Bayfront Performing Arts

        Types of Theatres

Theatres are built in four different configurations.  Each type of theatre has it’s own advantages and challenges

.  

Proscenium Stage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

The most common and the largest of theaters is called the Proscenium. Seating up to 3,000 people or more, the Proscenium is used for big shows with big casts and big scenery.  The Proscenium is arranged like a movie theatre with a Proscenium Arch that frames the stage. The audience views the performance from the same general angle.

​

Audience

Large Proscenium theaters often have several levels of seating. The first floor of seating is called the Orchestra, the 2nd floor is called the Mezzanine and the 3rd floor is the Balcony. Not all Proscenium stages have 3 floors of seating. Ticket prices usually go down as the seats get farther from the stage, so the more expensive seats are in the center of the Orchestra or first few rows of the Mezzanine. The Balcony seats are the least expensive but are the farthest from the stage so people often bring binoculars to see better from the Balcony. The Box Seats on the right and left of the Proscenium Arch are where dignitaries are seated to “be seen”.  Box Seats have a good view of the wings offstage but a bad angle for the performance. President Lincoln was seated in the Box Seats when he was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.

 

Parts of the Stage

On the deck of the stage, different areas have different names. Off stage right and left are called the wings where actors make entrances and exits.  Often there is Fly Space above the stage ("flies" for short) where scenic pieces and sometimes actors fly in and out of the theatre. The Crossover is  where actors can go from one side of the backstage to the other without being seen by the audience.  The Crossover may be far upstage behind scenery, below the stage or even outside the building.  Sometimes the crossover is behind the Cyclorama  - a huge single piece of fabric that hangs from one side of the stage to the other just in front of the back wall, it is used for spectacular lighting effects.

​

Proscenium Stages in San Diego

Spreckles Theatre, Balboa Theatre, Civic Center, Mandel Weiss and Mandeville Auditorium (UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse), Don Powell (SDSU) Old Globe Theatre, Moxie Theatre.

​

 

Thrust Stage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

 

Audiences are seated on 3 sides of the Thrust Stage.  Set design often uses the floor because the audience is usually on a steep rake (angle).  Actors enter from vomitoriums (voms) that go underneath the audience.

Thrust Stages in San Diego

Forum Theatre at UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse, Cygnet Theatre in Old Town, Lambs Players- Semi-thrust in Coronado, Blk Box  -Ion Theatre Company.

​

Arena Stage/In-the-Round

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

The Arena stage has audience seated on all sides.  The most intimate of theaters, the Arena usually seats less than 300 people. The stage directions are different from those used in the other theaters based on a clock or North, South, East, West because actors are always facing different directions.  

Arena Stages in San Diego

The White Theatre at the Old Globe.

​

 

Black Box Theatre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

The Black Box theatre is an open space that can be arranged in any way.  Sometimes designers will arrange a Black Box in a Cabaret Style with tables and chairs where the actors can mingle among the patrons.  Other options have put the playing space like a runway down the center of the audience.  The audiences are usually small and experimental plays are often performed in a Black Box. Black Box theaters are at most colleges and Universities.

Black Box Theatres in San Diego

The Space at the Lyceum Theatre, The Pottiker at La Jolla Playhouse. Black Box theaters are at most colleges and Universities. Bayfront's theatre is a Black Box Theatre!

 

​

Stage Directions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

Stage Directions for Proscenium and Thrust stages are above. Stage directions depend on where the audience is. In this case the audience would be at the bottom of the diagram but if they were at the top, the stage directions would be different. Remember that Stage Right and Stage Left are the Actor's Right and Left.  The Director is the one who has to flip the directions in her/his mind. Note that the audience would be closest to the Downstage area.  Downstage and Upstage come from the time when the stage was Raked (or on an angle) so that when the actor moved toward the audience they actually travelled down and when the moved away from the audience they moved up.  Raked stages are still used today but even a flat stage uses the terms Upstage and Downstage.

Remember that an Arena or In-the Round stage would not use these stage directions but instead N,S,E,W or the face of a clock would be set up between the actors, directors, designers, and crew.

The general term for where actors move and when is called Blocking or Staging.  When an actor makes a specific move from one place on stage to another we call that a Cross. We use an X as a symbol for this move.  So if a director asks the actor to "Cross Down Right"  the actor would write XDR.  They might then XUR or Exit L.  These shortcuts are used when the actors are putting the play onto the stage and each actor is writing their blocking into their script. Always use pencil!  Directors often change their minds!