In 2005 I began what I thought would be a series of articles about designing and building a theater. The articles were going to be about lighting, rigging, seating, etc. Those articles were never published because it very quickly became apparent that the theater equipment was only one piece of a puzzle that could be more comprehensively discussed in a book. My goal was to inform anyone crazy enough to want to build a theater about the process and to allow them to make informed decisions. The original title was Building Better Theaters: a guide to the design and construction of performing arts buildings. My publisher quickly and wisely chopped off the back end and Building Better Theaters was published by ET Press in 2006.
Building Better Theaters: in the course of my practice I have pursued this philosophy innately and without much conscious thought, but what is a “better” theater? Is that idea a meaningful one? Thinking about it now the obvious becomes apparent: there is no one kind or type of theater that is “better” than another. What is “better” is what is most appropriate and suitable for a given theater, for a given organization, for a given community. Over time, theaters have been built by many agencies and for many reasons (of which the presentation of a theatrical event has often been the least!) The size, cost and sheer magnitude of the undertaking have limited the building of theaters to individuals and groups with a great deal of money and political power. In the historic past this group was small and included only monarchs and municipalities (i.e. various European city-states). Today, in the United States, the group includes: federal, state and municipal governments, colleges and universities, corporations and philanthropists, well-established performing arts groups . . . well, you get the picture. These groups build theaters with a capital “T”. The intent is to create large scale venues seating large numbers of people.
The past 80 years or so have seen theaters created in many different kinds of spaces, by individuals and small groups with limited budgets. They can be found in church basements, shopping malls, office buildings, parking garages, barns, tents and other outdoor spaces. These theaters, with a lower-case “t” are less interested in where their performances take place or how large the audience might be. This is not to say that one is better or more desirable than the other. Both small and large theaters have their virtues and drawbacks and I would not pass judgement. I will say, however, that there can be as many kinds of theater buildings as there are people who wish to use them and that this is a good thing.
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