Assignment 7

1. Describe the difference between a thrust stage and proscenium stage.

Thrust Stage

Proscenium Stage

    A thrust stage is a stage that extends into the audience on three sides.  This kind of stage is also connected to the backstage area by its up stage end.  The thrust stage allows for a certain amount of intimacy between the actors and their audience.  A proscenium stage is a stage with an arch that separates the stage from the audience.  The actual stage is a few feet above the first row of seats.  In a product preformed on a proscenium stage, the actors only have to worry about playing to the audience from one direction, unlike the thrust stage, where the actors have to play to three sides.  All New York Broadway theaters are proscenium stages and the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis is a thrust stages.

2. What is the fly gallery?

Fly Gallery

    The fly gallery is a narrow elevated platform at the side of the stage in a theater, from which a stagehand works the ropes controlling equipment in the flies.  Scenery can be "flown" in and out.  Many of the lights are arranged on the fly gallery and are then hoisted into the air.  The backdrop and curtains also hang from the fly gallery.  People who work on the fly galleries are normally dressed in all black, so they are not noticed by the audience members.  

3. How does a scrim work?

Scrim from Peter Pan

    A scrim is a curtain of thinly woven fabric.  Opaque when lit from the front and transparent when lit from the back.  A dreamy or foggy look can be created by lighting a scene entirely behind a scrim.  Many times a scrim will be used to project images or colors onto the stage, but they disappear when the light is taken away from the scrim.