HOW CAN THEATRE BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE?
EMILY SKALKA INTERIOR DESIGN CAPSTONE
CAPSTONE OVERVIEW
Looking at the accessibility of theatre in two ways: mobility and proximity. The creation of this modular system addresses mobility by bringing the theatre, stage, and set to you. Its nesting design allows for easy transport via semitruck to any site by storing the medium and small modules within the large. The modular system also addresses the accessibility of theatre in regard to proximity. Proximity of the audience to the actors. By bringing the theatre and stage down to the human scale, it allows for everyone to have the best seat in the house, it allows the audience and actors to share the same space.
01
02
03
Opportunity
Concept
Execution
For each of the theatre
The creation of a modular
An interactive theatre
structures, Proscenium, Thrust,
system to make theatre more
experience where the
Black Box, In the Round, and
accessible. Using this system
relationship between actor
Open Air, the audience’s position
for touring productions to bring
and audience member is
and orientation to the stage
theatre, stage, and set to any
challenged and transforms
remains constant. What if the
site. Bringing the stage down to
from scene to scene. Creating
audience’s position and view of
the human scale to challenge
a series of spaces where both
the stage and actors did change?
the relationship between actor
the actors and the audience are
and spectator.
experiencing the same events.
Beginning the iterative process by creating forms influenced by the circulation of various actions. This, however, started to stray away from the theatre, so I looked at four different stage structures, identified an element that made each unique, and used that to create four new modular forms.
I chose to move forward with the form created from the In-theRound theatre stucture. With three different sizes, the module can be configured in a number of ways. The base of the large module consists of a track system that allows the medium and small modules to be stored and moved within the large.
Lighting Connection Detail
Telescoping Lighting System
Fastening Detail
Track System
The use of hollow aluminum framing and thin plywood to keep the module lightwight. The plywood also allows for paint or wallcoverings to be aplied or items to be hung, thus adapting to any backdrop needed for a scene. Depending on the production and site, any number of the modules would be used to create the small world of stages and sets.
Site: Department 7 Warehouse
Floor Plan
Reflected Ceiling Plan
Axon
Program Diagram
Actor Circulation Diagram
Audience Circulation Diagram
THANK YOU