loosing themselves by the square lines and shapes...