Evolution of Theatre Buildings
Rome to Renaissance
Adam E Barratt
Dr. David Crespy
Theatre History – TH 66
October 21, 2002
Evolution of Theatre Buildings
Rome to Renaissance
From the earliest Greek and Roman to the intricate Italian to modern day, theatres
and their technology have undergone a great transformation. Most of these developments
are heavily documented by the great architects and mathematicians of the times. Because
artificial sound reinforcement did not yet exist, Greeks used a semi-circular amphitheater
allowing the tiniest voice to be heard in the rear of the seating, using natural acoustics to
overcome difficult auditory obstacles. Romans used a similar method to project the
human voice to its fullest extent. Moving through time to the age of the Italian
Renaissance, audience size had dropped – so therefore did the need to project to such
extreme distances. Plays became more intimate – as did the environments in which they
were produced. From acoustical needs, to the introduction of the proscenium arch, to the
introduction of elaborate scenic elements, theatre architecture has changed over the
course of time to accommodate the needs of that time.
Roman theatre architectural ideas can be witnessed in Vitruvius’ writing of De
Architectura which gives a rational approach to design for architects and builders on how
to lay out both Greek and Roman theaters1. The date of publication varies over a wide
range, somewhere between 27-14 B.C. Besides architectural design principles, Vitruvius'
writings suggest to architects that they have legal knowledge to draft building contracts,
1
Cleaver, James. Theatre Through the Ages (New York: Hart Publishing Company Inc., 1967). 66
know astronomy for orientation of buildings, and arithmetic for computing construction
costs.2 De Architectura offers description of the mathematical proportions to create
symmetry and balance, acoustics and the appropriate placement of wood and stone.
"In the orchestra circle, which in both (Greek and Roman) theaters forms the
center of the layout, four equilateral triangles are inscribed at equal distances
apart, the points of which touches the middle of the auditorium, forms the front
wall of the stage house, which the Romans richly equipped as the scaenea frons.
The line parallel to this, which runs through the center of the circle and thus
divides the orchestra into two halves, forms the front wall (proscenium) of the
platform of the stage (pulpitum). In this way the stage has the depth of half the
radius of the orchestra. From this we may conclude-even if we did not know itthat the Roman theater has a semicircular orchestra and a much deeper stage than
the Greek. Vitruvius explains this on the basis that the actors performed on the
stage of the Roman Theater, while in the Greek theater only the scenic artists
make their appearance there, the lyric and other artists appearing in the
orchestra."3
2
Stahl, William. Roman Science, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1962), 93.
Bieber, Margaret. History of Greek and Roman Theater, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961),
187.
3
The descriptions by Vitruvius leave little to guessing as he outlines every detail of
construction within his pages, showing us his mathematical and architectural geniusalthough it is questionable whether any theaters were ever built to his specifications.
Moving to a more modern theatre was no small step, shown by the many attempts
made during the middle ages to move the theatre from a centralized stage (Greek/Roman)
to a mobile stage (English) and even after the advent of the Renaissance in Italy there
were various attempts to construct theaters on Roman models based on rough translations
of De Architectura. However, the development of the theater form that was to dominate
until the 20th century began with the Teatro Farnese, built in 1618, at Parma, designed by
Gian-Battista Aleotti. Aleotti’s use of the proscenium arch is one of the most significant
lasting impressions of Italian Renaissance theater architecture, as it creates the “pictureframe stage” we are accustomed to in modern day theatre. Italians also introduced
painted perspective scenery, first outlined in Architettura by Sebastiano Serlio.4 These
detailed settings constructed of paintings and houses built of lath and canvas stood tall for
years as the audience simply accepted the same scenery for each show, only differing
between comic and tragic scenes. Complex scene shifting machinery was also introduced
during this time, including the chariot and pole mechanism. This system operated on a
4
Oscar G. Brockett, History of the Theatre. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. 1982), 162-166
simple idea built into a complex array of lines, pulleys, and levers that shifted entire
scenes.5
Shifting to modern day, we can see aspects of all historical periods mixed to form
what we now call theatre today. We still use aspects of the chariot and pole system in
today’s fly systems, just as we sometimes perform in an arena setting like the Greeks and
Romans. The main difference of today is that we have the aid of electricity in its many
forms to aid us in what used to take much more methodical planning and expertise.
Modern practices in theatre put much more emphasis on technology and relies on it for a
successful production whereas in historical theatre it was simply an added bonus.
5
Brockett, Oscar G., History of the Theatre, 168-170
Bibliography
Beckett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc. 1982.
Cleaver, James. Theatre Through the Ages. New York: Hart Publishing Company Inc.,
1967.
Stahl, William. Roman Science, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1962.
Bieber, Margaret. History of Greek and Roman Theater, Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1961.