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?

What is the Shape of the House?

The shape of the audience area helps determine the kind of theatrical experience the patron encounters, especially in a built theatre. It also determines focus.

The Undefined Shape:

There really is no such thing as an undefined shape. Theatre happens outside the built theatre structure, and consequently there is no house or defined architectural shape. However, in these instances, people do shape themselves around the performance area. The outdoor performances tend to encourage the circular, carnival, or parade arrangement. These arrangements usually offer the patron a close proximity to the performer. And if the patron is dissatisfied with his or her position, the patron has the freedom to attempt to adjust. Such a phenomenon offers a liveliness to a performance and a particular connection between performer and patron that does not take place in seated houses. But once the performance took place at the bottom of a hill, people sat down on the hillside and the shape of the house was born. The goal from the patron's point of view was (and continues) to be able to find the best situation to see and hear clearly. It was, indeed, the theatrical artist/engineer who cared about defining space.

The Defined Shape:

Once theatre structures were built, then the shape of the house or audience area became defined. The shape of the house is defined by the direction the audience faces in relation to the stage. One of the hallmarks of the defined house shape is its tendency to define class. That is, the house became divided according to political, social and economic class; people of a certain class are expected to sit according to class standing. Size of the house became a factor in determining class. The smaller the house, the less likely the patron can participate in class inequity.

The Circular or Oval Shape. The circular or oval shape is an offshoot of the natural circle arrangement and connects to a stand-alone stage shape. That is, the stage does not connect to any other architectural form. It offers the most vibrant sense of community as part of the theatrical experience. Patrons can see each other when facing the direction of the performance and consequently the audience clearly becomes part of that performance. Each area around the house offers a different perspective of the stage. Consequently, patrons see the performance from several different perspectives. We find the circular or oval shape in the coliseum of ancient Rome, the Cornish Round of the medieval age, the sports stadium, and the arena stage area shape today.

The Inverted Thrust Shape. The inverted thrust shape usually connects to a stage shape that markedly juts into the house. The orchestra area of the performance space in ancient Greece significantly juts into the audience area and subsequently defines the shape of the cavea. The typical theatre of the early Hellenistic period shows the cavea or house area having a semicircular shape. The Theatre of Dionysis extends the house area to beyond semicircular, perhaps because people of ancient Greece saw the circle defining balance and beauty. The Elizabethan stage seems to have had the inverted thrust shape, although some scholars argue that audience members were on all sides of the stage. A typical inverted thrust shape today is the result of a thrust stage. Patrons are not as aware of other audience members in this shape as those in the circular shape, but it lends possibilities to class distinction without the size of the house necessarily being a factor. Also, audience members see the perfomance from different perspectives and thus experience the performance differently. The degree of difference, however, is less with the inverted thrust shape than that of the circular or oval shape.

The Single-Level Fan or Concave Shape. Usually, we find the fan shaped house connected to a proscenium stage, but we also find the single-level fan shape built in ancient Greece at Argos and Pergamon. We find an elongated concave shape in the Teatro Farnese. The focus in this theatre was both on the performance on one end of the structure and on the king or prince seated at the opposite end. Today, the fan or concave shape is marked by the audience seeing a common performance from a common perspective, as all patrons face as close to a same direction as can be physically possible. Today's single-level fan or concave shaped houses can either have continental seating or one divided by aisles, but the single-level fan or concave shape actually places a larger percentage of patrons much further from the actors than the other shapes. Seeing detail of expression from back of the house would be a problem in large theatres. Often, modern theatres divide the shape by economic class. Those who can afford it are placed nearer the stage area.

The Multi-Level Fan or Concave Shape. As with the single-level fan or concave shape, the multi-level fan or concave shaped house is usually connected to a proscenium stage. This shape attempts to place more patrons closer to the stage by using boxes or balconies. Because the audience sitting in boxes and balconies are on a higher plane than the majority of the house, they actually see the performance differently. The downward angle makes the stage floor a point of focus. Consequently, theatrical artists/engineers treat the floor as part of the scenic and lighting design. A phenomenon of the box seating, also, is its highly defined physical indication of social, political, or economic standing. People sitting in a box look down on those beneath their class standing as well as across to those of equal class standing. At the same time, people seated on the main floor of the house can easily see those people in the box seats. People came to the theatre to see and to be seen. This way, the theatre experience truly became a social event defined by class. The task of the theatrical artist/engineer was to manipulate the focus from the patrons seated in the house onto the stage. Perhaps this spurred the development of ways to lower the illumination in the house and brighten the stage.