Stage (theatre)

In theatre and performing arts, the stage (sometimes referred to as

the deck in stagecraft) is a designated space for the performance of
productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and
a focal point (the screen in cinema theaters) for the audience. As an
architectural feature, the stage may consist of a platform (often
raised) or series of platforms. In some cases, these may be temporary
or adjustable but in theaters and other buildings devoted to such
productions, the stage is often a permanent feature.

There are several types of stages that vary as to the usage and the
relation of the audience to them.[1] The most common form found in
the West is the proscenium stage. In this type, the audience is located
on one side of the stage with the remaining sides hidden and used by
the performers and technicians. Thrust stages may be similar to
proscenium stages but with a platform or performance area that
extends into the audience space so that the audience is located on
three sides. In theatre in the round, the audience is located on all four
sides of the stage. The fourth type of stage incorporates created and
found stages which may be constructed specifically for a performance
or may involve a space that is adapted as a stage.
Contents

1 Types of staging
1.1 Proscenium stage
1.2 Theatre in the round
1.3 Thrust stage
1.4 Black box
1.5 Created and found spaces
2 Stage terminology
3 Scenographic theory
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Proscenium stage

Since the Italian Renaissance, the most common stage used in

the West has been the proscenium stage which may also be
referred to as a picture frame stage. The primary feature is a
large opening known as the proscenium arch through which the
audience views the performance. The audience directly faces
the stage—which is typically raised several feet above front row
audience level—and views only one side of the scene. This one
side is commonly known as the invisible fourth wall of the
scene. The proscenium arch evolved from the proskenium in
Ancient Greek theaters. This was the space in front of the skênê
or backdrop where the actors actually played.

The first indoor theatres were created in French tennis courts

and Italian Renaissance palaces where the newly embraced
principles of perspective allowed designers to create stunning
vistas with buildings and trees decreasing in size toward a
"vanishing point" on the horizon. Stage floors were raked
upward slightly from front to back in order to contribute to the
perspective illusion and also to make actors more visible to
audiences, who were seated on level floors. Subsequently,
audience seating was raked, and balconies were added to give
audiences a fuller view. By the end of the 19th century, most
stages had level floors, and much of the audience looked down
on, rather than up to, the stage.

The competition among royals to produce elegant and

elaborate entertainments fueled and financed the expansion of
European court theatres. The proscenium—which often was
extremely decorative in the manner of a triumphal arch
—"framed" the prospective picture. The desire of court
painters to show more than one of their perspective
backgrounds led court architects to adapt the pin-rails and
pulleys of sailing ships to the unrolling, and later to the
lowering and raising, of canvas backdrops. A wood (and later
steel) grid above the stage supported pulleys from which
wooden battens, and later steel pipes, rolled down, or
descended, with attached scenery pieces. The weight of heavy
pieces was counterbalanced by sandbags. This system required
the creation of a storage stage house or loft that was usually as
high or higher than the proscenium itself. A "full-fly" stage
could store the entire height of scenery above the visible stage
using the pin-rails before or during performance, whereas a
"half-fly" stage (common in smaller locations) could only store
props of limited size and thus required more careful backdrop
and scenery design. Theatres using these rope systems, which
are manually operated by stagehands, are known as hemp
houses. They have been largely supplanted by counterweight
fly systems.

The proscenium, in conjunction with stage curtains called legs,

conceals the sides of the stage, which are known as the wings.
The wings may be used by theatre personnel during
performances and as storage spaces for scenery and theatrical
properties. Several rows of short curtains across the top of the
stage, called teasers, hide the backdrops, which in turn are
hidden above the stage in the fly system loft until ready for use.
Often, a stage may extend in front of the proscenium arch
which offers additional playing area to the actors. This area is
referred to as the apron. Underneath and in front of the apron
is sometimes an orchestra pit which is used by musicians during
musicals and operas. The orchestra pit may sometimes be
covered and used as an additional playing space in order to
bring the actors closer to the audience. The stage is often raised
higher than the audience. Space above some proscenium
stages may include a flyloft where curtains, scenery, and
battens supporting a variety of lighting instruments may hang.

The numerous advantages of the proscenium stage have led to

its popularity in the West. Many theatrical properties and
scenery may be utilized. Backdrops, curtains and lighting can be
used to greater effect without risk of rigging being visible to the
audience. Entrances and exits can be made more graceful;
surprise becomes possible. The actors only have to concentrate
on playing to the audience in one direction.

Boxes are a feature of more modern stage designs in which

temporary walls are built inside any proscenium stage, at a
slight angle to the original walls, in order to allow audience
members located to the left or right of the proscenium (the
further out, the larger the angle) to see the entirety of the
stage.[citation needed] They enable the creation of rat
runs[clarification needed] around the back of the stage, which
are when cast members have to walk between entrances and
exits without being seen by the audience.

Theatre in the round

This type of stage is located in the centre of the audience, with the
audience facing it from all sides. The audience is placed close to the
action, which provides a feeling of intimacy and involvement.

In-the-round stages require special considerations in production, such

as:

Scenery that does not obscure actors and the rest of the stage from
parts of the audience.
Backdrops and curtains cannot be used, thus the director must find
other ways to set the scene.
Lighting design is more difficult than for a proscenium stage, since the
actor must be lit from all sides without blinding nearby audience
members.
Entrances and exits must be made either through the audience, making
surprise entrances very difficult, or via closed-off walkways, which must
be inconspicuous. As a result, stage entrances are normally in the
corners of the theatre.
The actors need to ensure that they do not have their backs turned to
any part of the audience for long periods of time, in order to be seen
and heard clearly.

Thrust stage
A thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three
sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end.
A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between the
audience and performers 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. An arena, exposed on all sides to the audience, is
without a backstage and relies entirely on entrances in the
house or from under the stage.

As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may

view the stage from three or more sides. If a performance
employs the fourth wall, that imaginary wall must be
maintained on multiple sides. Similar to theatre in the round,
the audience can view the performance from a variety of
perspectives, and as such it is usual for the blocking, props and
scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure that no
perspective is blocked from view. A high backed chair, for
instance, when placed stage right, could create a blind spot in
the stage left action.
Black box
A black box theater consists of a simple yet somewhat
unadorned performance space, ideally a large square room
with black walls and a flat floor, which can be used flexibly to
create a stage and audience area.

Created and found spaces

A stage can also be improvised wherever a suitable space can be found.

Examples may include staging a performance in a non traditional space
such as a basement of a building, a side of a hill or, in the case of a
busking troupe, the street. In a similar manner, a makeshift stage can
be created by modifying an environment. For example, demarcating the
boundaries of a stage in an open space by laying a carpet and arranging
seating before it. The theater company Shakespeare In The Park, in fact,
is based around performing Shakespeare plays in a space that one
wouldn't likely find it, namely, Central Park in New York City.

Stage terminology
The stage itself has been given named areas to facilitate the
precise movement and positioning of actors on a stage (see
Blocking (stage)).

To an actor facing the audience, "left" and "right" are the

reverse of what they are for the audience. To prevent
confusion, actors and directors never use the unmarked terms
left or right for the sides of the stage. Rather, they use a phrase
specifying the viewpoint. The terms "stage left" and "stage
right", respectively, denote the sides of the stage that are on
the actor's left and right when the actor is facing the audience,
while "house left" and "house right" are the reverse, denoting
the sides of the stage as viewed by the audience. In Germany,
stage right and left are reversed, being the director's view
rather than the actor's.[citation needed]

Less ambiguous terms used in theatres that follow a British

tradition are "Prompt Side" or "P Side" (Stage left) and "Off-
Prompt" or "O.P. Side" (Stage Right), relating to the traditional
location of the Stage Manager.[2] In French, the terms "côté
cour" (square side) for stage left and "côté jardin" (garden side)
for stage right are used, in reference to the Théâtre des
Tuileries.

Likewise, the meaning of "front" and "back" would be unclear

because they depend on perspective. Instead, the term
"upstage" is used to denote the part of the stage furthest from
the audience or to motion away from the audience, while
"downstage" denotes the portion of the stage closest to the
audience or to motion in that direction. These terms were
common in older theatres, which gave the audience a better
view of the action by inclining the floor (known as a raked
stage), so upstage actually was at a higher elevation than
downstage.

A raked stage can vary in its incline; ten degrees is considered

ideal[by whom?] for the audience and actor comfort. A dancing
surface incline is often different from an acting incline and can
vary from three degrees to twenty degrees.
Scenographic theory
In relationship to approaches to scenography, Rachel Hann has
proposed that there "are no stages without scenographics".[3]
This is based on an argument that "all stages are also scenes",
[4] which challenges the "deterministic assumption that stages
precede scenography".[5] In this model, stages become
manifest through the place orientating traits of scenographics
(rather than the other way around). The implications of this are
that all theatre is scenographic – even if it has no defined
objects or 'setting' – as all theatre is performed on a stage.
Hann summarises this position by using the hybrid 'stage-scene'
when discussing the tensions between the histories of these
practices, particularly with reference to original Greek skene as
a physical tent or hut that ultimately shaped current
conceptualizations of 'the stage'.

See also