Proscenium

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The proscenium arch of the theatre in the Auditorium

Building in Chicago. The proscenium arch is the frame
decorated with square tiles that forms the vertical
rectangle separating the stage (mostly behind the
lowered curtain) from the auditorium (the area with
seats).

A proscenium (Greek: προσκήνιον) is the

metaphorical vertical plane of space in a
theatre, usually surrounded on the top and
sides by a physical proscenium arch
(whether or not truly "arched") and on the
bottom by the stage floor itself, which
serves as the frame into which the
audience observes from a more or less
unified angle the events taking place upon
the stage during a theatrical performance.
The concept of the fourth wall of the
theatre stage space that faces the
audience is essentially the same.
It can be considered as a social construct
which divides the actors and their stage-
world from the audience which has come
to witness it. But since the curtain usually
comes down just behind the proscenium
arch, it has a physical reality when the
curtain is down, hiding the stage from
view. The same plane also includes the
drop, in traditional theatres of modern
times, from the stage level to the "stalls"
level of the audience, which was the
original meaning of the proscaenium in
Roman theatres, where this mini-facade
was given more architectural emphasis
than is the case in modern theatres. A
proscenium stage is structurally different
from a thrust stage or an arena stage, as
explained below.

Origin

Roman theatre view: 1) Scaenae frons 2) Porticus

post scaenam 3) Pulpitum 4) Proscaenium 5)
Orchestra 6) Cavea 7) Aditus maximus 8) Vomitorium,
Roman theatre of Bosra, Syria

In later Hellenistic Greek theatres the

proskenion (προσκήνιον) was a rather
narrow raised stage where solo actors
performed, while the Greek chorus and
musicians remained in the "orchestra" in
front and below it, and there were often
further areas for performing from above
and behind the proskenion, on and behind
the skene. Skene is the Greek word
(meaning "tent") for the tent, and later
building, at the back of the stage from
which actors entered, and which often
supported painted scenery. In the
Hellenistic period it became an
increasingly large and elaborate stone
structure, often with three storeys. In
Greek theatre, which unlike Roman
included painted scenery, the proskenion
might also carry scenery.[1]
In ancient Rome, the stage area in front of
the scaenae frons (equivalent to the Greek
skene) was known as the pulpitum, and the
vertical front dropping from the stage to
the orchestra floor, often in stone and
decorated, as the proscaenium, again
meaning "in front of the skene".

In the Greek and Roman theatre, no

proscenium arch existed, in the modern
sense, and the acting space was always
fully in the view of the audience. However,
Roman theatres were similar to modern
proscenium theatres in the sense that the
entire audience had a restricted range of
views on the stage—all of which were from
the front, rather than the sides or back.
Modern halls designed mainly for
orchestral music often adopt similar
arrangements, as the acoustics are good.

View of the seating area and part of the stage at the

Teatro Olimpico (1585) in Vicenza, Italy. No
proscenium arch divides the seating area from the
"proscenium" (stage), and the space between the two
has been made as open as possible, without
endangering the structural integrity of the building.
The "proscenium" (stage) at the Teatro Olimpico. The
central archway in the scaenae frons (or proscenio)
was too small to serve as a proscenium arch in the
modern sense, and was in practice always part of the
backdrop to the action on-stage.

The oldest surviving indoor theatre of the

modern era, the Teatro Olimpico in
Vicenza (1585), is sometimes incorrectly
referred to as the first example of a
proscenium theatre. The Teatro Olimpico
was an academic reconstruction of a
Roman theatre. It has a plain proscaenium
at the front of the stage, dropping to the
orchestra level, now usually containing
"stalls" seating, but no proscenium arch.

However, the Teatro Olimpico's exact

replication of the open and accessible
Roman stage was the exception rather
than the rule in sixteenth-century theatre
design. Engravings suggest that the
proscenium arch was already in use as
early as 1560 at a production in Siena.[2]

The earliest true proscenium arch to

survive in a permanent theatre is the
Teatro Farnese in Parma (1618), though
many earlier such theatres are now lost.
Parma has a clearly defined "arco
scenico"—more like a picture frame than
an arch, but serving the same purpose—
outlining the stage and separating the
audience from the action on-stage.

While the proscenium arch became an

important feature of the traditional
European theatre, often becoming very
large and elaborate, the original
proscaenium front below the stage
became plainer. The introduction of an
orchestra pit for musicians further
devalued the proscaenium, bringing the
lowest level of the audience's view forward
to the front of the pit, where a barrier,
typically in wood, screened the pit. What
the Romans would have called the
proscaenium is, in modern theatres with
orchestra pits, normally painted black in
order that it does not draw attention.

Confusion around Teatro Olimpico: In this

early modern recreation of a Roman,
theatre confusion seems to have been
introduced to the use of the revived term in
Italian. This emulation of the Roman
model extended to refer to the stage area
as the "proscenium", and some writers
have incorrectly referred to the theatre's
scaenae frons as a proscenium, and have
even suggested that the central archway in
the middle of the scaenae frons was the
inspiration for the later development of the
full-size proscenium arch.[3] There is no
evidence at all for this assumption
(indeed, contemporary illustrations of
performances at the Teatro Olimpico
clearly show that the action took place in
front of the scaenae frons and that the
actors were rarely framed by the central
archway).

The Italian word for a scaenae frons is

"proscenio," a major change from Latin.
One modern translator explains the
wording problem that arises here: "[In this
translation from Italian,] we retain the
Italian proscenio in the text; it cannot be
rendered proscenium for obvious reasons;
and there is no English equivalent ... It
would also be possible to retain the
classical frons scaenae. The Italian "arco
scenico" has been translated as
"proscenium arch."[4]

In practice, however, the stage in the

Teatro Olimpico runs from one edge of the
seating area to the other, and only a very
limited framing effect is created by the
coffered ceiling over the stage and by the
partition walls at the corners of the stage
where the seating area abuts the
floorboards. The result is that in this
theatre "the architectural spaces for the
audience and the action ... are distinct in
treatment yet united by their juxtaposition;
no proscenium arch separates them."[5]

Function

War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, with a

large golden proscenium arch, from which the stage
curtains hang. The drop from the stage to the
orchestra pit, the proscaenium to the Romans, is in
contrast painted black and given no emphasis at all.
A proscenium arch creates a "window"
around the scenery and performers. The
advantages are that it gives everyone in
the audience a good view because the
performers need only focus on one
direction rather than continually moving
around the stage to give a good view from
all sides. A proscenium theatre layout also
simplifies the hiding and obscuring of
objects from the audience's view (sets,
performers not currently performing, and
theatre technology). Anything that is not
meant to be seen is simply placed outside
the "window" created by the proscenium
arch, either in the wings or in the flyspace
above the stage. The phrase "breaking the
proscenium" or "breaking the fourth wall"
refers to when a performer addresses the
audience directly as part of the dramatic
production.

Proscenium theatres have fallen out of

favor in some theatre circles because they
perpetuate the fourth wall concept. The
staging in proscenium theatres often
implies that the characters performing on
stage are doing so in a four-walled
environment, with the "wall" facing the
audience being invisible. Many modern
theatres attempt to do away with the
fourth wall concept and so are instead
designed with a thrust stage that projects
out of the proscenium arch and "reaches"
into the audience (technically, this can still
be referred to as a proscenium theatre
because it still contains a proscenium
arch, however the term thrust stage is
more specific and more widely used).

In dance history, the use of the

proscenium arch has affected dance in
different ways. Prior to the use of
proscenium stages, early court ballets
took place in large chambers where the
audience members sat around and above
the dance space. The performers, often
led by the queen or king, focused in
symmetrical figures and patterns of
symbolic meaning. Ballet's choreographic
patterns were being born. In addition,
since dancing was considered a way of
socializing, most of the court ballets
finished with a ‘grand ballet’ followed by a
ball in which the members of the audience
joined the performance.

Later on, the use of the proscenium stage

for performances established a separation
of the audience from the performers.
Therefore, more devotion was placed on
the performers, and in what was occurring
in the ‘show.’ It was the beginning of
dance-performance as a form of
entertainment like we know it today. Since
the use of the proscenium stages, dances
have developed and evolved into more
complex figures, patterns, and
movements. At this point, it was not only
significantly important how the performers
arrived to a certain shape on the stage
during a performance, but also how
graciously they executed their task.
Additionally, these stages allowed for the
use of stage effects generated by
ingenious machinery. It was the beginning
of scenography design, and perhaps also it
was also the origin of the use of
backstage personnel or "stage hands".

Other forms of theatre

staging
Traverse stage: The stage is surrounded
on two sides by the audience.
Thrust stage: The stage is surrounded
on three sides (or 270°) by audience.
Can be a modification of a proscenium
stage. Sometimes known as "three
quarter round".
Theatre in the round: The stage is
surrounded by audience on all sides.
Black box theatre: The theatre is a large
rectangular room with black walls and a
flat floor. The seating is typically
composed of loose chairs on platforms,
which can be easily moved or removed
 to allow the entire space to be adapted
to the artistic elements of a production.
Site-specific theatre (a.k.a.
environmental theatre): The stage and
audience either blend together, or are in
numerous or oddly shaped sections.
Includes any form of staging that is not
easily classifiable under the above
categories.

References
1. Boardman, John ed., The Oxford
History of Classical Art, p. 168, 1993,
OUP, ISBN 0198143869
2. Licisco Magagnato, "The Genesis of
the Teatro Olimpico, in Journal of the
 Warburg and Courtald Institutes, Vol.
XIV (1951), p. 215.
3. Licisco Magagnato, "The Genesis of
the Teatro Olimpico, in Journal of the
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol.
XIV (1951), p. 215.
4. Translator's note in Licisco
Magagnato, "The Genesis of the Teatro
Olimpico, in Journal of the Warburg
and Courtald Institutes, Vol. XIV
(1951), p. 213.
5. Caroline Constant, "The Palladio
Guide". Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton Architectural Press, 1985, p.
16.
External links
Scenography - The Theatre Design
Website Diagram and images of
proscenium stage

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