DOCUMENTARY OF THEATER'S Acoustic IN TERMS OF ARCHITECTURE

1. THEATER

2. THEATER
• A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a
structure where theatrical works
or plays are performed or other
performances such as
musical concerts may be produced.
The facility is traditionally
organized to provide support areas
for performers, the technical crew
and the audience members.

3. Types of THEATER
• There are as many types of theaters
as there are types of performance.
They may range from open-
air amphitheaters to
ornate, cathedral-like structures to
simple, undecorated rooms or black
box theaters.

4. In Australia and New Zealand a small and simple
theater, particularly one contained within a larger
venue, is called atheatrette. The word originated
in 1920s London, for a small-scale music venue.

5. ONANDOFFSTAGE
• The most important of these areas is
the acting space generally known as
the stage
• Back stage
• dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms,
spaces for constructing sets, props
and costumes, storage.
• There are usually two main entrances

6. SEATINGARRANGEMENTAND
AUDIANCE
• All theaters provide a space for
an audience.
• Stalls or arena
• Balconies or galleries
• Boxes (state box or stage box
• House seats: these are

7. OPEN-AIRTHEATERS
• Greek theater buildings
were called a theatro.
The theaters were large,
open-air structures
constructed on the
slopes of hills. They
consisted of three
principal elements:
the orchestra, the sken
and the audience.

8. • The centerpiece of the
theater was the orchestra, or
"dancing place", a large
circular or rectangular area.
The orchestra was the site of
the choral performances, the
religious rites, and, possibly,
the acting. An altar was
located in the middle of the
orchestra; in Athens, the
altar was dedicated to
Dionysus.

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e "katatome" (where the rock
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10. Ancient Rome
• The Romans copied the Greek style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the
location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for a naturally-occurring site.
• The auditorium (literally "place for hearing" in Latin) was the area in which people gathered, and
was sometimes constructed on a small hill or slope in which stacked seating could be easily made in
the tradition of the Greek Theatres. The central part of the auditorium was hollowed out of a hill or
slope, while the outer radian seats required structural support and solid retaining walls. This was of
course not always the case as Romans tended to build their theatres regardless of the availability of
hillsides. All theatres built within the city of Rome were completely man-made without the use of
earthworks. The auditorium was not roofed; rather, awnings (vela) could be pulled overhead to
provide shelter from rain or sunlight.[1]
• Some Roman theatres, constructed of wood, were torn down after the festival for which they were
erected concluded. This practice was due to a moratorium on permanent theatre structures that
lasted until 55 BC when the Theatre of Pompey was built with the addition of a temple to avoid the
law. Some Roman theatres show signs of never having been completed in the first place.[2]
• Inside Rome, few theatres have survived the centuries following their construction, providing little
evidence about the specific theatres. Arausio, the theatre in modern-dayOrange, France, is a good
example of a classic Roman theatre, with an indented scaenae frons, reminiscent of Western
Roman theatre designs, however missing the more ornamental structure. The Arausio is still
standing today and, with its amazing structural acoustics and having had its seating reconstructed,
can be seen to be a marvel of Roman architecture.[1]

11. Elizabethan England
• During the Elizabethan era in England, theaters were constructed of wooden
framing, infilled with wattle and daub and roofed withthatch. Mostly the theaters
where entirely open air. They consisted of several floors of covered galleries
surrounding a courtyard which was open to the elements. A large portion of the
audience would stand in the yard, directly in front of the stage. This layout is said
to derive from the practice of holding plays in the yard of an inn. Archaeological
excavations of The Rose theater at London's Bankside, built 1587, have shown that
it had en external diameter of 72 feet (22 metres). The nearby Globe
Theatre (1599) was larger, at 100 feet (30 metres). Other evidence for the round
shape is a line in Shakespeare's Henry V which calls the building "this wooden O",
and several rough woodcut illustrations of the city of London.
• Around this time, the green room, a place for actors to wait until required on
stage, became common terminology in English theaters.
• The Globe has now been rebuilt as a fully working and producing theater near its
original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director Sam Wanamaker) to give
modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other
playwrights of the period were writing.

12. Indoor theaters
• Renaissance Europe[edit]
• During the Renaissance, the first modern enclosed theaters were constructed in
Italy. Their structure was similar to that of ancient theaters, with a cavea and an
architectural scenery, representing a city street. The oldest surviving examples of
this style are theTeatro Olimpico in Vicenza (1580) and the Teatro
all'antica in Sabbioneta (1590).
• At the beginning of 17th century theaters had moved indoors and began to
resemble the arrangement we see most frequently today, with a stage separated
from the audience by a proscenium arch. This coincided with a growing interest in
scenic elements painted in perspective, such as those created by Inigo
Jones, Nicola Sabbatini and the Galli da Bibiena family. The perspective of these
elements could only be viewed properly from the center back of the auditorium, in
the so-called "duke's chair." The higher one's status, the closer they would be
seated to this vantage point, and the more the accurately they would be able to
see the perspective elements.
• The first enclosed theaters were court theaters, open only to the sovereigns and
the nobility. The first opera house open to the public was the Teatro San
Cassiano (1637) in Venice. The Italian opera houses were the model for the
subsequent theaters throughout Europe.

13. German Operatic influence[edit]
Richard Wagner placed great importance on
"mood setting" elements, such as a darkened
theater, sound effects, and seating
arrangements (lowering the orchestra pit)
which focused the attention of audience on
the stage, completely immersing them in the
imaginary world of the music drama. These
concepts were revolutionary at the time, but
they have since come to be taken for granted
in the modern operatic environment as well as
many other types of theatrical endeavors.

14. Contemporary theaters
• Contemporary theaters are often non-traditional, such as very adaptable spaces,
or theaters where audience and performers are not separated. A major example of
this is the modular theater, notably the Walt Disney Modular Theater. This large
theater has floors and walls divided into small movable sections, with the floor
sections on adjustable hydraulic pylons, so that the space may be adjusted into any
configuration for each individual play. As new styles of theater performance have
evolved, so has the desire to improve or recreate performance venues. This applies
equally to artistic and presentation techniques, such as stage lighting.
• Specific designs of contemporary live theaters include proscenium, thrust, black
box theater, theater in the round, amphitheater, andarena. In the classical Indian
dance, Natya Shastra defines three stage types. In Australia and New Zealand a
small and simple theater, particularly one contained within a larger venue, is called
a theatrette.[3] The word originated in 1920s London, for a small-scale music
venue.[4]
• Theatrical performances can also take place in venues adapted from other
purposes, such as train carriages. In recent years theEdinburgh Fringe has seen
performances in an elevator and a taxi.

15. • The traditional stage used in Noh theater is based on a Chinese pattern. It
is completely open, providing a shared experience between the
performers and the audience throughout the play. Without any
prosceniums or curtains to obstruct the view, the audience sees each
actor at moments even before entering the primary platform of the stage.
The theater itself is considered symbolic and treated with reverence both
by the performers and the audience.[5]
• The stage includes a large square platform, devoid of walls or curtains on
three sides, and traditionally with a painting of a pine tree at the back. The
platform is elevated above the place where the audience sits, which is
covered in white gravel soil. The four stage corners are marked by cedar
pillars, and the whole is topped by a roof, even when the Noh stage is
erected indoors. A ceramic jar system under the stage amplifies the
sounds of dancing during the performance. There is a small door to permit
entry of the musicians and vocalists.
Asian theater
Noh[edit]

16. • The independent roof is one of the most recognizable characteristic of the Noh stage. Supported by
four columns, the roof symbolizes the sanctity of the stage, with its architectural design derived
from the worship pavilion (haiden) or sacred dance pavilion (kaguraden) of Shinto shrines. The roof
also unifies the theater space and defines the stage as an architectural entity.[5]
• The pillars supporting the roof are named shitebashira (principal character's
pillar),metsukebashira (gazing pillar), wakibashira (secondary character's pillar),
and fuebashira (flute pillar), clockwise from upstage right respectively. Each pillar is associated with
the performers and their actions.[6]
• The stage is made entirely of unfinished hinoki, a Japanese cypress, with almost no decorative
elements. The poet and novelist Toson Shimazaki writes that "on the stage of the Noh theater there
are no sets that change with each piece. Neither is there a curtain. There is only a simple panel
(kagami-ita) with a painting of a green pine tree. This creates the impression that anything that
could provide any shading has been banished. To break such monotony and make something
happen is no easy thing."[5]
• Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari, a narrow bridge at upstage right used by
actors to enter the stage. Hashigakarimeans "suspension bridge", signifying something aerial that
connects two separate worlds on a same level. The bridge symbolizes the mythic nature of Noh
plays in which otherworldly ghosts and spirits frequently appear. In
contrast, hanamichi in Kabuki theaters is literally a path (michi) that connects two spaces in a single
world, thus has a completely different significance.[5]

17. Kabuki
• The Japanese kabuki stage features a projection called a hanamichi (花道;
literally, flower path), a walkway which extends into the audience and via
which dramatic entrances and exits are made. Okuni also performed on a
hanamichi stage with her entourage. The stage is used not only as a
walkway or path to get to and from the main stage, but important scenes
are also played on the stage. Kabuki stages and theaters have steadily
become more technologically sophisticated, and innovations including
revolving stages and trap doors were introduced during the 18th century.
A driving force has been the desire to manifest one frequent theme of
kabuki theater, that of the sudden, dramatic revelation or
transformation.[7] A number of stage tricks, including actors' rapid
appearance and disappearance, employ these innovations. The
term keren (外連), often translated playing to the gallery, is sometimes
used as a catch-all for these tricks. Hanamichi and several innovations
including revolving stage, seri and chunori have all contributed to kabuki
play. Hanamichi creates depth and both seri and chunori provide a vertical
dimension.