Intheatre, athrust stage (aplatform stage oropen stage)[1] is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by itsupstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than aproscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area. This is in contrast to atheatre in the round, which is exposed on all sides to the audience, is without a backstage, and relies entirely on entrances in theauditorium or from under the stage. Entrances onto a thrust are most readily made from backstage, although some theatres provide for performers to enter through the audience usingvomitory entrances. As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides. Because the audience can view the performance from a variety of perspectives, it is usual for theblocking,props and scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure that no perspective is blocked from view. A high-backed chair, for instance, when placedstage right, could create a blind spot in thestage left action.
The thrust stage is the earliest stage type in western theatre, first appearing inGreek theatres, and its arrangement was continued by thepageant wagon. As pageant wagons evolved into Elizabethan theatre, many of that era's works, including those ofShakespeare, were performed on theatre with an open thrust stage, such as those of theGlobe Theatre.
The thrust stage was generally out of use for centuries, and was resurrected byOrson Welles when he stagedDoctor Faustus for theFederal Theatre Project in 1937. There, the thrust apron extended over three rows of seats atMaxine Elliott's Theatre, extending 20 feet. "It was constructed especially for the production and was probably one of the first to break out of the procenium arch in a Broadway playhouse", wrote criticRichard France.[2]
Later resurrected by directorTyrone Guthrie and designerTanya Moiseiwitsch,[3] a thrust stage was used in 1953 by theStratford Shakespeare Festival ofCanada.[4] Their Festival Theatre was originally under a tent, until a permanent thrust stage theatre facility was constructed in 1957. Since that time dozens of other thrust stage venues have been built using the concept.
