Фантасмагория: Театр призраков и иллюзий

Form of theatre that includes the use of magic lanterns

Phantasmagoria , alternatively fantasmagorie and/or fantasmagoria was a form of horror theatre that (among other techniques) used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images –such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts– onto walls, smoke, or semi transparent screens, typically using rear projection to keep the lantern out of sight. Mobile or portable projectors were used, allowing the projected image to move and change size on the screen, and multiple projecting devices allowed for quick switching of different images. In many shows, the use of spooky decoration, total darkness, (auto )suggestive verbal presentation, and sound effects were also key elements. Some shows added a variety of sensory stimulation, including smells and electric shocks. Such elements as required fasting, fatigue (late shows), and drugs have been mentioned as methods of making sure spectators would be more convinced of what they saw. The shows started under the guise of actual séances in Germany in the late 18th century and gained popularity through most of Europe (including Britain) throughout the 19th century. The word "phantasmagoria" has also been commonly used to indicate changing successions or combinations of fantastic, bizarre, or imagined imagery.

From French phantasmagorie, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “ghost”) + possibly either αγορά (agorá, “assembly, gathering”) + the suffix ia, or ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak publicly”). Paul Philidor (also known simply as "Phylidor") announced his show of ghost apparitions and evocation of the shadows of famous people as Phantasmagorie in the Parisian periodical Affiches, annonces et avis divers of December 16, 1792. About two weeks earlier the term had been the title of a letter by a certain "A. L. M.", published in Magazin Encyclopédique. The letter also promoted Phylidor's show. Phylidor had previously advertised his show as Phantasmorasi in Vienna in March 1790. The English variation Phantasmagoria was introduced as the title of M. De Philipsthal's show of optical illusions and mechanical pieces of art in London in 1801. De Philipsthal and Philidor are believed to have been the same person.

In the early 1770s in Leipzig, Germany, coffeehouse owner, charlatan, necromancer, and leader of an independent Freemason lodge Johann Georg Schrepfer (or Schröpfer) performed ghost raising séances and necromantic experiments for his Freemason lodge. For typical necromantic activity, he demanded his followers remain seated at a table or else face terrible dangers. He made use of a mixture of Masonic, Catholic, and Kabbalistic symbolism, including skulls, a chalk circle on the floor, holy water, incense, and crucifixes. The spirits he raised were said to be clearly visible, hovering in the air, vaporous, and sometimes screaming terribly. The highlight of his career was a séance for the court in the Dresden palace early in the summer of 1774. This event was impressive enough to still be described more than a century later in Germany and Britain. Apparitions reportedly raised by Schrepfer over the years included Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, the beheaded Danish "traitors" Johann Friedrich Struensee and Enevold Brandt with their heads in their hands, and the Knights Templars' last Grand Master Jacques de Molay. During a séance in Dresden, Schrepfer ordered De Molay's spirit to take a letter to a companion in Frankfurt. De Molay obeyed and returned half an hour later with an answer signed in Frankfurt by the companion. Another spirit appeared engulfed in flames begging Schrepfer not to torture him so. In the early morning of October 8, 1774, Schrepfer reportedly committed suicide with a pistol in a park with five friends present. According to legend he was a victim of delusions about his necromantic abilities and convinced he could resurrect himself afterwards. However, there are several indications that he may actually have been murdered. Most spectators of Schrepfer's séances were convinced that the apparitions they saw were real. No clear evidence of deceit seems to ever have been found, but critics have described several suspicions. The techniques that Schrepfer reportedly used for his elaborate effects included actors performing as ghosts, ventriloquism, hidden speaking tubes, glass harmonica sounds, aromatic smoke, camera obscura projections and/or magic lantern projections on smoke, concave mirror projections, and staged thunder. Schrepfer had been friends with pharmacist and Freemason Johann Heinrich Linck the Younger and regularly held lodge meetings at Linck's garden house. Linck could have been helping Schrepfer with drugs and chemicals and also knew about the workings of optical and acoustic devices. Linck owned a magic lantern which was decorated with a crucifix and a skull with wings. Soon after Schrepfer's death, there was a boom of publications attacking or defending his supposed abilities to raise ghosts, expanding Schrepfer's fame across Europe. Several publications included explanations of techniques he might have used to conjure apparitions, which inspired several people to recreate Schrepfer's séances. Christlieb Benedikt Funk, Professor of Physics at the Leipzig University, was possibly the first to publicly recreate such ghost raising demonstrations; however, he was ordered to stop by the university's authorities.

The magician "physicist" Phylidor, also known as "Paul Filidort" and probably the same as Paul de Philipsthal, created what may have been the first true phantasmagoria show in 1790. After a first ghost raising session in Berlin in 1789 led to accusations of fraud and expulsion from Prussia, Phylidor started to market his necromantic shows as an art that revealed how charlatans fooled their audiences. His improved show, possibly making use of the recently invented Argand lamp, was a success in Vienna from 1790 to 1792. Phylidor advertised these shows as "Schröpferischen, und Cagliostoischen Geister Erscheinungen" (Schröpfer esque and Cagliostro esque Ghost Apparitions) and as "Phantasmorasi". probably using the term for the first time. It is assumed Etienne Gaspard Robertson visited one of these shows and was inspired to present his own "Fantasmagorie" shows a few years later. In October 1801 a phantasmagoria production by Paul de Philipsthal opened in London's Lyceum Theatre in the Strand, where it became a smash hit.

Étienne Gaspard "Robertson" Robert, a Belgian inventor and physicist from Liège, became the best known phantasmagoria showman. He is credited for coining the word fantascope, and would refer to all of his magic lanterns by this term. The fantascope was not a magic lantern that could be held by hand, but instead required someone to stand next to it and physically move the entire fantascope closer or further to the screen. The macabre atmosphere in the post revolutionary city was perfect for Robertson's Gothic extravaganza complete with elaborate creations and Radcliffean décor. After discovering that he could put the magic lantern on wheels to create either a moving image or one that increased and decreased in size, Robertson moved his show. He sited his entertainment in the abandoned cloisters kitchen of a Capuchin convent (which he decorated to resemble a subterranean chapel) near the Place Vendôme. He staged hauntings, using several lanterns, special sound effects and the eerie atmosphere of the tomb. This show lasted for six years, mainly because of the appeal of the supernatural to Parisians who were dealing with the upheavals as a result of the French Revolution. Robertson mainly used images surrounded by black in order to create the illusion of free floating ghosts. He also would use multiple projectors, set up in different locations throughout the venue, in order to place the ghosts in environments. For instance, one of his first phantasmagoria shows displayed a lightning filled sky with both ghosts and skeletons receding and approaching the audience. In order to add to the horror, Robertson and his assistants would sometimes create voices for the phantoms. John Evelyn Barlas was an English poet who had written for several phantasmagoria shows during the late 1880s. He used the pseudonym Evelyn Douglas for most of the works written for phantasmagoria. He has written several different works, most of them focusing on the idea of dreams and nightmares. Some of his works include Dreamland, A Dream of China, and Dream Music. French painters of the time, including Ingres and Girodet, derived ideas for paintings from the phantasmagoria, and its influence spread as far as J. M. W. Turner. Walter Benjamin was fascinated by the phantasmagoria and used it as a term to describe the experience of the Arcades in Paris. In his essays, he associated phantasmagoria with commodity culture and its experience of material and intellectual products. In this way, Benjamin expanded upon Marx's statement on the phantasmagorical powers of the commodity. Early stop trick films developed by Georges Méliès most clearly parallel the early forms of phantasmagoria. Trick films include transformations, superimpositions, disappearances, rear projections, and the frequent appearance of ghosts and apparent decapitations. Modern day horror films often take up many of the techniques and motifs of stop trick films, and phantasmagoria is said to have survived in this new form. Maria Jane Jewsbury produced a volume entitled Phantasmagoria, or Sketches of Life and Literature, published by Hurst Robinson & Co, in 1825. This consists of a number of essays on various subjects together with poetry. The whole is dedicated to William Wordsworth. Phantasmagoria is also the title of a poem in seven cantos by Lewis Carroll that was published by Macmillan & Sons in London in 1869, about which Carroll had much to say. He preferred that the title of the volume be found at the back, saying in a correspondence with Macmillan, "it is picturesque and fantastic—but that is about the only thing I like " He also wished that the volume would cost less, thinking that the 6 shillings was about 1 shilling too much to charge. Phantasmagoria's influence on Disney can be found in the countless effects throughout the themed lands and attractions at the theme parks but are likely most memorable in the practical and projection effects of the Haunted Mansion (at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland), and Phantom Manor (at Disneyland Paris), as well live shows such as Fantasmic (at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios), which feature film/video projections on water screens. A series of photographs taken from 1977 to 1987 by photographer and model Cindy Sherman are described as portraying the phantasmagoria of the female body. Her photographs include herself as the model, and the progression of the series as a whole presents the phantasmagoric space projected both onto and into the female body. The 1995 survival horror video game Phantasmagoria is partly based upon these performances. In the game, several flashbacks are shown to fictional phantasmagorias performed by the magician Zoltan "Carno" Carnovasch. However, unlike the real shows, his are much more graphic and violent in nature and involve actual demons instead of projected ones.

A few modern theatrical troupes in the United States and United Kingdom stage phantasmagoria projection shows, especially at Halloween. From February 15 to May 1, 2006, the Tate Britain staged "The Phantasmagoria" as a component of its show "Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Romantic Imagination." It recreated the content of the 18th and 19th century presentations, and successfully evoked their tastes for horror and fantasy. In 2006, David J. Jones discovered the precise site of Robertson's show at the Capuchin convent.