The arch of the proscenium is like a window to the stage! It is a window that separates the audience from the stage and is a central element in an established form of theatrical design.

Theater is entertainment! Yes, theater is entertainment! Theater is about seeing the stage. In the old Victorian theaters, the seats were raised almost literally and symbolically to ‘the gods’. This was where the highest seats were … but these seats were far from the softness, glamor, and style below. Yes, the gods, they offered a view but it was a view.

One could say that the arch of the proscenium was the window for this view. It was a “real and true” window. However, perhaps the real window was the great central space of the theater that rose towards the lights, sometimes large chandeliers above …

Sometimes when you look through the arch of the proscenium, you can see the big stage below … and sometimes it is at the back of this stage where the orchestra plays … the orchestra plays backstage rather than in front of the stage in the ‘pit’. And here, then, the stage is another world …

The arch of the proscenium and its curtains and everything … and the lighting around it … can create the illusion of space. It could be argued that the arch of the proscenium restricts and obstructs “space.” The audience is “crowded” as they wait for the curtains to be lifted. But why would they be crowded together? There is room for everyone! Perhaps the arch of the proscenium does the opposite. Instead of “restricting” space, rather create space.

Space is important in the theater … and in Victorian theaters … seats are raised to the ‘gods’. It’s like seats are missing and the only way is up! But is this really the reason? Maybe the reason is to see the stage or maybe it is … something to do with the true and true purpose of the theater, which is entertainment. Yes, entertaining not only the so-called high-brows but also the low-brows … the high-brow, the low … and the media, of course. Yes, the reason is entertainment and theater, it only offers the human being the possibility of being a spectator, any opportunity … and ‘the gods’ and the ‘circles’ can give him that opportunity. And ‘the gods’, although they are cheap and high’ are sometimes the best places to see entertainment.

But what does the proscenium hide? It hides the stage behind and when the curtain rises, the stage opens up to a wide space. Sometimes it is not just an image that the public sees … it is not just an image that they see, but a whole world. And in this way, it can be said that the arch of the proscenium hides and then discovers a world instead of a stage or a picture and people want to see new worlds! So the arch of the proscenium is the great window that ‘offers’ this world. It is the ‘cover of the book’, the great exterior design that aims to uncover the great interior design behind it.