Performance Spaces
What's covered
Key facts
The apron (forestage) is the part of the stage nearest the audience, in front of the main playing line; it brings the action closer to the spectators.
In an in-the-round (arena) configuration the audience surrounds the acting area on all sides.
Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty called for the abolition of the stage/auditorium divide so that performer and audience share the same space — a principle site-specific and promenade theatre directly embody.
The apron (forestage) is the part of the stage that projects beyond the proscenium arch, bringing the action nearer the audience.
Backstage areas in a thrust configuration are located behind the stage, on the one side not occupied by audience.
A lighting designer must rig lanterns on both sides of a traverse stage so actors are lit whichever bank they are facing.
A black-box (studio) theatre has no fixed stage; its movable seating can be reconfigured into end-on, thrust, in-the-round or traverse for different productions.
Because the audience views actors from all sides, costume must communicate character fully from every angle — there is no "back" that stays hidden.
A found space is an existing venue used largely as it is; a purpose-built theatre is designed and equipped specifically for performance.
Centre stage is the midpoint of the performance area, between the two wings.
Sample questions
A taste of the 82 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
How does end-on staging differ from a traditional proscenium arch?
- •the audience sits on two sides facing each other across a central stage
- •the audience wraps around the stage on three sides in a horseshoe shape
- •the stage is framed by a proscenium arch separating it from the auditorium
- ✓There is no architectural arch; it is an open, flat end-on relationship
What is the biggest staging challenge for actors performing in-the-round?
- •It is impossible to use lighting from overhead in an in-the-round space
- •They cannot use microphones because the audience surrounds the speakers
- ✓They must move frequently so no section of the audience sees only
- •They must speak at twice the normal volume because the audience is all around them
What is the effect of promenade staging on the audience's relationship with the performance?
- •It allows the company to perform without any set or lighting design
- •It creates the clearest sightlines of any staging configuration
- ✓It implicates the audience physically in the story, creating a more immersive
- •It makes the performance shorter because scenes run simultaneously
In a proscenium arch theatre, where does the audience sit relative to the stage?
- •along both sides
- ✓directly in front
- •on all sides
- •on three sides
What sightline challenge does a thrust stage create for actors?
- •Actors cannot use a fourth wall because there are no walls at all
- ✓Actors keep rotating so no side sees only their back
- •All entrances must be made through the audience, which slows the pace
- •The audience on three sides makes lighting from the front impossible
What is the 'corridor effect' associated with traverse staging?
- •Lighting must be set up in a corridor pattern behind both audience banks
- •Sound travels poorly across the traverse, creating an acoustic corridor
- •The audience feels they are watching through a hallway, reducing immersion
- ✓The long, narrow playing area creates a tunnel-like space that emphasises journeys
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