THEA 1314 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Proscenium, Experimental Theatre, Spanish Golden Age
Document Summary
Quick review: theatre = actor + spectator + shared space, theatron = greek for "seeing place" Spectrums of function: amusement - inspiration, entertainment - efficacy, empathy - aesthetic distance, 5 c"s of theater appreciation, culture, creativity, coolness, commentary, craft. Proscenium characteristics: deep stage / playing area, audience all facing same direction, audience and / or stage may be raked. Stage is a few feet higher than audience seating. Proscenium: comes from greek word proskenion / roman word proscaenium, pro [ in front of ] + skene / sceaneum frons [scenery] Proscenium is ideal for : elaborate / intricate settings, complete sets. Spectacle: ability to hide / store machinery, size, depth, and scale, quick, fluid scene changes, singular audience perspective (everyone sees the same thing) Thrust characteristics: playing area thrusts out into the audience : audience is on three sides of the actors, area behind provides a focused background and / or backstage space, most widely used venue throughout history.
