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Flavorwire: The architecture of a theatrical space can be intrinsic to the performance. And performance spaces have become more adaptable to contemporary art forms, inviting an emotional and interactive exchange between artist and audience.
6 comments:
Jake Poser
said...
Since coming to CMU I am becoming more open to more than just Proscenium style theatre. I enjoy more than just the Chosky, Wells, and Raugh. Playground opened my ideas as to where performances could succeed. (Lobbies of buildings, basement, hallways, studios, etc.) The pictures in the article are beautiful. Architecture is such an interesting art form because it takes so much precision and every choice has reason. I love the contemporary shapes of the walls, and textures presented on the interesting shapes. I love that theatre is now moving towards presenting realistic spaces on stage. The Huntington Stage does a lot of work where interiors are presented on stage. I think that it breaks the fourth wall in a way that doesn't take the actors out of the story, but invites the audience into what is happening in the space. I think a great example of a use of an unconventional space here at CMU was Antony and Cleopatra. It just worked.
I also like the idea of theatre one day performing in spaces that are literally homes and living rooms. It could be interesting, but might make it too realistic. Hmm, something to think about. Reminds me of method acting?
These are so beautiful! I am totally in love with unusual performance spaces and would love to be working in places like these. My favorites are definitely the 77 Theatre and the Live Bar (with all the spirals). They are so different and yet both so fun. I've had a fair amount of *somewhat* unconventional work over the past year or so... I managed extreme pogo competitions in a park in Jacksonville and a Philadelphia street, PA'd on Milk Like Sugar in the warehouse, ASM'd an opera in a church up the street from me with Tina, ASM'd in the Wells, and am now ASMing a completely devised work with a Bulgarian director. But this is great, because I would really like to be doing unconventional work for all my life. That's why I'm looking at themed entertainment management, because it is a total toss up as to what I'll be working on, where it will be, and what my role will look like. I love the unpredictability that can come with the work I do sometimes, so seeing fun spaces like this gets me very excited for the future.
I think this is a great example of how the design team can get the most out of the venue. All of these venues are so beautiful and could really stand alone. I'm sure the addition of these spaces takes the performance to a completely new level. I think having venues that add to the performance can really immerse the audience in the piece and even guide them in the vision the designers had for the performance. the experience would start even before the show started. As soon as the audience looked at the venue they can get a glimpse of what to expect. The idea that anywhere can be a venue for performance is so exciting to me. I think this ideal can help bring performances and theatre to places that were not able to accommodate them in the past. With this new ideal in mind, theatre can reach further audiences and new meanings that were unattainable before. I love how thinking both inside and outside the box can create such different experiences, one not better than the other, just different. While these new and nontraditional spaces could possibly pose some challenges, I think they would be interesting to solve and teach you beneficial knowledge that will make you a more diverse theatre artist.
These photos all look stunning, and I'm sure the venues look even more striking in person. The impact that the venue can have on the audience is something subtle but plays a huge role in shaping the audience's perception of the performance. Unlike the traditional proscenium theatre where only what is on stage is the world of the play, the entire environment that the audience is surrounded by is a part of the world of the performance. Most of my experience with theatre as an audience was with proscenium stages, slightly re-arranged black box theatres, or traditional concert stadiums - all of which when I was there I was aware that I was watching a play/musical/concert, and I didn't give them much thought. However, when a performance happens somewhere that doesn't fit with our conventional idea of where it should happen, this ignites a lot more thought and conversation. Furthermore, working in a different space is definitely a valuable experience for people working on the production - I'd love to get an opportunity to work on something at any of these spaces.
I’m such a sucker for unconventional theatrical performance spaces, and I love looking at the differences between spaces that are specifically crafted to be “unconventional” and spaces that existed prematurely to being considered performance spaces (like the warehouse). The tilted-stone-statue leading to an underground performance cave is so elegant that you would never guess that it was underground, but there is something very endearing and mysterious about having to descend in order to reach a performance venue; like an exclusive underground nightclub, except way more refined. The Beijing factory is so interesting in that it very literally blurs the divide between inside- outside, and I think that the rolling door would provide endless scenic design possibilities (almost like a mechanical, industrial version of a mid-stage black drop). The Music Recital Hall is so incredibly striking, with the plush red seats and the bright white everything- else. Usually i find very intricately detailed theater venues (like the Boston Opera House) to be the most beautiful, but this orchestra hall’s simplicity is what makes it so visually impressive. The endless tunnel of black and white stripes is visually appealing, but I’m not sure how many different types of performances it could be adapted for. The folded pavillion is a perfect example of how scenery and even the straight- up architecture of venues is adapting to account for the newest explosion of the integration of media design into live performance. The way the folded surfaces capture the projections is stunning. The Integral House’s undulating walls mirror well the flow of musical notes in order to capture the essence of performance and audience. All in all, while I wouldn’t call this a comprehensive list of “unusual” performance spaces (most of them were carefully conceived and most of them were much better suited for music than for any other kind of performance), the spaces shown were all very beautiful and interesting in thought- provoking ways.
So often when we think of unconventional performance spaces we limit ourselves to the idea that for it to be unconventional it can’t have been designed to be a performance space. The abandoned warehouse or old mansion, even the hallway of Purnell all fall under this category of unconventional spaces. The performance spaces in this article however are not “found” spaces for the most part but are rather designed intentionally to be performed in but without the typical limitations we place upon ourselves as the “best” way to create a performance space. Many of them seem to bring a sense of comfort and intimacy with them to the audience in a way that traditional spaces don’t because they are designed to create a space for the performance to take place which we look into rather than being a part of that space in the way that many of these accomplish in really stunningly beautiful ways.
6 comments:
Since coming to CMU I am becoming more open to more than just Proscenium style theatre. I enjoy more than just the Chosky, Wells, and Raugh. Playground opened my ideas as to where performances could succeed. (Lobbies of buildings, basement, hallways, studios, etc.)
The pictures in the article are beautiful. Architecture is such an interesting art form because it takes so much precision and every choice has reason. I love the contemporary shapes of the walls, and textures presented on the interesting shapes. I love that theatre is now moving towards presenting realistic spaces on stage. The Huntington Stage does a lot of work where interiors are presented on stage. I think that it breaks the fourth wall in a way that doesn't take the actors out of the story, but invites the audience into what is happening in the space.
I think a great example of a use of an unconventional space here at CMU was Antony and Cleopatra. It just worked.
I also like the idea of theatre one day performing in spaces that are literally homes and living rooms. It could be interesting, but might make it too realistic. Hmm, something to think about. Reminds me of method acting?
These are so beautiful! I am totally in love with unusual performance spaces and would love to be working in places like these. My favorites are definitely the 77 Theatre and the Live Bar (with all the spirals). They are so different and yet both so fun. I've had a fair amount of *somewhat* unconventional work over the past year or so... I managed extreme pogo competitions in a park in Jacksonville and a Philadelphia street, PA'd on Milk Like Sugar in the warehouse, ASM'd an opera in a church up the street from me with Tina, ASM'd in the Wells, and am now ASMing a completely devised work with a Bulgarian director. But this is great, because I would really like to be doing unconventional work for all my life. That's why I'm looking at themed entertainment management, because it is a total toss up as to what I'll be working on, where it will be, and what my role will look like. I love the unpredictability that can come with the work I do sometimes, so seeing fun spaces like this gets me very excited for the future.
I think this is a great example of how the design team can get the most out of the venue. All of these venues are so beautiful and could really stand alone. I'm sure the addition of these spaces takes the performance to a completely new level. I think having venues that add to the performance can really immerse the audience in the piece and even guide them in the vision the designers had for the performance. the experience would start even before the show started. As soon as the audience looked at the venue they can get a glimpse of what to expect. The idea that anywhere can be a venue for performance is so exciting to me. I think this ideal can help bring performances and theatre to places that were not able to accommodate them in the past. With this new ideal in mind, theatre can reach further audiences and new meanings that were unattainable before. I love how thinking both inside and outside the box can create such different experiences, one not better than the other, just different. While these new and nontraditional spaces could possibly pose some challenges, I think they would be interesting to solve and teach you beneficial knowledge that will make you a more diverse theatre artist.
These photos all look stunning, and I'm sure the venues look even more striking in person. The impact that the venue can have on the audience is something subtle but plays a huge role in shaping the audience's perception of the performance. Unlike the traditional proscenium theatre where only what is on stage is the world of the play, the entire environment that the audience is surrounded by is a part of the world of the performance. Most of my experience with theatre as an audience was with proscenium stages, slightly re-arranged black box theatres, or traditional concert stadiums - all of which when I was there I was aware that I was watching a play/musical/concert, and I didn't give them much thought. However, when a performance happens somewhere that doesn't fit with our conventional idea of where it should happen, this ignites a lot more thought and conversation. Furthermore, working in a different space is definitely a valuable experience for people working on the production - I'd love to get an opportunity to work on something at any of these spaces.
I’m such a sucker for unconventional theatrical performance spaces, and I love looking at the differences between spaces that are specifically crafted to be “unconventional” and spaces that existed prematurely to being considered performance spaces (like the warehouse). The tilted-stone-statue leading to an underground performance cave is so elegant that you would never guess that it was underground, but there is something very endearing and mysterious about having to descend in order to reach a performance venue; like an exclusive underground nightclub, except way more refined. The Beijing factory is so interesting in that it very literally blurs the divide between inside- outside, and I think that the rolling door would provide endless scenic design possibilities (almost like a mechanical, industrial version of a mid-stage black drop). The Music Recital Hall is so incredibly striking, with the plush red seats and the bright white everything- else. Usually i find very intricately detailed theater venues (like the Boston Opera House) to be the most beautiful, but this orchestra hall’s simplicity is what makes it so visually impressive. The endless tunnel of black and white stripes is visually appealing, but I’m not sure how many different types of performances it could be adapted for. The folded pavillion is a perfect example of how scenery and even the straight- up architecture of venues is adapting to account for the newest explosion of the integration of media design into live performance. The way the folded surfaces capture the projections is stunning. The Integral House’s undulating walls mirror well the flow of musical notes in order to capture the essence of performance and audience. All in all, while I wouldn’t call this a comprehensive list of “unusual” performance spaces (most of them were carefully conceived and most of them were much better suited for music than for any other kind of performance), the spaces shown were all very beautiful and interesting in thought- provoking ways.
So often when we think of unconventional performance spaces we limit ourselves to the idea that for it to be unconventional it can’t have been designed to be a performance space. The abandoned warehouse or old mansion, even the hallway of Purnell all fall under this category of unconventional spaces. The performance spaces in this article however are not “found” spaces for the most part but are rather designed intentionally to be performed in but without the typical limitations we place upon ourselves as the “best” way to create a performance space. Many of them seem to bring a sense of comfort and intimacy with them to the audience in a way that traditional spaces don’t because they are designed to create a space for the performance to take place which we look into rather than being a part of that space in the way that many of these accomplish in really stunningly beautiful ways.
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