Design dissertation Abstract

ABSTRACT A Space of Theatre

By RADHIKA DESHMUKH Guided By PROF. Uttara Nalawade

"Theater is the means by which actors and audience choose together to examine and participate in the world — to recognize it, to experience it, and to ultimately understand it" -Garland Wright "Principles of Leadership", The Guthrie Theater Every room is a stage, every public space is a theatre, and every façade is a backdrop. In this sense, theatre demonstrates architecture, playing on exactly the issues of interpersonal relationships in space that architects engage most pointedly in designing buildings for public space and urban life. The intent of this thesis is to explore the relationships inherent between program and architecture. It hypothesizes that a program type is made up of unique patterns, sequences, and principles, and that these may serve as an influential reference towards architectural form and expression.1 “A theatre is not a blank page for editorial, it is not a soapbox or a Tannoy system: it is a conscience that wakes with what is happening in the space, and wakes further still in response to what people are making of it.”

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Andrew O’Hagen

The study involves the process and information regarding different spaces of Theatre.

Various shapes and styles of stage and seating, i.e. performer and spectator relationships have been studied. How the placement and shape of the stage and seating’s makes changes in the performance or enhances it has been noticed.

It discusses and questions why such a space is necessary in an Urban window and what pros and cons follow with it. It focuses on the important role that these spaces play in improving the lives of the people of the City. In order to understand different traditions of theatres these days, a number of live and internet case studies have been done. The live

1

Theatre of Public Space: Architectural experimentation in the Théâtre de l’espace (Theatre of Space), Paris 1937

case studies include visits to NCPA Mumbai, Kala Academy Goa, Prithvi Theatre Juhu and Blue Frog Mumbai. These particular locations have been studied as they all host different kinnds of performers and spectators at different times of the day and also their ambiences are different from one another.

The study also involves the ground for this intervention. The site selected, Richardson Cruddas, Byculla is a defunct mill land and is currently being leased out to the entertainment industry.2 The location of the site is such that it can be easily accessed and it lies in the heart of the city, South Mumbai. The site has been a host to many cultural and theatrical events before and this background makes it more sensible. The huge site compliments the program that has been thought for this thesis.

Program proposed is a WALK. A walk that takes the spectator through different experiences. It is a walk that involves the movement of the spectator from its own realm to the boundary of the performer and in some cases even within. The role of the stage in the program is to establish and maintain a sense of awareness among the spectator of his surroundings, as from this will develop the necessary acknowledgement of process- it is important that the spectators feel that they are a player in this process. By engaging in this process, the spectator acknowledges that it has become a recognized participant in the ritual, taking a role in the “event”. The roles of the performer and spectator are less formalized, as this Walk is cyclical and lacks a strict definition. 3 “To perform is to explore, to play, to experiment with new relationships. To perform is to cross borders. These borders are not only geographical but emotional, ideological, political, and personal. To perform is to engage in lifelong active study. To grasp every book as a script – something to be played with, interpreted, and reformed/remade. To perform is to become someone else and yourself at the same time. To empathize, react, grow, and change.”

-Richard Schechner, Performed Imagineries This study concludes with so as to what to include and what facilities to be added to the architectural intervention and their areas.

2

http://www.richardsoncruddas.com/

3

City as Theatre: An architecture of Passage