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Theatre Spaces part 4

Some theatre artists take a more radical approach than transforming a black box theatre to fit a theatrical production; they find a space that was not originally built as a theatre. This is called a found space. Such artists have mounted theatrical productions in cathedrals, city parks, rural fields, dance clubs, and street corners. Cabaret performance is similar to a "found space," in that audience members sit at tables, order food and drink, and the stage area is usually a makeshift one that must accommodate the food service. A found space can also refer to a building that has been altered from its original purpose to support ongoing theatre production. Many of New York City's Off-Off-Broadway theatres operate in buildings that were originally warehouses or churches. Found spaces also lend themselves to environmental staging, in which the space for the actors and the space for the audience are not clearly distinguished. For example, in a cabaret, a singer might come and perform at (or even on) your table, or actors might use the same entrances as the audience. Performances staged environmentally can be exciting because you never know what will happen next, or where it might happen.

Independent of the configuration of the stage and audience space, theatres require space for a range of other activities required in producing a play. You could consider the actual production seen by an audience as only the tip of a theatrical iceberg. Examples of other space requirements include dressing and makeup rooms for actors, a green room where actors wait when not onstage, scene, paint, and costume shops where scenery and costumes are built or adapted, storage space for scenery, costumes, and lights, light and sound booths from which technicians run lights and sound during performances, a box office through which the public can purchase tickets, a  or lobby in which the audience can relax and purchase refreshments during intermissions, and office space for administrative staff such as marketing personnel.

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