“Traces of Peter Rice”, Arup Phase 2, London, 27 Nov 12

Maquette for the Full-Moon Theatre, 1987Photographer: Humbert Camerlo, © Humbert CamerloThe Full-Moon Theatre 1987 – 1992‘The project is not a problem we can solve quickly. It’snot part of the modern misconception that we all haveso little time to live, that if something is not done bytomorrow, then it is not worth doing. The Full-MoonTheatre is a project of many life-times.’- Peter Rice, ‘An Engineer Imagines’Nestled in the Cévennes mountains, north ofMontpellier, is a small dry stone amphitheatre. It wasbuilt by Moroccan stonemasons in 1991 according toa geometry designed at Arup in London to face the locusof the summer full moon. The theatre forms part of theAteliers de Gourgoubès, a cross-disciplinary centreof experi mentation devised and run by French operadirector Humbert Camerlo.If the Menil Collection was a project involving thediffusion and control of sunlight, the Full-Moon Theatrewas all about reflecting, collecting and amplifyingmoonlight with minimal technical intervention. Performancescould only be staged for the few days around thetime of the full moon when its light was intense enough.This project was artisanal, ephemeral and dependenton seasonal weather conditions as well as the mooncycles. The theatre required the participation of peoplefrom all walks of life to try out new ideas, includingviewers and visitors as well as the technical team. Itwas suspended in the realm of the experimental andincomplete, and was a metaphor for all that Peter Riceheld dear. For Humbert Camerlo it was ‘a symbol of theintegration between art, science and the environment’.14 15