THE STAGE PLAN
We are accustomed to regard as the stage of a theatre that part on
which the actors appear, immediately behind the footlights, bounded,
right and left, by the proscenium arch. As a matter of fact, this is
a very small part of the stage. From the construction of many school
stages and many of the stages of the little and experimental theatres,
I am convinced that this misconception really exists. It is true that
many little theatre groups have been obliged to choose between a
cramped stage and no stage at all. On the whole, the work they have
done, in the light of their limited equipment, is nothing short of
amazing.
One well-known little theatre director has declared to me that he
values these inadequacies because of the ingenuity required to overcome
them. And I imagine that very frequently admiration for this sort of
ingenuity passes current for the evaluation on its own merits of work
done in these theatres.
No director could be hindered, however, by having excellent facilities
at his command. His imagination, instead of visioning means of
overcoming too low a roof to his stage or the lack of off-stage space,
would be free to interpret the matter of the play itself. It would be
a great pity to lose the work of many earnest groups who have been
presenting plays in remodelled dwellings, saloons, or stables, with
what appear to be hopelessly inadequate stages. But if a building is to
be erected for the purpose of housing a theatre, it will mean greater
freedom for the artists (in fact or intent) who are to occupy it, if
they are given every facility that foresight can provide.
The stage, properly speaking, is about five times as large as the part
of it that is visible to the audience when the curtain is raised. The
spaces to right and left of the proscenium arch should equal the center
space within the proscenium. Then there is the space above the stage,
the space under the stage and the space required adjacent to the stage
for dressing rooms, shops, etc.
Dimensions for practically all of these spaces can best be derived
from the dimensions of the proscenium arch. The width of the opening
generally is equal to half the width of the auditorium at its widest
part. It may be somewhat less or somewhat greater, but it is well to
establish a minimum of twenty-four feet for the width of the opening.
Less than this will not give adequate space without serious crowding
for the presentation of scenes with more than a very few people.
[Illustration: Figure 7--Plan of the Thirty-Ninth Street Theatre, New
York. An example of good planning for sight-lines, illustrating an
auditorium with center aisle.]
In height the proscenium should be fittingly proportioned to the
width, with a minimum of about twelve feet in mind. A stage too low
and too narrow will throw the human figure out of proportion to his
surroundings on the stage. Let us assume that we have a stage with a
proscenium opening twenty-four feet wide and not less than twelve feet
high. The aggregate off-stage space right and left should then equal
about twenty-four feet, making the total width of the stage-house
forty-eight feet. The depth of the stage should be not less than
twenty-four feet. The height of the stage, from floor to “rigging loft”
should be not less than thirty-six feet. The cellar under the stage
should be not less than ten or twelve feet deep. This is merely a rough
guide, using the measurements of the proscenium as index.
Claude B. Hagen, construction engineer for the Century Theatre in
New York, suggests a “rule of seven” for the derivation of these
dimensions, making all of them multiples of seven. The following table
gives his measurements for stages of various sizes:
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Proscenium width 28 ft. 35 ft. 42 ft.
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Proscenium height Seven feet less than width
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Height of loft 56 ft. 63 ft. 70 ft. to 84 ft.
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Height of fly-gallery floor 28 ft. 35 ft. (7 ft. back of proscenium)
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Width of stage 42 ft. 56 ft. 70 ft.
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Depth of stage 21 ft. 28 ft. 35 ft. to 42 ft.
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Cellar 14 ft. 21 ft.
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Distance between border lights Seven feet from center to center
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These measurements, while customary, are hardly ideal, and are
generalizations from the more or less arbitrary dimensions imposed by
high land values. It goes without saying that however small a theatre
is, its stage should be as large as the plot on which the building
stands will allow.
The off-stage space at the sides is particularly important. Without it,
entrances to the scene are cramped, there is no place to pack furniture
and scenery for other acts than the one in progress on the stage, and
there is no place for the actors to await their entrances. Such space
is needed, often, for the suggestion of other rooms than the one before
the audience, and an important part of the lighting of the scene is
done from the sides.
Next in importance is the space above the stage, the “flies,” in the
technical vocabulary of the theatre. In this space, above the line of
vision of the spectator, much scenery is hung until needed, lighting
units are suspended, and with good overhead space, effects of height
can be produced and ampler places revealed than that in which the
audience sits.
The cellar under the stage is of especial importance where the
off-stage spaces at the sides are cramped. It is used for the storage
of scenery and furniture, for stage machinery and for entrances from a
lower floor (with the aid of traps), and it often provides passage from
one side of the stage to the other during the progress of a scene that
occupies the entire depth of the stage. In some theatres, a part of the
stage floor may be lowered by an elevator, and properties or furniture
disposed of during the changes of scene, thus preventing crowding of
the stage-house itself.
[Illustration: Figure 8--Plan of the Beechwood Theatre and Scarborough
School. The entire space under the stage is given up to a workshop, and
over the vestibule and lobby is a library. Additional dressing-rooms
and a property-room are over the stage-level dressing-rooms shown here.
The building is practically a complete theatre with two school-room
wings. Welles Bosworth, Architect.]
Hardwood should never be used for the stage floor. The architect of the
excellent Arts and Crafts Theatre in Detroit, in his desire to use only
the best of building materials, specified a stage floor of maple. As a
consequence, it is almost impossible to support scenery by the use of
stage braces, screwed to the floor with a stage screw or “peg.” Soft
wood into which the pegs bite easily, is the only sort to use.
It is particularly important in small theatres that the stage walls be
as unbroken by entrances as possible. At least two there must be: a
large high door, opening to an alley or street, by which scenery may
be brought in and taken out, and a small one, a stage entrance for the
people of the theatre. It is well so to contrive the building that this
one door gives access to the stage from the dressing-room corridors,
shops, cellar, stairs, street and front of the house. With many doors
opening on the stage, it is difficult to find space for the stacking
of scenery without blocking them. It is often desirable to have one
dressing room very near the stage or opening immediately upon it, not
for the use of the star, but for the player who may happen to have the
quickest change of costume.
Stages intended for the housing of large productions and traveling
companies should include also a fly gallery, built out from one of
the side walls of the stage at a height of not less than twenty feet
from the floor. The ropes by which drop curtains, ceilings, and
“frame-pieces” of scenery are raised and lowered are operated from
this floor and are tied off to pins fastened in the gallery railing,
technically known as the pin-rail. In smaller stages, of no great
height, it will save space, construction costs and operating expense to
have the pin-rail at the floor level.
Before discussing the equipment of the stage in detail, I wish to
digress for a moment and consider the provisions to be made for the
work that is done out of sight of the audience,--by the carpenters and
property men, the seamstresses, the electricians, and the actors before
they are ready to appear before the footlights.
[Illustration: Auditorium of the Munich Art Theatre. The plates on
this and the following three pages, and the plans on pages 30 and
31 illustrate the interior and exterior appearance, as well as the
structural features, of a modern European theatre which comes close
to being a model for architects everywhere. Above is a view of the
auditorium as seen from a point near the boxes at the back. The
decoration in paneled wood (for acoustic reasons), the absence of
proscenium boxes, the uniform slope of the auditorium, and the simple
decorative curtain, are characteristic of the best contemporary
European practice. (The photographs are reproduced by courtesy of the
architect, Prof. Max Littmann.)]
[Illustration: Exterior of the Munich Art Theatre.]
[Illustration: A cross-section model of the Munich Art Theatre, showing
clearly the arrangement of boxes, auditorium, exits, stage, hidden
orchestra pit, double proscenium, etc.]
[Illustration: A part of the auditorium of the Munich Art Theatre as
seen from the stage. This is interesting chiefly as illustrating the
arrangement of the boxes at the back, and the unbroken tiers of seats
with side exits.]