The document discusses different types of theatre spaces and stages. It describes the proscenium stage as having the audience facing one direction to view the action through a frame, with advantages for spectacle but disadvantages of formality. The thrust stage is described as having the audience on three sides around a stage projecting into the center, offering intimacy. The theatre-in-the-round has performance space in the center surrounded by seating, allowing unconscious communication. Alternative spaces mentioned include arenas, found spaces, and multimedia theatres with simultaneous areas. Black box theatres are described as flexible configurable spaces.

1. Chapter 7

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5.  The audience faces in one direction, as in
a movie theatre
 The action onstage is seen through a
frame of some kind
 Proscenium comes from proscenium arch
—the frame that separates the stage from
the auditorium and forms an outline for
the stage
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6.  Proscenium features:
 Fourth-wall convention
 Rake
 Orchestra
 Fly loft
 Ideal
for spectacles because the
machinery and the workings of the scene
changes can be concealed behind the
proscenium opening
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7.  Other advantages:
 Effective for realistic settings
 Strong central focus rivets attention of
audience
 Disadvantages:
 Creates a temptation to get carried away with
visual pyrotechnics
 Tends to be remote and formal
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9.  Most widely used of all theatre spaces
 The audience sits on three sides, or in a
semicircle, enclosing a stage that projects
into the center
 Types of stages
 Platform
 Wagon
 Corral
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10.  Offers a sense of intimacy
 The rear wall of the stage provides a
focused background for the action
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12.  Also called circle theatre or
theatre-in-the-round
 Has a playing space
in the center of a
square or circle,
with seats for
spectators
surrounding it
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14.  Advantages:
 Offers intimacy
 Allows for unconscious communication that is
created when people form a circle
 Any large room can be converted into this
arrangement
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15.  Anevent such as a game in a sports
arena has a number of similarities to a
theatrical event
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16. A theatre set up in a space not ordinarily
used for performance
 All early theatres probably began this way
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17.  Street theatre
 Brings performances
to places where people
do not normally attend
traditional theatre
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18.  Morethan one playing area where
something is going on simultaneously in
each area
 Sort of like a three-ring circus
 More like everyday life
 No single space or activity is more important
than any other
 Multimedia theatre
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20.  Can be adapted to an almost infinite
range of configurations
 Sometimes referred to as black boxes
 Every aspect—seats, lights, platforms,
levels—is flexible and movable
 Aesthetic distance can be adjusted for each
production’s need
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