Thrust stage

"Open stage" redirects here. For Open stage nights, see open stage night.

"Open stage" redirects here. For the theatre, see the open stage.

A production of Godspell performed on a 3/4 thrust stage

In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage^[1]) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its up stage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area. Entrances onto a thrust are most readily made from backstage, although some theatres provide for performers to enter through the audience using vomitory entrances. An arena, exposed on all sides to the audience, is without a backstage and relies entirely on entrances in the auditorium or from under the stage.

As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides. Because the audience can view the performance from a variety of perspectives, it is usual for the blocking, props and scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure that no perspective is blocked from view. A high backed chair, for instance, when placed stage right, could create a blind spot in the stage left action.

Many of the works of Shakespeare were first performed on the thrust stage of the Globe Theatre and lend themselves to such a stage design in modern times as well.

The thrust stage concept was generally out of use for centuries, and was resurrected in 1953 by the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada.^[2] Their Festival Theatre was originally under a tent, until a permanent thrust stage theatre facility was constructed in 1957. Since that time dozens of other thrust stage venues have been built using the concept.

Thrust stage theatres

North America

• The Blackfriars Playhouse at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia
• The Playhouse at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin
• The American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin
• The "Carousel Dinner Theater" in Fort Collins, Colorado
• The "Festival Theatre" at the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia
• The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis
• The Floyd & Delores Jones Playhouse at University of Washington in Seattle, WA
• The John W. Huntington Theatre at Hartford Stage in Hartford, CT
• The Ethel M. Barber Theater at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois
• The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, California
• The Studio-théâtre at Place des Arts, Montreal, Quebec
• The Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
• The Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey
• The Festival Theatre at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario
• The Gateway Theatre in Chicago
• The Circle in the Square theatre on Broadway in New York City
• The Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, New York
• The La Nouba stage in Downtown Disney in Florida
• The Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida
• The Mystère theater in the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada
• The Octagon Stage at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, Alabama
• All Cirque du Soleil touring show stages except for CORTEO and DELIRIUM
• The O'Reilly Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• The Kleberg Stage at the ZACH Theatre in Austin, Texas
• The Court Street Theatre in Nashua, New Hampshire
• The Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• The Long Beach Playhouse in Long Beach, California
• The Go Comedy! Improv Theater in Ferndale, Michigan
• The George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey
• The Greenbelt Arts Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
• The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in Chicago

• The Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston, Rhode Island (in its standard configuration)
• Barter Theatre's Stage II in Abingdon, Virginia
• MCC Theatre at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, Massachusetts
• The Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, Vermont
• The Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Europe

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United Kingdom

• The Questors Theatre, Ealing
• The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England
• The Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury, England
• The Globe Theatre in London, England. All other Elizabethan Theatres were also in the same style.
• The Olivier Theatre in the National Theatre, London.
• The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, England
• The Chichester Festival Theatre. Notable for the fact that the stage is hexagonal, and is surrounded by the audience on four sides.
• The Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
• The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
• Elmbank Studios, Ayr
• The Quarry Theatre at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds

Other European Nations

• Numerous Greek theatre, such as the one in Epidaurus

India

• Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai
• Ranga Shankara, Bangalore

Faculty of performing arts m.s.university baroda.'play box'

References

1. ^ open stage - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
2. ^ http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/about/theatre.aspx?id=1865

External links

• Scenography - The Theatre Design Website Diagram and images of Thrust stage
• mapMystere.png Image of the Mystère stage by Cirque du Soleil in Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Thrust Stage Diagram