Theatre Spaces

1. Theatre Spaces Performance spaces for all theatrical venues.

2. Proscenium Arch -first developed by Italian designers during the Renaissance -”fourth wall” actors do not acknowledge the audience. The audience appears to be “listening in” or eavesdropping • Auditorium is usually raked (or sloped), stage is not. Long ago during the Restoration (1750’s), this use to be the opposite. • Focuses the audience’s attention. They know where to look.

3. Example of a stage like AQ’s

4. Thrust • Most popular of all the spaces • Audience on ¾ sides • Sharp corners or semi circle developed during Greece and Roman time period - Modern thrust, most well known, was developed during Shakespeare’s time.

5. Thrust Stage example

6. Arena • We see it today most often as a sports arena Food for thought: think about a theatrical production and a sporting event; how are they alike? • We can see how it sprung from the Roman Arena: such as The Coliseum • Elaborate scenery is impossible (we can’t see around it!) • Sometimes it can be very intimate and small and economic.

7. Colliseum

8. Arena stage

9. Created Space • Found space was not meant originally meant to be used for performance. • All early theatre began this way. We will see this in the Middle Ages • Modern “created space” is designed to bring audience and actors closer together as in street theatre

10. Found spaces

11. Flexible space • - a space is designed for some kind of theatrical event and the seating and stage can be in any configuration. • An example would be the AQ Black Box.

13. Let’s look at the theatre!