the prium arch space is the most common style of theater Arrangement today another that is not so common but in many ways is as old as theater itself is the thrust space the thrust is a staging Arrangement that has the audience situated on three sides of the performance it's as if the stage was thrust into the audience the thrust stage is often backed up with a stage house that serves as the background or setting of the thrust stage the thrust space was popularized during the Elizabethan period when William Shakespeare was writing his plays let's take a look at the top view of the thrust space as you can see the arrangement is quite different from the prenium Art Space where the audience and performance are situated on opposite sides of each other the thrust Arrangement allows for many more of the audience to come into closer proximity with the action of the play and and as a result creates a more intimate feeling but the thrust Arrangement creates different staging requirements than the prenium arch on the thrust space the notion of creating stage pictures will not be effective where each audience member has a similar orientation to the precedium arch stage the arrangement of the thrust with its audience on three different sides of the action cannot create a consistent stage picture on the thrust space if we put an actor in The down center block the conditions that made it a strong position on the prium arch stage will not apply to the thrust stage the director staging on the thrust stage often considers the stage as a panorama with different levels at the front of the stage than at the back of the stage he also considers the aisles of the house he may have an actor sitting down stage with his back to an aisle facing another actor who is standing up stage this is referred to as the open aisle position the downstage corners of the thrust space serve as the most effective position for an actor to stand or sit and not hinder the sight lines on the stage the same can be said of the upstage area this is almost the opposite case with the prenium arch space the thrust space requires much more movement than the prenium arch space this is because in order to allow the best sight line for the audience in all three sections of the house to view the actors equally he must move them in order to engage in a Technique we referred to as turning the image around because of this we say that the staging in a Thrust space is more active where the staging on a prenium arch is more static that's not to say that there's not an opportunity for much movement on the prenium arch it simply isn't as required as it is on the thrust space this poses a challenge but also presents an opportunity for creativity it's no wonder that sword fights battle scenes and dances were popular on The Shakespearean stage as these active scenarios work well on the thrust base so when directing for the thrust space the director tries to create an active Panorama he does this by considering the traffic Lanes on the thrust space when traveling on the thrust space actors may move toward the center and then stop on their Mark the other actors are arranged at different locations so as not to impede the sight lines of the audience that is directly behind them the actions may move through the outside Lanes of the action but must not stop unless there is a artistic reason for it because stopping in the lanes can hinder the sight lines for the audience on that side of the stage where the design elements on a prenium arch stage are designed to enhance the creation of a stage picture the design designed for a Thrust space utilizes the Panorama effect low set pieces such as benches or low stools are situated on the downside area taller Design Elements such as floor lamps or coat racks can be situated against the upstage wall the stage house wall at the upstage part of the thrust serves as the only wall on this space as additional walls would almost certainly impair the audience's sight lines while the need to move move actors around on the stage more often and the Restriction of stage scenery as a result of the audience sight line poses a challenge to the director and designer there are also benefits of staging in the thrust space this space offers a more intimate feel between the audience and the actors there is more a sense that the audience is right there with the characters the thrust also offers the audience a more unique viewing experience the precum Arch stage offers a series of stage pictures to its audience the thrust on the other hand offers audiences a series of stage sculptures this is unlike the experience of the predium arch movies or television if well staged the thrust can offer its audience an intimate and active evening of theater well that's the thrust stage in a nutshell in the next section we'll take a look at the Arena Stage or theater in the round as it's sometimes called and consider what staging challenges it poses for the theater and what unique viewing experience it offers its audience I'll catch you on the other side of the task [Music]