In theater, 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 advantage of greater intimacy between audience and performer 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. If a performance employs the fourth wall, that imaginary wall must be maintained on multiple 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.

The thrust stage is used almost exclusively when performing the works of Shakespeare, both in honour of the original stage in his Globe Theater, and also in that many of his plays were written directly for performance on a thrust stage.

Contents 1 Thrust stage theatres 1.1 North America 1.2 Europe 2 External links 3 References

Thrust stage theatres

North America

• The Playhouse at the Overture Center for the arts in Madison, Wisconsin
• American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin
• The "Festival Theatre" at the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia
• The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis
• 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 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

Europe

• 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 Theaters were also in the same style.
• Numerous Greek theater, such as the one in Epidaurus
• 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 (Stratford).
• Elmbank Studios, Ayr

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

References

1. ^ open stage - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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