Colors

Black Box Theater

How It's Used

“Chicago Shakespeare's revival of Stephen Sondheim's 'Passion' gains immeasurably from being performed not in the company's grand Elizabethan-style theater but in its upstairs house, a black-box performing space that has been set up for this production in a compact three-quarter-round seating arrangement.”

"The plan is to restore the East Hastings vaudeville house, which opened in 1908, to include a 650-seat main theatre, a 99-seat black box/rehearsal space, and an art gallery. It will be wired for broadcast, with supertitles in English, French and Cantonese on seat backs. Glorious interiors are promised."

"As I see it, the big question is this: what is Hampstead theatre for? In its old pokey Portable building days, it was primarily a new writing venue. But times have changed. The new 350-seat theatre has to appeal to a much bigger audience. Also, Hampstead is now competing in an increasingly crowded market. It's not just the Royal Court–everyone these days is after new work: the National Theatre, the RSC, the Almeida, the Bush, the Soho, the Arcola, the Old Red Lion as well as a host of regional theatres which have black box studios to fill. Even Shakespeare's Globe is putting on two new pieces this season. Dramatists will always tell you it's hard to get their work staged. In truth, I can't remember a time when there were so many outlets crying out for new writing. Hampstead is just one amongst many."

"The Vineyard being the Vineyard, its community includes Tony- and Oscar-winning artists and as-yet-undiscovered talents, and the 120-seat black-box playhouse has emerged as a bustling gathering place for all of them to work."

"Showbiz powers know they must respect tradition at Christmas, but also keep their audience on their toes. Renmore Pantomime Society puts a post-boom spin on Mother Goose, its 31st annual show, when the main character loses her share of the once prized Celtic tiger (Town Hall Theatre, Galway, Dec 30-Jan 17). Brian and Sean Power direct. And at the Town Hall's Black Box venue, the Performing Arts School, Galway aims to transform the Frog Prince into something suitably handsome (Dec 28-Jan 3)."

Links