| a stage that extends beyond the proscenium arch and is usually surrounded on three sides by seats. |
| thrust stage n. A stage that extends into the audience's portion of a theater beyond the usual location of the proscenium and often has seats facing it on three sides. |
thrust stage
theatrical stage without a proscenium, projecting into the audience and surrounded on three sides by the audience. The open stage was used in the corrales of Spain's Golden Age of theatre (beginning about 1570) and in the traditional Noh theatre of Japan. It was also used in the first London playhouses, including the Globe Theatre, which were built during Elizabethan times. The open stage evolved from stages set up in the courtyards of inns.
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