Assignment #7 - Theatre

There are several differences between a thrust stage and a proscenium stage.  First and foremost is the appearance.  A proscenium stage is framed by a large arch and the audience sits only in front of this arched frame and stage.  With a thrust stage, the stage juts out into the audience and the stage is surrounded on three sides by the audience.  Perhaps a better illustration is to think of the audience in a proscenium theater as the fourth wall of the stage.  The illustrations below will provide a visual representation of the two types of stages.  

Thrust Stage

Proscenium Stage

The fly gallery (or fly space) in a theater is the area above the stage that is used to store and utilize additional lighting, stage or curtain elements used in the production.  Stage personnel access the fly gallery via a catwalk as well as an area on the side of the stage that stores the ropes and pulleys that are used to manipulate the lighting, etc in the fly gallery.  

A scrim is a thin fabric screen used onstage in many theatrical productions.  Lighting is utilized in conjunction with the scrim to create a multitude of effects.  Images and lighting can be projected onto the scrim from the front and when this is done, everything behind the scrim is obscured.  To the contrary, if lighting is projected from behind the scrim, the audience can see everything behind the scrim very clearly.  Examples are presented below...

Scrim utilized with back lighting

Scrim utilized with front lighting