LITERATURE

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 16
“Stage Spaces”

By : (5 E)

Ni Putu Nia Oktarini (1512021164)

Ni Putu Rara Stianing Utami (1512021174)

I Kadek Gita Darmadi (1512021180)

Putu Ayu Linda Kristiana Dewi (1512021182)

Ni Wayan Yuli Erayanti (1512021183)

Ni Kadek Trisna Dewi (1512021188)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION

GANESHA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
 Summary of Four Basic Stage Spaces in Theater

According to Wilson (1976), another important element in theater experience is the

atmosphere of the theater environment. The physical environment will create spectators’
expectations when they arrived at a theater performance, about what is the event to perform
and the experience after it takes place. The environment can be the setting of a building
before the play begins. Even if the environment is large or small, indoor or outdoor, familiar
or unfamiliar, and formal or informal, it will affect audience’s response to the performance.
So, the audience must realize the environment firstly. In addition, the environment has been
planned and created by director and designers with the ways: by making an unconventional
way in how the audience enters the theater firstly. Secondly, by readjusting the theater’s
space will make the audience aware of the theater environment. Furthermore, there are four
basic stage spaces in theater.

Firstly, Proscenium Stage is the most common form of theatre building. Proscenium
stage was first introduced in Italy. The name proscenium stage comes from “proscenium
arch” that is the frame or arch separating the stage from the auditorium. This type of stage
gives everyone in the audience a good view because the performers need only focus on one
direction rather than continually moving around the stage to give a good view from all sides.
The advantage by using proscenium stage is the scene design can easily create the illusion of
a genuine. There are 2 styles of proscenium stage namely modern proscenium stage and
formal proscenium stage. In modern proscenium theater, behind the orchestra pit, in the
center is the apron on the stage, and the flats and other scenic elements in the proscenium
frame. The example of this style is The Drury Lane and Covent Garden in London. While in
the formal proscenium theater, the position of the audience is in the downstairs orchestra, in
balconies, and in side boxes facing an elaborate picture-frame stage. The example of this
style is The Park Theater and Burton’s Chambers Street in New.

Secondly, the arena stage also called Circle Theater or theater in the round has
playing space in the center of a square or circle, with seats for audience around the circle or
on the four sides. The stage can be raised a few feet off the main floor or it can be on floor
itself. There is usually some kind of demarcation indicating the limits of the playing area,
when seating is close to the stage.The advantage of the arena theater like that it offers more
intimacy that the ordinary proscenium. The performance in the center and the audience can
be closer one to another. Arena theater is one of the oldest stage form, as an example of
theater that evolved from an arena form is the Greek theater. The position of an altar is in the
center, while members of the tribe stood on the edge of the circle. Another example, that
evolves from an arena form, such as in Lincolnshire and Corn wall in England, in Touraine in
France, and in a riverbed in Kyoto, Japan. However, there was a proliferation of arena stage
in the United States. The examples are the theater started by Margo Jones in Dallas, Texas,
and the Penthouse theater at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Thirdly, thrust stage is a stage which has basic arrangement and three quarter seating.
The audience sitting is on three sides or semicircle.At the back of playing area, there are
some forms of stage house providing for the entrances and exits of the actors as scene
change. The entrances and exits are made at the rear to give opportunity for some scenery. As
same as with arena stage, the audience in a thrust stage theatre can see the stage from three or
more sides because the audience can see the performance from multiple perspectives. The
props and scenery will receive thorough consideration to ensure that no perspective is
blocked from view. The thrust stage is the earliest stage in the western theater, which first
appeared in the Greek theater. Another example are in Chicago Shakespeare Theater,
Chicago in USA and The Playhouse, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, in USA.

Lastly, found space is one of four basic stage spaces which involve the spectator to
take a part in a theater. There are several varieties or developments of created or found space
namely, use of non-theater buildings, adaptation of space to fit individual productions,
outdoor settings, street theater, and multifocus environments. The use of non-theater
buildings means that in performing a drama, it will use unusual buildings for theater like
lofts, warehouse, fire station, basement, churches, breweries, and gymnasiums with their
original ornament or architectural elements intact. The adaptation of space to fit individual
production or in simple word, it can be said that the use of space to fit the play rather than
make the play fit the space. The outdoor settings are where the theater takes place out-of-
doors. Street Theatre is held on the unusual setting like parks, hospitals, jails, and bus stations
in order to bring the art of the theatre brought to the people who are not see it otherwise.
There are three types of street theatre namely, plays from the standard repertoire presented on
the street, neighborhood theater which bring the problems and aspiration of an area of city,
guerilla theatre which produced by an activist group in the street with an aim to persuade the
audience to become politically involved. Multifocus Environment is when there are more
than one playing area in the theatre and something is going on in several of them
simultaneously.
 In conclusion, environments are important in the theater. Environmental arrangement
in the theater is aimed to provide a wider range of space for actors and better interaction of
flexibility between audience and actor. The type of environment in the theater is about the
layout, setting, size and atmosphere. All of them are proponent as well as supporting
theatrical performances. Theater environment is meant more about the arrangement of the
main stage which is the place for the actors to play their part. Theater stage can be placed
outside or inside the room. The extent of the theater stage depends on the size of the type of
staging and the number of spectators. The types of the stage can be divided into smaller
drama theater, namely arena and thrust stage and larger drama theater, namely created and
proscenium stage.