3 The Audience Views the Stage: Theatre Spaces © Casey A. Cass, Regents of the University of Colorado Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-2 Creating the Environment Even before the curtain rises, the theatrical experience has begun. The atmosphere of the theatre building can set the audience’s mood as well as create expectations. Audience members should note: –Is the space formal or informal? –Is it large or small? –How is the stage configured? –How is the audience seated?

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-3 Proscenium Stage Photo by Paul Tepley, courtesy of The Cleveland PlayHouse

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-4 Theatre Spaces Proscenium stage: –This is the most familiar type of theatre space. –The word proscenium comes from the proscenium arch (the frame that outlines the stage and separates the stage space from the audience space). –The auditorium, also referred to as the house, or the front of the house, where the audience is seated, is slanted or raked to allow all rows the ability to see the stage clearly. –Many proscenium auditoriums include a balcony or two, and the main floor seating is known as the orchestra. –The large stage area allows for elaborate scenery, shifted using a fly loft on a counterweight system.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A Modern Proscenium-Stage Theatre The audience is seated at the left, all facing in the one direction, toward the stage. Behind the orchestra pit in the center is the apron on the stage. Behind the proscenium frame are the flats and other scenic elements. Overhead, scenery can be raised into the fly loft above the stage area. 3-5

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-6 Theatre Spaces Arena stage: –This is also known as circle theater or theatre-in-the- round. –The playing space is in the center of the room, with the audience surrounding the stage on all four sides (much like a boxing ring). –Often either the stage is raised or the audience is raised above the floor. –The arena stage is intimate, allowing the audience to literally form a circle around the performers. –It is economical; elaborate scenery is both unnecessary and impossible because all sides of the audience must be able to see the performance.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-7 Arena Stage

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-8 The Stage and Seating in an Arena Theatre

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-9 A Contemporary Arena Theatre © Steve Keating for Callison Architecture/Courtesy of A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Theatre Spaces Thrust stage: –This is the most widely used space in theatre. –With a thrust stage, the audience sits on three sides or in a semicircle, surrounding the stage, which projects into the middle of the audience. –The thrust stage makes the play seem more intimate, with the performers acting within arm’s reach of the audience. –It was developed by the Greeks and used by the Romans, Elizabethans, Chinese, and Japanese, and during the Spanish golden age. –In medieval times, the platform or trestle stage was a version of the thrust.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Thrust Stage with Three-Quarters Seating

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved An Original Thrust Stage © Jose Fuste Raga/Corbis Amphitheatre, Epidaurus, Greece – accoustically sound, 15,000

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved A Modern Thrust Stage © Craig Schwartz

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved An Elizabethan Playhouse Groundlings, audience of up to 3,000, only 60 feet away from stage.

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Stage & Seating Area of a Thrust-Stage Theatre

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Theatre Spaces Created and found spaces –Involved a close look at the physical arrangement of the playing area and its relationship to the audience Jerzy Grotowski and the Performance Group –Presented its productions in a large garage converted into an open theatre space –Influenced by Frenchman Antonin Artaud: “Thus, abandoning the architecture of present-day theaters, we shall take some hangar or barn which we shall have reconstructed according to processes which have culminated in the architecture of certain churches or holy places, and of certain temples in Tibet.”

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Theatre Spaces Challenging the notion of theatrical space –Non-theatre buildings Lofts, warehouses, fire stations, basements, churches, breweries, gymnasiums, etc. Use unusual structures as they are, with their original architectural elements intact Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Theatre Spaces Adapted spaces –Using a space to fit a play rather than making the play fit the space –Macbeth at the EFF –Punchdrunk prodn in 3 warehouses © Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Theatre Spaces Street theatre –Held outdoors in nontraditional settings –Consists of three types: Plays from the standard repertoire presented in the streets Neighborhood theatre—an original play deals with problems and aspirations of a specific population of a city Guerrilla theatre—aggressive, politically oriented theatre produced by an activist group in the streets in an attempt to persuade audiences to become more politically involved 3-19 © Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Theatre Spaces Multifocus environments –More than one playing area –Something is going on in several areas simultaneously –More like everyday life –You select which area you will observe (choice) –No single space or activity is more important than others –Often joined with multimedia theatre

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved All-Purpose Theatre Spaces The Black Box –Can be adapted to almost any configuration –Seats, lights, platforms, levels— flexible and movable

© 2015 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Special Requirements Variables that define environment: –Size, atmosphere, setting –Human scale –Appropriateness and aesthetic distance Environment is important in the total theatre experience.