Download Italian Theatre Architecture While academic writers were following

Italian Theatre Architecture
While academic writers were following classic models and groups of actors were
developing commedia, architects in the Italian Renaissance were revolutionizing theatre
design and scenic effects. Since much of the drama written during the Renaissance
was staged at academies, changes in theatre architecture frequently developed within
these institutions. Three buildings in particular showed a move toward a new kind of
theatre architecture, and, remarkable, all three are still standing.
Teatro Olimpico







The oldest surviving theatre constructed during the Italian Renaissance, the
Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, was initially designed by Andrea Palladio for the
Olympic Academy in that city.
When Palladio died, Vincenzo Scamozzi completed the building in 1584.
The premier production in the Olimpico was Sopholes’ King Oedipus in 1585.
It was designed as a miniature indoor Roman theatre
Its auditorium, accommodating 3,000 spectators, consisted of elliptical benches
connected to the scaena, or stage house
o This arrangement created a semicircular orchestra.
There was a raised stage, about 70 feet wide by 18 feet deep, in front of the
scaena
The ornate façade of the scene house, patterned after the Roman scaena, was
designed to look like a street.
o Behind each opening was an alleyway or street scene that seemed to
disappear in the distance.
o To achieve the effect of depth, in each alleyway there were threedimensional buildings – houses and shops – which decreased in size as
they were positioned farther and farther away from the opening onstage.
The Theatre at Sabbioneta





In 1588, Scamozzi constructed a tiny 250-seat theatre in Sabbioneta, Italy
It was paid for by the duke of Mantua
Only had one background vista, which extended from one side of the stage to the
other.
Was a smaller, more intimate version of the Teatro Olimpico
Set in a rectangular building, it has a small colonnade around the horseshoeshaped auditorium, which has a flat floor and no fixed seating.
Teatro Farnese and the Proscenium Stage







Giovan Battista Alcotti built the most notable theatre building of all the Italian
Renaissance, the Teatro Farnese in Parma.
The Farnese was completed in 1618.
It had a typical court and academic theatre auditorium, with raised horseshoe
seating accommodating 3,500 spectators and a semicircular orchestra in front
of the stage.
The orchestra could be used for additional seating, or it could be flooded – a
spectacular practice adopted from the Romans – for aquatic scenes such as
naval battles.
What was revolutionary in the Teatro Farnese was its proscenium-arch stage.
The Farnese was probably not the first space in Italy with a proscenium; it is
believed that temporary arches were used earlier at court performances and
that another permanent proscenium stage may have been constructed earlier.
But the Farnese is the most famous because it is still standing – though it
required extensive renovation after it was damaged during World War II.
The Proscenium-arch stage – also known as the picture-frame, fourth wall, or
conventional stage – is still among the best-known types of theatre space.
o The audience, facing in one direction, views the action through the
arch, which frames the stage picture.
o In most modern theatres, the “arch” is not rounded but rectangular
o The proscenium hides from the audience the stage mechanisms for
scene changes and special effects, increasing theatrical illusion.
The Legacy of the Italian Renaissance


Almost all of western theatre was eventually influenced by Italian dramatic
criticism and by the advances in theatre architecture and scenic design initiated
during the Italian Renaissance.
This influence was felt fist in France and later in other countries such as England,
Spain, and Germany