Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2019 - 50

are covered with polka-dotted fabric, and
the colors gradually change from dark red
to bright pink as it goes from the stage
side to the rear side of the auditorium.
Seen by the audience, the colors become
darker closer to the stage, becoming almost black near the stage. Ten kinds of
patterns are used for the seat fabric and
arranged at random, which makes the entire appearance very natural.
Other challenges for MPAC's design
included finding ways to vary the seating
capacity and stage arrangement to accommodate different styles of production.
The maximum capacity is 1,800 seats,
with a need to occasionally reduce to
about 1,000 seats for drama productions.
The space and acoustic environment
must also be suitable for orchestra concerts; the seating capacity can be varied
by vertically moving the entire ceiling of
the auditorium, effectively closing off and
hiding some of the highest balcony tiers
and reducing the usable seating capacity.
As a result, the horseshoe-shaped auditorium with the five levels of balconies,
including the seats beside the orchestra
pit, were created. The maximum distance

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THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

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SPRING 2019

from the edge of the stage to the rearmost
seats in the parquet circle is 30 meters
and that to the furthermost seats are 34
meters.
Three rows of stage lighting bridges
are attached to the ceiling of the auditorium. At the center of the third row, a
follow spot room is incorporated. The
lighting bridges in the auditorium and
side lighting positions are exposed to the
auditorium to form part of the acoustic
environment.
The orchestra pit can be raised to
stage level to extend the stage/platform
into the auditorium for classical music
concerts, and the first lighting bridge in
the auditorium is used as an acoustic reflector. This makes the atmosphere more
intimate. The orchestra pit lift can also be
used as a forestage or lowered to create
an orchestra pit. If positioned at auditorium floor level, it can carry additional
audience seating. The sight lines from the
stalls and balconies work to this forward
stage edge.
This flexibility works well for western
operas and concerts and is also suitable
for Japan's traditional Kabuki perfor-

mances. For Kabuki, about 300 seats in
the front area, including the orchestra pit,
are removed and the visitors are seated
on floor cushions. Removing the seats
considerably expands the performing
area and allows the performers to move
into the audience. Although this theatre is
large, the audiences are brought close to
the stage.
The stage is generous, and the theatre has both a left side stage and rear
stage, which allows an additional "fit-up"
theatre to be created by utilizing the generous on-stage space. A set of retractable
seats are housed in the rear wall of the
rear stage. By sliding and pulling them
out, a theatre with about 400 seats that
uses the main stage from the opposite
side appears. All the stage facilities-lighting, flying, sound, etc., can be used in this
smaller theatre. On this occasion, the
wall in the back of the stage left and the
technical gallery contained therein laterally move to surround the auditorium so
that a wall surface symmetric to the fixed
wall surface on the stage right side can be
framed.
To reach the seats in this theatre on
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