What are the five main types of theatre spaces?

What are the five main types of theatre spaces?

The most common types of stage arrangements are listed below.

• Proscenium stages. Proscenium stages have an architectural frame, known as the proscenium arch, although not always arched in shape.
• Thrust stages.
• Theatres in-the-round.
• Arena theatres.
• Black-box or studio theatres.
• Platform stages.
• Hippodromes.
• Open air theatres.

What is a thrust in theatre?

A thrust theatre has audience members on three sides of the stage, leaving one side for taller scenery. It is sometimes called “three quarter round”. The Ancient Greek and Elizabethan stages were thrust stages; the major benefit of this style of stage is that it brings the actor into closer proximity with the audience.

What are the parts of a thrust stage?

A thrust theatre stage is known by its arrangement which consists of being surrounded by audience on three sides. The Fourth side serves as the background. Often the playing area is of square or rectangular shape, usually raised and surrounded by raked seating.

What are thrust stages used for?

One of the benefits of thrust stages is that they encourage a deeper connection between the audience and performers. While the audience is typically looking “in” at the performance on a proscenium stage, the performers are effectively looking “out” at the audience on a thrust stage.

Is an amphitheatre a thrust stage?

Hang on… that’s a photo of a Greek Amphitheatre! Yes… it’s the amphitheatre at Hierapolis in Turkey (part of Greece in ancient history) and it’s also a thrust theatre. The Thrust configuration is the oldest known fixed type of staging in the world, and it is thousands of years old!

Where can I find a thrust stage?

United States

• Casa Manana in Fort Worth, TX.
• A Noise Within in Pasadena, CA.
• The ANTA Washington Square Theatre in Greenwich Village, New York (now demolished)
• The Octagon Stage at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, Alabama.
• The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, CA.
• The Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, CA.

Where can you find a thrust stage?

The thrust stage, which is also called the open stage or the platform stage, was used in the corrales of Spain’s Golden Age of theater (beginning about 1570) and in the traditional No theater of Japan. It was also used in the first London playhouses, including the Globe, which were built during Elizabethan times.

What is a thrust stage used for?

A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area. Entrances onto a thrust are most readily made from backstage, although some theatres provide for performers to enter through the audience using vomitory entrances.

Who uses a thrust stage?