The Framing of the Stage: the Impact of Theater Environments on the Effectiveness of Theatrical Form
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! THE FRAMING OF THE STAGE: THE IMPACT OF THEATER ENVIRONMENTS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEATRICAL FORM Teresa M. Sarkela Honors Senior Thesis Rocky Mountain College Spring 2015 2 ! THE FRAMING OF THE STAGE: THE IMPACT OF THEATER ENVIRONMENTS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEATRICAL FORM by Teresa Sarkela __________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Rocky Mountain College __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts in Technical Theatre 3 ! THE FRAMING OF THE STAGE: THE IMPACT OF THEATER ENVIRONMENTS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEATRICAL FORM Copyright 2015 Teresa M. Sarkela All Rights Reserved ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 5 ! TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 EXISTING LITERATURE: THEATRE ARTS ............................................................................. 4 Wagner’s Universalism and the Grecian Theatre ............................................................... 4 Specification of Theater Design .......................................................................................... 6 Production and Reception Existing in Audience Engagement ........................................... 8 Ideology in Theater Development .................................................................................... 10 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIALIZED THEATERS .................................. 13 Creation of Theatre by the Greeks .................................................................................... 13 Roman Influence and Deviation ....................................................................................... 15 Christian Europe, 10th-17th Centuries ............................................................................... 18 18th Century-Present ......................................................................................................... 25 THEATRICAL FORM AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT .......... 35 Psychology of Spectators of Arts ...................................................................................... 35 Sensory Knowledge and Environmental Psychology ....................................................... 37 Collective Identity and Audience Engagement ................................................................. 39 AESTHETIC AND ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS EXISTING IN THEATERS ................. 42 DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS ........................................................................................ 49 The Effect of Theatre Environments ................................................................................. 49 The Proscenium Stage and Modern Audiences ................................................................ 51 The Future of Theatre Environments ................................................................................ 52 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................... 55 ! i! ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As a theatre student, it has been a great honor being able to pursue extensive research in a field I am passionate about. Additionally, it has been an honor representing the arts in this area of academia. I thank Dr. Matthew O’Gara for the direction and instigation of this process. I also extend my appreciation to Professor Sarah Brewer-your nomination and encouragement to pursue this study have been instrumental to my understanding of diving deeper into the importance of research in Theatre Arts. Lastly, a special thanks to Professor Anthony Hammond for his continued support and enthusiasm in the completion of this research. I hope the completion of this thesis will influence and serve to allow future students in the performance arts to pursue similar endeavors. ii ! ABSTRACT Since its creation by the Greeks, theatre has been valuable in its ability to express ideas to a group of spectators in hopes of unifying them with an understanding of abstract thought as presented in a visual-physical art. The communication of ideas between performers and audiences is known as theatrical form. Theatre artists have discovered presenting ideas in specific environments affects how an audience perceives and connects with the intended idea. This has caused a multitude of theater environments to be created in relation to the degree of communication intending to be expressed with an audience. Today, these theaters primarily include proscenium, thrust, arena, found, and black box. As theatre also establishes a cultural identity among people, many specific theater environments have been built due to political and social revolution as a means to further express abstract thought and ideology in a unified environment. From these progressions, the psychology of audience engagement toward theatre performance has also undergone a variety of changes due to evolution of environmental aspects. Furthermore, aspects of technological integration into theatre have also consequentially changed the psychology of audience engagement in relation to the emphasis on spectacle for entertainment, individual interpretation rather than group dynamic, and the adaption of front- back oriented perception. This thesis will utilize historical, psychological, and theatrical texts to explain the importance of environmental elements that affect an audiences’ connection and understanding of a performance on a deliberate intellectual and emotional level, therefore allowing awareness for theatre artists to present theatrical form to its best ability. 1 ! ! INTRODUCTION ! Theatrical form, in its most basic sense, is the message being communicated in a performance. One might call it the moral of the story, the call to action, the thesis, or the big idea. As described by theatre scholars, “Theatrical form in its simplest description is the communication of ideas between two groups: performers and audience... the presentation of ideas [that can be] either sentimentally obvious or intellectually obscure.”1 The purpose of most, if not all performances whether in theatre, art, or music, is intended to share an idea with an audience. Many factors including the performers themselves, the dynamic of the audience, and the physical space in which they join greatly affect how theatrical form is expressed and achieved. The premise of this research will explore how specifically the physical environment in which a theatre performance takes place affects the communication of ideas with an audience by examining two key components: the historical development of specialized theaters and the psychological factors of audience engagement. To begin with, the parameters must be established that this thesis will analyze theaters, and their accompanying history, in the Western hemisphere- specifically regions of western and southern Europe, as well as America. Historically, many factors come into play when evaluating why theaters have been built in specific ways. Political movements, such as the division of Italy into several city-states in the 14th century, led theaters to be built as permanent cultural identity structures. Changes occurring in societal mentalities also have influenced the use of theaters, using specific construction elements to reflect social class structure. Take for example the use of boxes for upper class theatre audiences beginning in the 16th century or the use of smaller, less !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!Parker, W. Oren, R. Craig Wolf, and Dick Block. Scene Design and Stage Lighting. 9th Ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009: 3.! 2 ! comfortable balconies meant to seat minorities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Even elements of literary and religious movements have greatly influenced the use and design of performance environments. These spaces today most commonly include proscenium arch, thrust stage, arena, black box, and found. While unfortunately much documentation has been lost or destroyed over the course of history, analysis will be conducted using documents that have been recorded over the past century in this study. The purpose is not to argue for or against the evolution of performance spaces, but rather to call attention to its importance and relevance to culture. Discussion of theatrical form will pair in with more broad concepts existing in audience psychology. Because the understanding of theatrical performance on a deliberate emotional and intellectual level is a rather abstract goal, it will be discussed and analyzed as a sub-component of the psychology of spectators of art and collective identity. These areas, one that studies the individual and the other the group, will be discussed in a parameter that relates to specific concepts existing in environmental psychology. In bringing these components together, it is important to note the theory of sensory knowledge (identification and understanding of a given surrounding) as it exists in the individual spectator and collective group. Though a great deal of physical sensory assumptions factor into one’s understanding of a performance, the deeper level of emotional and intellectual engagement and interpretation drawn in