Apron stage
Apron Stage (from English. Apron , apron 'and stage , stage') is a term from the English Renaissance - Theater (1600) and is a rectangular raised proscenium, which is open on three sides.
The Elizabethan stage in William Shakespeare's time is a kind of arena without a roof. The building has three floors and there is a so-called pit , so to speak, the ground floor, which is lower than the stage, also mockingly referred to as the “yard”. The first floor is on the same level as the stage, in front of which the apron stage is located as a front stage that protrudes into the arena.
On the apron stage, the contact with the audience was particularly close and it was hardly possible to play with stage sets or props (which also didn't have to be changed). Accordingly, the theater characters addressed the audience or quickly changed scenes. All of this could then no longer be achieved in the baroque peep-box stage with its spatial depth (see Baroque theater ). This is one of the reasons why Shakespeare's plays were considered unplayable in continental Europe until the mid- 18th century .
The Apron Stage was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century by the London actor and theater producer William Poel and used for Shakespeare performances. Today the term is common for a stage or part of a stage that protrudes into the auditorium, i.e. is larger than a front stage.
literature
- Dennis Bartholomeusz: Macbeth and the Players, Cambridge Univ. Press, London 1969, pp. 221-222. ISBN 0-521-06925-4