The Proscenium Stage and Theatre Style

The Proscenium stage form is one of the most common forms in our repertoire. It dates back to Italy in the Renaissance. It depends on a linear division between audience and performers. The division is further emphasized by the use of a Proscenium Arch designed to serve as a Fourth Wall. The idea here is that action has begun long before the audience enters the space and will continue beyond the end of the play. What the audience is really doing by this scheme is eavesdropping right through the walls of the living space as though they are glass. Those inside the space are unaware of the observer.

Modern interpretation allows an ironical use of the form by purposefully denying this illusion of anonymous observation by Breaking Proscenium or Breaking the fourth wall. This comes in two for...