Hello, my dearest Steemians hoping you are well. I bring you in this publication the second part of my post dedicated to the theatrical space and its technical study. Since becoming part of steemit I have seen little material about theatre in either dramaturgy or theatre videos or stage techniques. This led me to revalue one of my professions, which has given me not only artistic knowledge because theatre has been classified as the synthesis of all the arts, but also a lifestyle that has made me grow as a person in this world full of adversities.
This second part of the theatrical space will be trying to explain the division of the scenic space.
Throughout the whole subject, I have been trying to teach you that this place where we stand, called space, is not naked or empty, it is not just a tablet, a cold, lifeless piece of concrete, a dark place. Not so, this special place has a number of rules that we saw in the primary definition, but it's time to call a spade a spade and leave the concept of a line behind. This does not mean that we should forget what we have learned. We must retain it and add it to what we know as new.
The need to teach the divisions of space was to have an element of help in our career. The support for the actor, dancer, choreographer or director consists of knowing the area to be worked on to create without limitations. Having the technical knowledge of space provides another means of help that we add to our delicate art. I have noticed how the performing arts at certain moments have become empty as if they were in a vast expanse of plain that produces agoraphobia.
I'm struggling to get my own methodology. What I am trying to achieve with this writing is to give greater value to the stage works. The participant, upon entering a space that will become a stage. You must know the means to defend yourself. I've done the following division for a better study:
- By its square
- For its air capacity
- For its ability to move
This way of dividing up space gives us the opportunity to work on each of these groups much more precisely.
He who has the obligation to stage a job or those who have the responsibility to work must imagine the square we have already spoken about before. The director will not only read the work and study the possible sections and climaxes, this time it is his turn to do more work: "Sometimes it is not enough to cut, but it is necessary to do much more to give life to a work". The square will be applied to the spaces to be used. Whether it's square, triangular or round, we'll put this in a square.
1.1 Baseline: forum
1.2 Frontline: proscenium
1.3 Sidelines: lateral (left-right).
As soon as the center lines are in place, they retain their initial names.
1.1 Forum
As we know, the forum is the back line, so we know its division. What we must assimilate new is the following:
a. The left end of the forum (LEF): this is the one that ends at the end of the left side (ELS).
b. The right end of the forum (REF): is the one that ends at the end of the right side (ERS)
c. Center: is the center of the forum, which receives the central point towards the center of the forum (CPTCF)
1.2 Proscenium
It's the front line. We also know their divisions.
a. The left end of the proscenium (PIP): this is the one that ends with the end of the left side. (PLI)
b. The right end of the proscenium (PDP): this is the one that ends with the right side whore (PDP).
c. Center in the center of the proscenium (CP) marks the end of the central tip toward the center of the proscenium (PCHC).
1.3 Lateral
That is the lines of the sides of which we already know their divisions.
From now on they'll read like this:
a. Left-hand side
b. Right lateral:
B.1 right-hand side end (FLD): will find the right-hand end of the forum (PDF)
Abbreviations to read the figures:
Forum:
LEF: left end of the forum
REF: right end of the forum
FC: forum center
Proscenium:
LEP: left end of the proscenium
REP: right end of the proscenium.
Sides:
Straight ahead:
ERB: end of right-back.
TRHS: the tip of the right-hand side
CRHS: center of the right-hand side.
Left. Left:
ELS: end of the left side
TLS: the tip of the left side
CLS: center of the left side
Lateral lines:
CPTCLS: central point towards the center of the left side.
CMCRL: central tip makes the center of right lateral.
CPTCF: central point towards the center of the forum.
CTCP: central tip toward the center of the proscenium
2. reading of space by its square.
When we are going to read the part that corresponds to us in the script, in this case, by its square, and we are on stage, we must place ourselves in the common center. As I stand to face the audience, the line I have at the front of the stage, the line I have on my back is the forum. We must be careful here, because the line I have to my right, for me is the right side, the line I have to my left is the left side, but the following happens: for the spectator and the live one, which are where I put the audience, the sides are reversed, my right becoming my left, and my left becoming my right. I do this work by looking at the audience, that is, when I see the figures, what we have to our right will be the right side. The other shape is on a piece of paper because, because of its square, it is seen from above.
2.1 Space by its square.
In these graphs, we will see as clear as possible, for your reading and knowledge, the ends of the square marked by all its lines.
It is read taking the side as a starting point:
X-1 end of the left side, with the left end of the forum.
X-2 end of the right side, with the right end of the forum.
X-3 tip of the left side, with the left end of the proscenium.
X-4 point of the right lateral, with the right point of the proscenium.
I remind you that we are reading as an audience. I mean, we're out there and we're facing the stage.
I want to clarify that when we are going to read by its square, that the stage could have any shape: triangular, round, rectangular, but we frame it in a square to apply the reading and work on the stage space. Examples:
As we can see, there are four scenarios: rectangular, round, triangular and another one that I will call oblique, but I took them all up to the square, that is to say, I put a square inside them to do the job.
Here we have space by its square formed by six lines of the sides, one at the front, one at the end, and, in the center, one horizontal and one vertical.
L-1 center point toward the bottom, with the center of the forum.
L-2 central point forward, with the center of the proscenium.
L-3 central point to the left, with a center of the left side.
An L-4 center points to the right, with a center of the right side.
In a montage, we will rarely get to the extremes, but we must know them: being close to them we will take them as if we were there. Equally, in the end, we did not use all the terms, which would be ideal.
2.2 Function of the center lines
We have already seen that we can divide the space seen from above into lines: four form the square, and the other two, the central ones. I will now explain the function of the central lines.
a. Horizontal
It is the line that crosses our space from the center of the left side, passing through the common center, and reaching the center of the left side, passing through the common center, and reaching the center of the right side. It establishes a division for the reading of our work.
Division
From the known line (horizontal) forward, we have the proscenium. Backward we have the forum area. This line divides the space into two areas, front proscenium, back forum, that is, the spaces have stripes.
AREA THAT BELONGS TO THE FORUM
b. Vertical
is the line that crosses our space, from the center of the forum, through the common center, and ending in the center of the proscenium, in other words, it comes from back to front, or from front to back, making another important division.
Division
This line divides the space seen from above into two areas: on the right side, right side left the side, left the side, left the side, remember that in our case we are seeing it as public, that is, the area that is not scratched.
3. Division of the square
We have that our scenic space can be divided by its square in:
It is a square of four squares, which gives a more accurate reading of the location of the actor. We must establish the following conclusions regarding the formation of the stage space: there are six lines, distributed as follows:
Four lines:
- The line on the right side.
- The line on the left side.
- Forum line.
- Proscenium line.
These lines form a square.
Two centerlines:
vertical
Horizontal
These lines will form the four squares: two squares (forum and proscenium) and two squares (right and left side).
3.1 how to read the four squares
We will work first by taking the center lines into account to read the squares. Start with the vertical line, which splits the square to the left, on the left side, and to the right, on the right side.
Then the horizontal line divides the space into proscenium and forum.
a. The vertical line forming the left side:
a.1 Left side to the forum.
a.2 left lateral to the proscenium.
b. The vertical line forming a right lateral line.
b.1 right side to the forum.
b.2 right lateral to the proscenium.
Pay close attention to the following figure.
c. The horizontal line forming the proscenium:
c.1 Proscenium to the right side.
c.2 Proscenium to the left side.
d. The horizontal line that forms the forum.
d.1 Forum to the right side.
d.2 Forum to the side
Like this. I have tried and managed to demonstrate how to read squares when an actor is placed in a certain area. In conclusion, we must be clear about the following: the director does all this work, sometimes alone, but if we handle the technique, the play or theatrical piece, which is our business, it is quickly assembled. It is also applicable to dances, mimes, etc.
Reading by your square:
a. Left side to the forum (forum left side)
b. Right side to the forum (forum right side)
c. Left lateral to the proscenium (proscenium right side)
d. The right side towards the proscenium (proscenium right side).
With this drawing and the previous one, we can have a clearer idea of what we are dealing with. We have three ways of reading: 1) stand in the common center of the stage, 2) read our space seen from above, and 3) read our space seen from the front as an audience. For the director, the ideal is to see it from the audience; for the actor, from the common center of the stage.
We must not forget that we are looking at this square head-on. For when we are standing in front of a stage, we must imagine these squares in the same way as we have been observing them, to obtain a square of four squares.
We will now read the locations in the squares:
Locations in the squares:
Locations:
X-M-1: Left lateral to the proscenium (proscenium right side).
X-M2: Right side, towards the common center, with the proscenium (proscenium right side towards the common center).
Reading:
Figure A:
- Left side to the proscenium.
- Center of the proscenium.
- Right side to the forum, with the end of the right side.
Figure B:
- Common center of the stage.
- Left side to the forum.
- Right side to the forum.
Figure C: - The right side towards the common center, a little towards the forum.
- End of the left side, with the left end of the forum on the left side towards the forum.
- Right side to the proscenium.
I close this theoretical and practical study of the theatrical space in its second edition and prepare for the third and last installment next month with videos of a performance and thus conclude this information that will serve the general public to better understand how it is to move around the stage space and will also serve for actors, directors, dancers, and choreographers to make the most of their presentations.
I hope you enjoyed the publication. Thank you for reading.
