The Space

The physical space of the performance.

Are the stage and house enclosed?

What are the dimensions of the acting area?

What is the shape of the performance area?

What is the shape of the house?

Are the Stage and House Enclosed?

Theatre artist/engineers are often concerned with audience focus. To what is the audience paying attention? If the stage and house are open to the environment, then the audience has more distractions than if the performance was in an enclosed space. Birds flying overhead or being nearby, flies and other insects, even the heat of the sun could be distracting factors. It's amazing that theatre happened in the first place under these conditions! Granted, in ancient Greece, people knew the stories, but this was not necessarily true in the later Roman productions of Plautus.

Once architects began designing enclosed theatres, then other concerns -- and opportunites -- needed to be addressed. In theatre, the focus is on the actor; in museums the focus is on a work of art while story and surprise might be the focus in a theme park. Probably the most demanding concern in an enclosed space is visibility. Consequently, lighting and its technical aspects developed. Safety was not a primary concern until the mid-eighteenth century.(1)

Richard and Helen Leacroft, Theatre and Playhouse (London and New York: Metheun, 1985) 86.