stage

…important innovation was that the stage floor was flat and had no grooves; elevators raised set pieces from the 50 feet of working space below the stage, and flying machines moved other pieces into the 76 feet of overhead space. In Booth’s new theatre he abandoned the apron and used…

…apron, or extension of the stage, and doors in front of the proscenium. He divided the stage into three parts—the apron, a main acting area, and a raised inner stage with curtains. This permitted a continuous flow of action and eliminated the rearrangement of scripts that had previously been necessary…

The most important feature of the Roman theatre as distinct from the Greek theatre was the raised stage. As every seat had to have a view of the stage, the area occupied by the seating (cavea) was limited to a semicircle. As in…

Those elements of the design of a theatre that serve primarily the aesthetics of theatre performance are the stage and the stage support facilities, often referred to as backstage spaces (though the spaces will not necessarily be behind the stage or even…

…the audience and flooded the performing area with light. The larger Roman theatres were also outdoors, but the added luxury of a coloured awning stretched over the spectators softened the glare of the sun. Later, in the Middle Ages, miracle plays and mystery plays were primarily performed outdoors on the…

…period the arrangement of the stage floor also changed to fit the requirements of spectacle. After 1850 the stage floor was usually constructed so that floorboards could be removed for raising and lowering machinery between the joists. Sometimes a vertical panorama would run from overhead through a groove in the…

From a technical point of view, the harnessing of electric power exerted a greater influence on stage design and production techniques than any other single invention. Stage lighting, as opposed to mere stage illumination, became raised to the status of an art form…