[00:00.00]Throughout the long history of theater, three basic types of stages have prevailed. [00:05.47]Each of these styles has advantages and disadvantages, and each is good for certain types of plays. [00:12.15]Let’s take a look at the three styles and see why each has been so successful. [00:17.09]The three designs are (1) the proscenium or picture-frame stage, (2) the arena or circle stage, and (3) the thrust stage with three-quarter seating.
[00:29.56]The first design, the proscenium stage, gets its name from the proscenium arch, the frame that sort of outlines the stage and separates it from the audience. [00:39.46]The proscenium stage is also called the picture-frame stage because it looks like a large picture frame that the audience looks through to see the action of the play. [00:49.12]The seats for the audience all face in the same direction, toward the stage at the front end of the theater.
[00:55.18]The stage area of proscenium theaters is usually deep, and this allows for elaborate scenery and scene changes. [01:02.81]Scenery pieces—called backdrops—are hung on ropes or cables at the rear, in layers, one behind the other. [01:10.87]They’re called backdrops because they can be dropped into position and then raised again as necessary. [01:16.76]The number of different backdrops possible allows the scene designer to create an extremely realistic set.
[01:23.90]However, the proscenium arch also creates a distancing effect—which is an advantage for certain types of drama, but a disadvantage for others. [01:33.17]The proscenium works really well for large-scale productions with lots of characters and action, but for some plays—for, example, close-up views of real life— the proscenium is sort of a barrier between the actors and the audience.
[01:49.41]Next, the arena stage. [01:52.35]In the past half-century, there’s been a movement to bring theater closer to real life ... a movement toward more informal, more intimate theater. [02:02.27]Thus, we have the arena stage—also called the circle theater or theater-in-the- round. [02:09.24]In the arena theater, the stage is in the center of a square or circle, with seats for the audience around it on all sides. [02:17.55]The actors are in the center, so everyone in the audience can be close to them.[02:22.57]The effect is a sense of intimacy, a kind of closeness that comes whenever people form a circle.
[02:28.81]The arena is the oldest style of theater. [02:32.10]It’s interesting to note that almost all early theatrical performances were “in the round,” as ceremonies, rituals, and dances in all parts of the world took place in a circle.
[02:43.73]One disadvantage of the arena theater is that, while its design allows for intimacy, it also makes it impossible to have elaborate scenery or scene changes. [02:54.02] This lack of flexibility is one reason why the third style of theater has become very popular again.
[03:00.92]The third design—the thrust stage—falls somewhere between the proscenium and the arena styles.[03:08.11] In the thrust stage theater, the audience sits on three sides or in a half-circle, around a stage that sticks out into the center. [03:15.82]Behind the stage is a stage house from which the actors enter and exit, and scenery is changed.[03:22.36] The thrust stage is kind of a compromise between the proscenium and the arena styles.[03:28.42] It combines the scenic features of the proscenium theater with the intimacy of the arena stage.
[03:34.17]The formal English theaters of Shakespeare’s day were thrust stage theaters, and today it’s the most widely used of all the designs.[03:43.89] Its advantages are obvious.[03:46.24] It has the intimacy of three-quarter seating around the actors, and the stage house at the rear makes scene changes possible.[03:53.41] Also, the fact that so many great dramatic works were written for it gives the thrust stage a prominent position among the other major forms.
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