On building a theatre / Stage construction and equipment for small theatres, schools and community

by Irving Pichel

With the reopening of the theatres after the Restoration, the practice of the Italian theatre and opera house superseded the old-English tradition practically altogether, the only noteworthy remnant being the social distinction that made the ground level or “pit” the place of the proletariat in the theatre. The visits of the aristocracy to the theatre during the Elizabethan period, even when theatres were under court patronage, were something in the nature of an escapade. The sheltered galleries were reserved for the gentry, and the unroofed ground space or pit was open to the crowd. From the galleries, moreover, a better view of the protruding three-sided stage was to be had. In the later, wholly-roofed theatres, the stage still protruded somewhat. A great curved “apron” projected beyond the proscenium. Nor was the proscenium the mere picture-frame of to-day, but a deep portal. The balconies extended over the stage to the curtain, so that spectators at the forward ends of the balconies were directly above the stage. The balconies were given swelling curves, bringing them further toward the center of the stage, so that those who occupied these forward seats could not only see but could be seen. The stage boxes of to-day are a relic of this type of apron-stage theatre, and to-day, with the picture frame stage, serve no purpose but the stupid social one of self-display.

The apron stage preserved one great advantage of the platform stage: that of keeping the stage grouping, for at least a part of the audience, plastic. And the dimness of candle or oil footlights compelled the actors to keep to the front of the stage as much as possible. The disappearance of the apron has been due wholly to the improved lighting of the modern theatre. With its disappearance should go the auditorium features that belonged with it. And even though there have been occasional reversions to the platform stage and apron in the productions of Granville Barker or Jacques Copeau, there is no occasion for the revival of the horseshoe balcony or the stage box. In later pages of this paper, where I deal specifically with the stage, I shall recommend provision being made for an apron, either permanent or movable; but the auditorium should not revert.

Auditorium of the Little Theatre, New York. This building, constructed for Winthrop Ames in 1912, still stands as probably the best-designed small theatre in America. This photograph shows the absence of boxes, the carefully adjusted floor slope, and the harmony of all the decorative elements, although it hardly does justice to the intimate “feel” of the room. Recently large changes have been made in the building, a balcony having been added and a new decorative scheme carried out. Harry Creighton Ingalls and F. B. Hoffman Jr., Associate Architects.

Exterior of the Little Theatre, New York. Harry Creighton Ingalls and F. B. Hoffman Jr., Architects. (From The New Movement in the Theatre, by courtesy of Mitchell Kennerley.)

With modern resources in lighting and construction engineering, most of the “practical” considerations that determined the form of the old houses do not apply, and the social considerations that called for the display of certain parts of the audience are not even tacitly acknowledged in the more democratic theatre of to-day, except at the opera. Accordingly, the procedure of the architect should be governed wholly by considerations of utility.

The first consideration is that of visibility. A sight line drawn from any seat in the auditorium should give a clear view of the entire stage. As a general rule, therefore, the seating space should be very little wider than the stage opening. A sight line drawn from a seat to the right or the left of the proscenium arch past the corresponding side of the arch will cut off that corner of the stage. The closer the seat is to the stage the greater is the part of the stage concealed. (See [Fig. 4.]) Accordingly, it is the custom in most modern theatres to narrow the auditorium as it approaches the stage, so that the front of the seating is no greater in width than the width of the proscenium. The rear of the auditorium is slightly wider. (See [Figs. 2] and [3.])

As a concession to this plan, the back of a stage setting is often narrower than the front. That is, in the case of an interior setting, the side walls of the room represented, instead of being set at right angles to the back wall, as is the case in most rooms, are set at an angle corresponding to the sight lines drawn from the extreme right and left ends of the last row of seats. This is purely a convention, required by the shape of the playhouse, and pardonable on the ground that it is less irritating to look at a distorted room than to be unable to see its corners.

At all events, this form of auditorium affords a higher visibility than did the old horseshoe shape. The most noteworthy move toward the adoption of this type of seating was made by Richard Wagner in the construction of the Opera House at Bayreuth. Here the auditorium is in the shape of a fan or blunt-nosed wedge, with the stage at the narrow end. The most approved type of modern auditorium follows this form to some extent. In such theatres as the Künstler Theater in Munich (Littmann), or his Prinz-Regenten Opera House, this plan is developed. (See [Fig. 5.])