Figure 7—Plan of the Thirty-Ninth Street Theatre, New York. An example of good planning for sight-lines, illustrating an auditorium with center aisle.
In height the proscenium should be fittingly proportioned to the width, with a minimum of about twelve feet in mind. A stage too low and too narrow will throw the human figure out of proportion to his surroundings on the stage. Let us assume that we have a stage with a proscenium opening twenty-four feet wide and not less than twelve feet high. The aggregate off-stage space right and left should then equal about twenty-four feet, making the total width of the stage-house forty-eight feet. The depth of the stage should be not less than twenty-four feet. The height of the stage, from floor to “rigging loft” should be not less than thirty-six feet. The cellar under the stage should be not less than ten or twelve feet deep. This is merely a rough guide, using the measurements of the proscenium as index.
Claude B. Hagen, construction engineer for the Century Theatre in New York, suggests a “rule of seven” for the derivation of these dimensions, making all of them multiples of seven. The following table gives his measurements for stages of various sizes:
| Proscenium width | 28 ft. | 35 ft. | 42 ft. | ||||
| Proscenium height | Seven feet less than width | ||||||
| Height of loft | 56 ft. | 63 ft. | 70 ft. to 84 ft. | ||||
| Height of fly-gallery floor | 28 ft. | 35 ft. (7 ft. back of proscenium) | |||||
| Width of stage | 42 ft. | 56 ft. | 70 ft. | ||||
| Depth of stage | 21 ft. | 28 ft. | 35 ft. to 42 ft. | ||||
| Cellar | 14 ft. | 21 ft. | |||||
| Distance between border lights | Seven feet from center to center | ||||||
These measurements, while customary, are hardly ideal, and are generalizations from the more or less arbitrary dimensions imposed by high land values. It goes without saying that however small a theatre is, its stage should be as large as the plot on which the building stands will allow.
The off-stage space at the sides is particularly important. Without it, entrances to the scene are cramped, there is no place to pack furniture and scenery for other acts than the one in progress on the stage, and there is no place for the actors to await their entrances. Such space is needed, often, for the suggestion of other rooms than the one before the audience, and an important part of the lighting of the scene is done from the sides.
Next in importance is the space above the stage, the “flies,” in the technical vocabulary of the theatre. In this space, above the line of vision of the spectator, much scenery is hung until needed, lighting units are suspended, and with good overhead space, effects of height can be produced and ampler places revealed than that in which the audience sits.
The cellar under the stage is of especial importance where the off-stage spaces at the sides are cramped. It is used for the storage of scenery and furniture, for stage machinery and for entrances from a lower floor (with the aid of traps), and it often provides passage from one side of the stage to the other during the progress of a scene that occupies the entire depth of the stage. In some theatres, a part of the stage floor may be lowered by an elevator, and properties or furniture disposed of during the changes of scene, thus preventing crowding of the stage-house itself.
