Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1977 - 18

3. We want more room, so we enlarge the depth per seat
at the cost of many seats.
4. We want a better view.
5. We do not want unsalable seats.
6. We want to install our modern lighting equipment in
the auditorium, the stages of which in former days
were illuminated by gaslight or even by candles.
What makes an auditorium so important? At first I
thought it was the contact between actor and audience,
as well as the undeniable fact that the spectators in these
theatres always see another part of the audience which
enables recognition between friends.
The "encounter" is optimal. It is exactly that strong
communication between the spectators that most of the
modern theatres lack and therefore they stand condemned: they ignore one of the main principles of theatre. In addition, there is the other factor: the psychological effect of the space in a theatre. This is the feeling
that there is an invisible centre or "field of force," and we
are sitting around, under or above this field, even if we
are sitting in the back row.
There is a strange power in the best old theatres
which gives us this feeling. Analysing these theatre-forms,
we discover some circles and ovals described that touch
elements, that influence the space the auditorium contains
within its floor-plan, which touches the stage-frame, and
it is not for nothing that it has its strongest rounding on
the stage (Figure 1.).
We see another in the longitudinal section: the ceiling,
which is often dome-shaped, is a part of an oval that further touches the balcony-edges as well as the protruding
edge of the lowest balcony. The floor of the bowl-shaped

auditorium is the underside of the oval, and on the stage
it passes into the stage-frame and the stage itself. In this
way the farthest rounding lies on the stage, and nobody
sees it but everybody feels it.
In cross-section we see the same thing. All the circles
and ovals described make the perfect space in the theatre
alive. All the centres of the circles and ovals together
suggest a centre of the magnetic field in space. Thus, it
is worth many sacrifices to preserve the form of the auditorium, which I have tried to describe.
Is it possible to play modern theatre optimally in a
restored theatre? That is the question. In many cases it
is hardly or not possible; but, what does modern theatre
mean? It seems that the ideas of the old theatre regularly
return, while the very newest ideas want to have total
freedom of movement for the actors. The latter is the
result of the need for communication that has taken
some actors into the street.
The old theatre can provide the spatial environment
required for conventional drama, and about 80% of modern drama. One can err in thinking hastily about the 20%
in constructing improvised thrusts and proscenium stages,
etc. Of course this is possible, but it goes together with
high costs. Fifty years ago it could easily be done, but
nowadays it is financial only possible for very special
types of performance. We therefore had better construct
one or two good orchestra/fore-stage lifts in order to have
a well-functioning proscenium stage and possibility for
quick transport. This gives the director a high freedom of
movement.
THE STAGE
Restoring the stage of former days is less logical. Stage

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Fiq. 1. Ground Floor Plan and Sections - The Theatre in Leiden.
18

WINTER,1977

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

USITT

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