CHAPTER 6

MAKING THEATRE
TODAY
Objective: To identify the principal theatre
configurations and stage shapes.

OUTLINE
I - THEATRE SPACES
II - PROFESSIONAL THEATRE
III - AMATEUR THEATRE
IV- -CHILDREN’S THEATRE
 I - THEATRE SPACES
 Three basic theatre spaces dominate:
Proscenium, trust, and arena stages. In
addition, to these three, a few common
arrangements are also used.
I-1 Proscenium stages
 It is the most popular theatre shape in western
Europe and the United States
 It is marked by a proscenium arch or frame
that separates the stage and the auditorium
 The auditorium or front of house is arranged
so that all seats face the stage.
Picture
 I-2 Trust Stages
 Trust Stages are also called Elizabethan,
Shakespearean, or three-quarter-round stages.

 Audience members are placed on three sides

of the action, usually on a raked (slanted)
floor to improve sight lines, and in balconies.

 Actors enter the playing area from the back or

vomitories (tunnels that run through and
under the audience and open near the stage
itself (also called Voms)
Picture
I-3 Arena Stage

 The audience in a theatre with an arena stage

surrounds the playing area, hence its other name:
Theatre in the round.

 Less common than either proscenium or trust

stages, arena stages exist throughout the United
States.
 I-4 Other Configurations
 Sometimes, acting companies take their
performances to audiences instead of having
audiences come to them. For such performances,
special of spatial arrangements must be found or
created.

Booth Stage
 Actors erect a curtain before which they play,
either on a raised platform or in cleared area.
Booth Stage
Alley Stage
Alley stages place the audience on two sides, with actors performing
between them.
 II - PROFESSIONAL THEATRE
 People who work in professional theatre get paid
adequately.

 Professional theatre artists often belong to unions

that specify when and how they can work and for
how much: they are guarded by a union contract.

 Broadway, the Road or Road Show, Off Broadway,

Off-Off-Broadway, Regional Not-for-Profit theatres,
and Dinner Theatres are professional theatres.
III - AMATEUR THEATRE
 Amateur theatre is, technically, theatre performed
and produced by people who are not paid.

 The two major kinds of amateur theatres in the

United States are educational theatre and
community theatre.
 IV- -CHILDREN’S THEATRE
 The repertory of children’s theatre usually consists
of plays specially written for kids.

 Children’s theatres have both professional

company, a university program, or an amateur
group composed of community volunteers.

 Children’s theatres aim to produce plays with

special appeal to young audiences.
THANK YOU
DR Y. ETTIEN