1. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (The Twentieth Century)
Starting in the late 1800s and continuing through the 20th century, theatre turned to a more realistic and naturalistic style of drama.
Realism – focused on objective observation and representation of reality
Naturalism – focused on representing reality as it can be scientifically observed and as accurately as possible
This was led by artists working in the Theatre Libre in France and the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
They led theatre as an art toward a more unified style, in which all production elements were carefully selected/crafted.
This required that sets for plays were not simply backgrounds; they instead needed to become realistic environments in which plays could occur.
In naturalism & realism, sets needed to become complete environments for a play.
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2. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (The Twentieth Century)
As action of the play moved from the apron to the main part of the stage, the apron shrank in size.
This made it difficult to see the action from box and gallery seats adjacent (next to) the proscenium.
Side seats were consequently eliminated, and remaining seats faced the stage. This is how theatres today are set up!
Meanwhile, splinter groups created anti-Realism movements in rapid succession.
Because they rose and fell so quickly, they did not have enough influence to develop new types of theatre structures.
Most movements didn’t actually need to change machinery or the theatre space anyway.
In theatres today, side seats are rare.
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3. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (The Twentieth Century)
In the U.S. the Little Theatre movement of the 1920s and 1930s worked to establish quality productions outside of NYC.
This resulted in the establishment of the theatrical communities in Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver, Hartford, Washington, Minneapolis, Tucson, and Sarasota.
It provided playwrights a slightly less critical/competitive atmosphere in which to improve their craft and produce new works.
The Little Theatre movement created a ripple effect across the country as fledgling companies began to produce theatre in “found” spaces.
This could include barns, churches, feed stores, grocery stores, libraries, old movie houses, etc.
These groups enjoyed the intimacy of smaller spaces.
Because they rarely created a proscenium, thrust and arena stages were quite common.
Broadway may be the most famous city for theatre, but it isn’t the only one!
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4. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (The Twentieth Century)
It is doubtful that any genuinely new developments will ever be made in theatre spaces.
Theatrical experience as we know it is based on the premise that actors need a space in which to perform, and the audience must be in a position to see and hear them.
Initially, coverting gas to incandescent lamps simply involved refitting gas fixtures for electricity.
Improvements to the incandescent lamp to increase brightness and longevity resulted in the first incandescent spotlights.
Shortly afterward, Fresnel and ellipsoidal reflector spotlights replaced all other electric fixtures.
In the 1960’s, lamps improved to the tungsten- halogen (T-H) model, which produced brighter light for longer lifespans.
The lighting technology we use today is still very new in the context of theatre history!
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5. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (The Twentieth Century)
The first electronic dimmer was developed by George Izenour in the late 1940’s.
This allowed dimmers to be controlled from a remote location for the first time.
Electronic control allowed the development of the preset control system.
This remained the dominant method of dimmer control until digital technology was invented in the 1980s.
Until electrically powered record players and amplified sound in the 1930’s, all music or sound effects had to be created live.
The tape recorder, invented in the 1940’s, jump- started the experimentation with and development of sound technology.
From there, various improvements were made until digital technology for storage, replay, and recording were developed in the early 1980’s.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO TODAY!
Magnetic tape recorders started a quick-developing boom in sound technology.
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