Mansfield Music & Arts Society Black Box Theatre

Type) All-Purpose
Level) Community

1)Past Productions include 2th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Tea & Sympathy, Love Rides the Rails, Man of LaMancha, Streetcar Named Desire.
2a) These shows show off how a black box can be changed into many different formations and can be used to put on many different kinds of shows from small musicals, to even heavy dramas.
2b)You can see how the audience formation is always set up in different formations to best suit the production that is being performed. I am surprised to see how elaborate some of the sets are for these productions.

3a)There mission foster the arts in Massachusetts seems to be met because they are putting on well known plays and musicals. They seem to take all sorts of different actors of ages and types which is great for a community theatre to do.
3b)These productions seems to fit the mission. These shows all are very different and allows actors to gain experience performing all different kinds of shows and allows people of the area to be exposed to theatre.
4) Community Theaters are a great place for anyone to be exposed to theater. I think having a black box is a great idea because it is easier to put up smaller, low budget sets. It also allows actors to gain experience with smaller audiences and be able to grow as actors. This space is also used for many concerts and showcases many different arts festivals.

NYU Steinhardt

Type) All-Purpose theatre
Level) Educational

1) They have done such productions: Alice: The Looking Glass Girl, The Giver, Gross Indecency, and many New Plays.
2a) The productions definitely utilize many different styles of the Black Box theatre. These productions have abstract sets that are multi-functional. You can see that the focus is centered on the actors.
2b) You can easily see that the All purpose theatre can do any style of production and is especially great for showcases and original works.

3a) The mission statement is reflected by showing some great college level productions. You can see that the actors are learning many great skills and they perform many different new and experimental plays which is a unique educational experience for them.
3b) These productions seem to reflect the mission statement of challenging their students and having them apply their liberal arts education.
4) I learned that NYU has many different areas of theatre. I used to think of NYU only have Tisch being the only artistic school in NYU, but I was surprised to find Steinhardt. This theatre also has many award winning alumni. NYU has always been respected as a great school for theater and this great space allows these students to perform all of the amazing skills that they have learned.

Camarillo Skyway Playhouse

Type) Proscenium
Level) Community



1) Past productions include: Lend Me a Tenor, Man of La Mancha, The King and I, Footloose, Annie, Brigadoon.
2a) The theatre space is being used to put on a large scale musical. The stage is being used as a very formal way which is what proscenium stages are great for.
2b) They are not taking advantage of the fly space in this production because the stage is fairly bare. This seems to be an odd choice for a Proscenium but because it is community theatre I am not surprised.

3a) As you can tell from the caliber of the productions it clearly represents the mission statement because the actors are still honing their skills, making friends and just using this as an outlet for their love of theatre. Although it may not be professional theatre they are still trying their best to put on great productions.
3b)Their productions seem to reflect their mission statement by involving many people within the community to perform many different large scale musicals and comedies.
4) This seems like a great example of community theatre using the most common of the stages. Being on a Proscenium stage is a great idea because they are able to put on all the musicals that they love. Camarillo Skyway Playhouse does a great job at bringing theatre to their town and allowing many people to get a taste of theatre and a place for any theatre lover to have fun doing what they love.

Northern Arizona University- Seton Hall

Type) Arena
Level) Educational Theatre




1)They have done such productions as: King Lear, Cabaret, Taming of the Shrew, The Laramie Project, Glen Gary Glen Ross, Tick, Tick...Boom.
2a) Although their arena stage is utilized in such productions as King Lear as shown above. By having the audience on all sides of them the actors are forced to always have to open themselves to all areas of the audience. King Lear is a very dramatic play and by having the audience so close to the stage it will make it more intimate and powerful.
2b)Being a University with theatre in the round is fantastic. Productions make use of having the audience on all sides of them and there are unique entrances and exits because the audience surrounds the whole stage.

3a) As the videos prove Norther Arizona University develops learning actors, and they have opportunities to participate in all aspects of the theater.
3b)The videos prove that people get to learn to act in the round, they also have chances to act, direct, and even make sets. This school gives many opportunities for students to be creative and nurture their talents.
4) Upon research I learned how few arena stages there are and even fewer at actual colleges, I feel that makes Seton Hall a very unique theatre. They are able to perform many different types of shows which is wonderful for a college. Having a mix between classics and student originated shows makes it a very intriguing program. Although I would not typically think of Arizona being the home to theatre this space proves me wrong!

Samuel J. Friedman

Type) Proscenium
Level) Broadway




1)
Such plays include Master Class, Venus in Fur, The Columnist, Wit, Good People, Rabbit Hole.
2a) The pictures of Master Class does not make use of Proscenium stage because they do not use the fly space available. Although Master Class is big and formal which is a great element of proscenium stages, it does not make use of all the other elements.
2b)You can see large set pieces on the stage such as the piano, but because of the nature of the show the rest of the set is simplistic when a proscenium stage can have elaborate sets.

3a)The plays that the Samuel J. Friedman puts on are new plays that typically have great reviews. They housed Venus in Fur which is a new play that was nominated several times at this years Tony Awards. They definitely bring successful New plays make them popular and then they are done at many other Theaters. This is the core of their mission statement.
3b) I feel like their mission statement is achieved because their shows are then brought to many off Broadway Theaters. There does not seem to be any discrepancies between their mission statement and their productions.
4) There is a real magic about big proscenium Theaters on Broadway that give birth to many new and amazing plays. I also  love their mission statement of collaborating with regional Theaters to bring new American plays to broadway. It was the theatre that first released "Hair" which is one of my absolute favorite musicals. Although Broadway is filled with many Theaters the Samuel J. Friedman has made a name for itself among all the stiff competition.

Oliver Theatre

Type) Thrust Stage
Level) World Theatre

1) They have done such plays: Henry V, His Dark Materials, Caroline, Much Ado About Nothing, Mother Courage and her Children, Frankenstein.
2a) It is clear that these types of shows take great advantage of being large scale productions and the audience embraces the stage and cast.
b)You can see how close the actors are to the audience with these photos. This is one of the desirable qualities of a thrust stage.

3a) There mission statement is very true based on their productions. They love to do big shows just as the ancient Greeks did. The theatre also seems much bigger than it actually is which give a great atmosphere to the whole space.
b) The productions are everywhere from the classics to new types of shows. Whatever show they do they make use of the space by having grand productions that everyone can enjoy.
4) From the cast interviews and production photos I could not imagine how difficult it would be to share your moments when you have the audience spread out over such a large area. I love how close everyone is to the stage, I could only imagine how great it would be to perform on this stage. I guess I now have another excuse to head to England to see the great theatre there!

Guthrie Theatre - Wurtele Thrust Stage

Type) Thrust

Level) Regional

1) They have put on such shows as Julius Caesar, Charley's Aunt, A Christmas Carol, Reasons to be Pretty, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale.

2a. The space is used to bring the audience very close to the stage. This stage also performs many Shakespearean plays and the thrust stage was a style that many Elizabethan plays were performed on. 

2b. You can see the thrust element of having one solid side in these pictures. Because of the nature of the type of stage there is not really fly space but the ceiling can actually be part of the set as seen in the second picture.

3a. Just from the two different types of photos it is clear that the Guthrie puts on all different types of production from classical to new types of shows. They perform farces, dreamas, and many different kinds of Shakespearean plays.

3b. The productions seem to be very similar to the mission statement of the theatre because they truly do all different types of shows.

4. I have learned that this stage loves to put on Shakespeare shows. This is a wonderful use of their thrust stage because as the text mentions the stages of Shakespeare were very similar to thrust stages. They also mix classics with new works which makes this theatre see all different types of theatre, which I respect. I would love to see one of their yearly productions of the Christmas Carol on a snowy Minnesota day!

Arena Stage Theatre

Space) Arena Stage
Level) Professional- Regional Theatre

1. Some Productions include: Equivocation(video below) Oklahoma, Noises Off, The Heidi Chronicles, Next to Normal, A Streetcar Name Desire.
2.
a) The theatre space is being used to its advantage by having the Audience surround the stage and being right up in the action. The stage itself is very small so abstract scenery must be used which allows the focus of the play to be on the other elements.
b) You can see how the stage is and how close the audience would be sitting during the show which is one great appeal of an arena stage. Since this space is more informal, Since this space is much more informal it depicts shows that are closer to everyday life and more honest.
3.

a) It seems that their works reflect their mission statement. They perform a wide array of styles of production. They also perform well respected plays from the artistic community.
b) They really perform all different sorts of plays which is what their mission statement says. They seem to put on shows that utilize diversity. They also show new shows which is always pushing theatre forward.
4. I would love to see a type of shows of this quality that are put on at this theatre. They really do all different types of shows which I respect. Since this has an arena stage the audience is much closer to the action which creates a different type of atmosphere in the theatre that I think adds a new dimension to all the shows put on. I would love to travel to this theatre in Washington D.C. to see the shows they are putting on this season!