1. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (1500-1650 Theatre: Scenery)
Forced perspective – a visual-distortion technique that increases the depth of an object.
Raked stage – a stage floor that is higher at the back than the front
In Renaissance theatres, oftentimes actors performed on a flat space in front of the raked area (which was just for the scenery)
Stock set – scenery designed to visually support a generalized location (garden, city street, palace, etc.) rather than a specific one.
Commonly used in Renaissance through the early 20th century, and still in use today in some theatres.
Drop – a large expanse of cloth, usually muslin or canvas, on which something (landscape, sky, street, etc) is painted.
Enhanced the feeling of depth for forced perspective, and generally hung at the upstage edge of the stage.
An example of a raked stage.
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2. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (1500-1650 Theatre: Lighting)
Stages during this time – and for the next several hundred years – were lit using candles, lanterns, and torches.
Early efforts included hanging candle-lit chandeliers above the stage and auditorium.
The first recorded use of a stage lighting effect occurred during the Renaissance.
One account from 1545 calls for “placing candles and torches behind flasks with amber- and blue-colored water.”
In the 1600’s reflectors came to be used to intensify light from candles and oil lamps.
Footlights (candles at the front edge of the stage) and vertical rows of lamps along the wings also came into use.
A replica of a Renaissance stage light, including colored water to alter the color of the light.
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3. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (1500-1650 Theatre: Stage Machinery)
Stage machinery did not evolve much from the 1300s.
Written accounts mention machines used for flying gods and other supernatural beings.
Some notes include boats traveling across the stage.
Effects such as smoke, fire, clouds, and sound were commonly used.
However, machinery would not see any major developments until the late 1800s.
Trapdoors (such as this one at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre) were another common special effect.
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4. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology (1500-1650 Theatre: Elizabethan Theatre)
In England, different types of theatre buildings were created.
The most famous Elizabethan theatre is the Globe, home to William Shakespeare.
Typically the stage was raised 4-6 feet from the ground, surrounded by a “pit” for the lower-class audience (“groundlings”)
At the upstage end of the stage was an area called the “inner below,” but what it actually looked like is debated:
A curtained alcove, recessed into the back wall.
A roofed structure, curtained on 3 sides, that projected a little onto the stage.
Or it might not have existed at all!
An Elizabethan theatre.
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5. A Brief History of Theatre Architecture & Stage Technology ( Theatre: Elizabethan & French Theatre)
The stage, wall behind the stage, and pit were surrounded by a 3-story building.
Wealthy patrons and nobles sat in the galleries there. (Groundlings had no roof.)
Productions used little scenery, though records indicate props (rocks, trees, etc.) were used.
In France, medieval conventions were still in use.
Mansions were still used to represent specific locations, with several onstage at once.
For plays with many locations, painted coverings were used over the mansions or curtains were opened to reveal new settings.
Perspective painting and other elements were not used until the end of this time period.
Inside the Globe Theatre as it stands today.
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