Theatre Design & Technology - May 1968 - 43

Bortnovski: Contemporary Design of Theatres (Continued from p. 29)
Visible cyclorama

masking. The rear stage becomes a parking place for the
semi-cupola. On the other hand, raising the stage house to
eliminate this defect requires an enormous increase in
volume and accentuates the architectural difficulties caused
by the exterior height of this tower, because--even if reduced-it can hardly harmonize with the other cubic areas of
the building. To solve these problems by surrendering to
artistic demands of the exterior is in fact a concession that
can impede the basic function of the stage within.
Sightlines determined from the longitudinal section

Figure 6

Edge of the sky horizon

Peak section for
storing decOf

For all these reasons a basic architectural redesign is required to restructure the cubic volume enclosed in the
theatre. The possibilities offered by modern construction
methods give support to this approach. (Fig. 81.

Range of the extreme sightlines fOf
the total cubic afea.

Figure 7: General interrelation of the longitudinal section

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Figure 8: General arrangement of the stage

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4. The importance of the relation between the stage and
the audit<1rium does not allow the presentation of more than
a single type of show, except for some minor improvements
obtained by coming through the proscenium. In any attempt
to adapt other theatrical forms, as Elizabethan theatre or
central staging, can be realized only in contradiction to the
architectural arrangement of the technical equipment, thereby leading to a sterile and improvised solution. It would be
a mistake to build a stage like this no matter how well
equipped, even where the theatre is focussed almost exclusively on spectacle in the traditional manner. Moreover, it
would not correspond to the new character of dramaturgy.
These developments, which contain classical as well as new
and varied forms of expression are enriched by cinematography and so require a greater mobility on the stage floor to
insure continuity during the production, as well as to embody
new dramatic force.

May 1008

By unifying the main stage with the rear and side stages,
and enlarging the contact zone between the volume of the
stage and that of the auditorium, we can eliminate the rigid
separations between the stage and its side and rear annexes.
At the same time, we rid the structure of differences in
height for the stage house, insuring an elasticity of stage
space and allowing the establishment of new and flexible
relations between the stage and auditorium (Fig. 6).
The vertical section of this stage also reveals a new profile
for the stage house, based on audience sight lines. This
eliminates the useless height of the front part of the classical stage tower. On the other hand, we obtain additional
space at the back of the tower, where maximum height is
useful (Fig. 7). The horizontal grid in the classical design of
the stage tower is replaced by a series of suspended grids
at increasing heights, in a series of recesses. This arrangement allows the hanging of any scenic elements without
masking the proscenium arch. The volume obtained this way
is equivalent to that of the classical tower, but without
waste space. A perfect location for the cyclorama is also
obtained; The proscenium arch is no longer necessary; and
the suspended sectional gridirons offer various possibil ities for
lighting and projections. The vertical rear wall of the classical stage house is replaced by inclined surfaces which connect the base of the rear stage with the upper limit of the
tower, the whole comprising a curved inclined plane on
which are located sliding supports and a rigid cyclorama. A
characteristic of this longitudinal section--and its virtue-is
that its technical usefulness is the same at every point of
the vertical section, to the very opening of the stage.
The slip stages move from the sides in a concave arc and
can enter the stage area without requiring cyclorama shifting.
This can be used in the case of shifting exterior scenery
having the cyclorama as a background. This idea does not
exploit all possibilities: another solution provides for the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - May 1968