What is performed on a thrust stage?

What is performed on a thrust stage?

As the name suggests, these project or ‘thrust’ into the auditorium with the audience sitting on three sides. The thrust stage area itself is not always square but may be semi-circular or half a polygon with any number of sides. Such stages are often used to increase intimacy between actors and the audience.

What theatre uses a thrust stage?

The thrust stage, which is also called the open stage or the platform stage, was used in the corrales of Spain’s Golden Age of theater (beginning about 1570) and in the traditional No theater of Japan. It was also used in the first London playhouses, including the Globe, which were built during Elizabethan times.

Why would you use a thrust stage?

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.

What is unique about a thrust stage?

A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area. A theatre in the round, exposed on all sides to the audience, is without a backstage and relies entirely on entrances in the auditorium or from under the stage.

What are 4 disadvantages of a thrust stage?

Disadvantages

• Actors may feel intimidated.
• Limited entrances and exits for the actors.
• Set can be viewed from multiple angles so must be 3D.
• Audience may be distracted by each other.

How does a thrust stage work in theatre?

Thrust 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.

What kind of performance is best on a thrust stage?

Solo performances may do well on a thrust stage, as will performances that require a greater amount of intimacy with the audience: dramas. Performances that little use of props or small/no sets may also benefit from thrust stages, because the function of a thrust stage is to bring the performer(s) closer to the audience.

How many sides does a thrust stage have?

As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides.

How is a thrust stage different from a proscenium stage?

In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage 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.