Misplaced Pages

#837162

29-448: The Caird Hall is a concert auditorium located in Dundee , Scotland . It is a Category A listed building . The site currently occupied by the building was occupied by a series of closes and tenements. The foundation stone for the building was laid by King George V and Queen Mary on 10 July 1914. It was designed by the town architect James Thomson , assisted by Vernon Constable, while

58-466: A clearly defined " boccascena ", or scene mouth, as Italians call it, more like a picture frame than an arch but serving the same purpose: to deineate the stage and separate the audience from its action. While the proscenium arch became an important feature of the traditional European theatre, often becoming very large and elaborate, the original proscaenium front below the stage became plainer. The introduction of an orchestra pit for musicians during

87-412: A good view because the performers need only focus on one direction rather than continually moving around the stage to give a good view from all sides. A proscenium theatre layout also simplifies the hiding and obscuring of objects from the audience's view (sets, performers not currently performing, and theatre technology). Anything that is not meant to be seen is simply placed outside the "window" created by

116-458: A modern theatre are usually separated from the performers by the proscenium arch , although other types of stage are common. The price charged for seats in each part of the auditorium (known in the industry as the house ) usually varies according to the quality of the view of the stage. The seating areas can include some or all of the following: Sports venues such as stadiums and racetracks also have royal boxes or enclosures, for example at

145-520: A proscenium arch, but the term thrust stage is more specific and more widely used). In dance history , the use of the proscenium arch has affected dance in different ways. Prior to the use of proscenium stages, early court ballets took place in large chambers where the audience members sat around and above the dance space. The performers, often led by the queen or king, focused in symmetrical figures and patterns of symbolic meaning. Ballet's choreographic patterns were being born. In addition, since dancing

174-459: Is no English equivalent ... It would also be possible to retain the classical frons scaenae . The Italian "arco scenico" has been translated as "proscenium arch." In practice, however, the stage in the Teatro Olimpico runs from one edge of the seating area to the other, and only a very limited framing effect is created by the coffered ceiling over the stage and by the partition walls at

203-412: Is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre , usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame into which the audience observes from a more or less unified angle the events taking place upon the stage during a theatrical performance. The concept of the fourth wall of

232-632: Is used for graduation ceremonies from the University of Dundee , the University of Abertay Dundee and Dundee and Angus College , as well as other significant university events. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra opened its 2019/20 season at the Caird Hall in October 2019. The exterior of Caird Hall was used as a location during the filming of the Alan Bennett scripted An Englishman Abroad in 1983. It

261-455: The proscaenium , again meaning "in front of the skene ". In the Greek and Roman theatre, no proscenium arch existed, in the modern sense, and the acting space was always fully in the view of the audience. However, Roman theatres were similar to modern proscenium theatres in the sense that the entire audience had a restricted range of views on the stage—all of which were from the front, rather than

290-507: The All England Club and Ascot Racecourse , where access is limited to royal families or other distinguished personalities. In other countries, sports venues have luxury boxes , where access is open to anyone who can afford tickets. Additionally, some sports venues were themselves called auditoriums, such as the former Buffalo Memorial Auditorium . Proscenium arch A proscenium ( Ancient Greek : προσκήνιον , proskḗnion )

319-546: The Baroque era further devalued the proscaenium , bringing the lowest level of the audience's view forward to the front of the pit, where a barrier, typically in wood, screened the pit. What the Romans would have called the proscaenium is, in modern theatres with orchestra pits, normally painted black in order that it does not draw attention. In this early modern recreation of a Roman theatre, confusion seems to have been introduced to

SECTION 10

#1732844427838

348-486: The COVID-19 pandemic , the Caird Hall was used as mass vaccination centre operated by NHS Tayside. It opened on 2 February 2021 and closed on 20 September 2021, completing 135,000 vaccinations. The Hall celebrated the 100th anniversary of its opening in October 2023 with an exhibition celebrating its history. The venue has a capacity of 2,300 fully seated, but can be subdivided or converted to standing where required. The hall

377-626: The 20th century, the Caird Hall hosted an impressive array of concerts that cemented its place in Scotland's live music scene. One of the Caird Hall's most notable performances came from The Beatles who performed at the venue in 1963 and 1964. The Beatles' 1963 concert in Dundee at the Caird Hall was where the term " Beatlemania " was coined by promotor Andi Lothian. Throughout the 1970s, Deep Purple , David Bowie , Led Zeppelin , Elton John , Iron Maiden , The Who , Queen , The Clash and AC/DC were some of

406-503: The Hellenistic period it became an increasingly large and elaborate stone structure, often with three storeys. In Greek theatre, which unlike Roman included painted scenery, the proskenion might also carry scenery. In ancient Rome, the stage area in front of the scaenae frons (equivalent to the Greek skene) was known as the pulpitum , and the vertical front dropping from the stage to the orchestra floor, often in stone and decorated, as

435-508: The Teatro Olimpico clearly show that the action took place in front of the scaenae frons and that the actors were rarely framed by the central archway). The Italian word for a scaenae frons is " proscenio ," a major change from Latin. One modern translator explains the wording problem that arises here: "[In this translation from Italian,] we retain the Italian proscenio in the text; it cannot be rendered proscenium for obvious reasons; and there

464-581: The Teatro Olimpico's exact replication of the open and accessible Roman stage was the exception rather than the rule in sixteenth-century theatre design. Engravings suggest that the proscenium arch was already in use as early as 1560 at a production in Siena . The earliest true proscenium arch to survive in a permanent theatre is the Teatro Farnese in Parma (1618), many earlier such theatres having been lost. Parma has

493-435: The beginning of dance-performance as a form of entertainment like we know it today. Since the use of the proscenium stages, dances have developed and evolved into more complex figures, patterns, and movements. At this point, it was not only significantly important how the performers arrived to a certain shape on the stage during a performance, but also how graciously they executed their task. Additionally, these stages allowed for

522-416: The characters performing on stage are doing so in a four-walled environment, with the "wall" facing the audience being invisible. Many modern theatres attempt to do away with the fourth wall concept and so are instead designed with a thrust stage that projects out of the proscenium arch and "reaches" into the audience (technically, this can still be referred to as a proscenium theatre because it still contains

551-402: The corners of the stage where the seating area abuts the floorboards. The result is that in this theatre "the architectural spaces for the audience and the action ... are distinct in treatment yet united by their juxtaposition; no proscenium arch separates them." A proscenium arch creates a "window" around the scenery and performers. The advantages are that it gives everyone in the audience

580-519: The decorative plaster work was produced by H. H. Martyn & Company of Cheltenham , Gloucestershire, holders of the Royal Warrant. The building, which was named after its benefactor, the jute baron, Sir James Caird , was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 26 October 1923. The hall's pipe organ was built in 1923 by Harrison & Harrison , who also completed a restoration in 1992. Throughout

609-565: The notable acts that performed at the hall. The 1980s saw Ozzy Osbourne , Thin Lizzy , UB40 , Duran Duran , Simple Minds and U2 all perform at the Caird Hall, whilst Morrissey, The Stranglers, Bjork , Radiohead and Travis took to the stage in the 1990s. Acts who have performed at the Caird Hall throughout the 21st century include Bryan Adams , Kasabian , Stereophonics , Royal Blood , as well as home acts such as The View and DJ Hannah Laing who performed sell out shows in 2023. During

SECTION 20

#1732844427838

638-414: The proscenium arch, either in the wings or in the flyspace above the stage. The phrase "breaking the proscenium" or "breaking the fourth wall" refers to when a performer addresses the audience directly as part of the dramatic production. Proscenium theatres have fallen out of favor in some theatre circles because they perpetuate the fourth wall concept. The staging in proscenium theatres often implies that

667-546: The sides or back. The oldest surviving indoor theatre of the modern era, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza (1585), is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the first example of a proscenium theatre. The Teatro Olimpico was an academic reconstruction of a Roman theatre. It has a plain proscaenium at the front of the stage, dropping to the orchestra level, now usually containing "stalls" seating, but no proscenium arch. However,

696-453: The stage level to the "stalls" level of the audience, which was the original meaning of the proscaenium in Roman theatres , where this mini-facade was given more architectural emphasis than is the case in modern theatres. A proscenium stage is structurally different from a thrust stage or an arena stage , as explained below. In later Hellenistic Greek theatres the proskenion (προσκήνιον)

725-454: The theatre stage space that faces the audience is essentially the same. It can be considered as a social construct which divides the actors and their stage-world from the audience which has come to witness it. But since the curtain usually comes down just behind the proscenium arch, it has a physical reality when the curtain is down, hiding the stage from view. The same plane also includes the drop, in traditional theatres of modern times, from

754-539: The use of the revived term in Italian. This emulation of the Roman model extended to refer to the stage area as the "proscenium", and some writers have incorrectly referred to the theatre's scaenae frons as a proscenium, and have even suggested that the central archway in the middle of the scaenae frons was the inspiration for the later development of the full-size proscenium arch. There is no evidence at all for this assumption (indeed, contemporary illustrations of performances at

783-489: Was a rather narrow raised stage where solo actors performed, while the Greek chorus and musicians remained in the "orchestra" in front and below it, and there were often further areas for performing from above and behind the proskenion, on and behind the skene . Skene is the Greek word (meaning "tent") for the tent, and later building, at the back of the stage from which actors entered, and which often supported painted scenery. In

812-399: Was considered a way of socializing, most of the court ballets finished with a ‘grand ballet’ followed by a ball in which the members of the audience joined the performance. Later on, the use of the proscenium stage for performances established a separation of the audience from the performers. Therefore, more devotion was placed on the performers, and in what was occurring in the ‘show.’ It was

841-482: Was decorated with placards of communist leaders, to take the part of a theatre in Moscow. Auditorium The term is taken from Latin (from audītōrium , from audītōrius ("pertaining to hearing")); the concept is taken from the Greek auditorium, which had a series of semi-circular seating shelves in the theatre , divided by broad 'belts', called diazomata , with eleven rows of seats between each. The audience in

#837162