Studio 63 DOCUMENTS

Studio 63 DOCUMENTS Feb 12, 2020 23:31:21 GMT 1 Freddie likes this

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Post by Freddie on Feb 12, 2020 23:31:21 GMT 1

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Parts of a theatre
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This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (March 2012)

The classic proscenium style stage of the New York State Theater.

Contents
1 Types of theatres
2 Stage
2.1 Stage directions or stage positions
2.2 Stage components
3 House
3.1 Front of house
4 Backstage or offstage
5 References
Types of theatres
Main article: Stage (theatre)
Arena: The playing area is in the center of a large open space which usually seats thousands of people.
Proscenium: The audience directly faces the playing area which is separated by a portal called the proscenium arch. The stage is often raised a few feet higher than the first rows of the audience. The audience is on a rake, getting higher as the seating goes towards the rear of the house.
Thrust: The playing area protrudes out into the house with the audience seating on 3 sides.
Theatre in the round: The playing area is surrounded by audience seating on all sides.
Traverse: The elongated playing area is surrounded by audience seating on two sides.
Black box theatre: A bare-bones stage of various seating types.
Stage

Areas of a typical (proscenium) stage.
The area of the theatre in which the performance takes place is referred to as the stage.

Stage directions or stage positions
In order to keep track of how performers and set pieces move around the space, the stage is divided up into sections oriented based on the performers perspective to the audience. Movement is choreographed by blocking which is organized movement on stage created by the director to synchronize the actor's movement onstage in order to use these positions.

Upstage: The area of the stage furthest from the audience.
Downstage: The area of the stage closest to the audience.
Stage Left: The area of the stage to the performer's left, when facing downstage (i.e. towards the audience).
Stage Right: The area of the stage to the performer's right, when facing downstage (i.e. towards the audience).
Center Stage: The center of the playing (performance) area.
Center Line: An imaginary reference line on the playing area that indicates the exact center of the stage, travelling from up to downstage.
Onstage: The portion of the playing area visible to the audience.
Offstage: The area surrounding the playing space not visible to the audience. Typically this refers to spaces accessible to the performers but not the audience, such as the wings, crossovers, and voms.
Note that for non-proscenium performance spaces, typically one direction is arbitrarily denoted as "downstage" and all other directions reference that point.

Stage components
Apron: The area of the stage in front of the proscenium arch, which may be small or, in a thrust stage, large.
Backstage: Areas of the theatre adjacent to the stage accessible only to performers and technicians, including the wings, crossover, and dressing rooms. Typically this refers to areas directly accessible from the stage and does not include spaces such as the control booth or Orchestra pit
Crossover: The area used by performers and technicians to travel from stage left to right out of sight of the audience onstage created with masking and drapery.
Plaster Line: An imaginary reference line on the playing area that indicates where the proscenium arch is. Typically, the plaster line runs across the stage at the back face (upstage face) of the proscenium wall.
Proscenium: The portal that divides the audience from the stage in traditional Western theatres.
Prompt corner: Area just to one side of the proscenium where the stage manager stands to cue the show and prompt performers.
Rake: A slope in the performance space (stage), rising away from the audience.
Safety curtain: A heavy fireproof curtain, in fiberglass, iron or similar material placed immediately behind the proscenium.
Shell: A hard, often removable surface, designed to reflect sound out into the audience for musical performances.
Smoke Pocket: Vertical channels against the proscenium designed to contain the safety curtain.
Thrust stage: A performance space projecting well in front of the proscenium arch, usually with the audience on three sides.
Wings: Areas that are part of a stage deck but offstage (out of sight of the audience). The wings are typically masked with legs. The wing space is used for performers preparing to enter, storage of sets for scenery changes and as a stagehand work area. Wings also contain technical equipment, such as the fly system.
House

A view from the stage of Knjaževsko-srpski teatar showing the control booths, a balcony, and some catwalks,
The house can refer to any area which is not considered playing space or backstage area. Outside the theatre itself this includes the lobby, coat check, ticketing counters, and restrooms. More specifically, the house refers to any area in the theatre where the audience is seated. This can also include aisles, the orchestra pit, control booth, balconies and boxes.

Orchestra or Orchestra Pit: In productions where live music is required, such as ballet, folk-dance groups, opera, and musicals, the orchestra is positioned in front and below of the stage in a pit. The pit is usually a large opening ranging from 4–6 feet (1.2–1.8 m) wide, 20–40 feet (6.1–12.2 m) long and 6–10 feet (1.8–3.0 m) deep. Some orchestra pits have lifts or elevators that can raise the floor of the pit up to the same height as the stage. This allows for easier movement of instruments among other things. Often an orchestra pit will be equipped with a removable pit cover which provides safety by eliminating the steep drop off and also increases the available acting area above. In most cases, some sort of lattice or sound port is built into the front of the orchestra pit, to allow audience members in the front rows to hear the music while still having a wall to keep them separated from the orchestra. The orchestra pit is the closest to the audience.
Auditorium: The section of the theatre designated for the viewing of a performance. Includes the patrons main seating area, balconies, boxes, and entrances from the lobby. Typically the control booth is located in the back of the auditorium, although for some types of performance an audio mixing positing in located closer to the stage within the seating.
Vomitorium: A passage situated below or behind a tier of seats.
Control booth: The section of the theatre designated for the operation of technical equipment, followspots, lighting and sound boards, and is sometimes the location of the stage manager's station. The control booth is located in the theatre in such a way that there is a good, unobstructed view of the playing area without causing any (or minimal) distraction to the audience (i.e. preventing distracting light leak or noise), and is generally an enclosed space.
Catwalks: A catwalk is a section of the house hidden in the ceiling from which many of the technical functions of a theatre, such as lighting and sound, may be manipulated

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