Crossword clues for proscenium
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Proscenium \Pro*sce"ni*um\, n.; pl. Proscenia. [L., fr. Gr. ?; ? before + ? a tent, a wooden stage, the stage. See Scene.]
(Anc. Theater) The part where the actors performed; the stage.
(Modern Theater) The part of the stage in front of the curtain; sometimes, the curtain and its framework.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1600, "stage of an ancient theater," from Latin proscaenium, from Greek proskenion "the space in front of the scenery," also "entrance of a tent," from pro "in front" (see pro-) + skene "stage, tent, booth" (see scene). Modern sense of "space between the curtain and the orchestra" is attested from 1807.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context in a modern theater English) The stage area between the curtain and the orchestra. 2 (context in an ancient theater English) The stage area immediately in front of the scene building. 3 (context in an ancient theater English) The row of columns at the front the scene building, at first directly behind the circular orchestra but later upon a stage. 4 A proscenium arch.
WordNet
n. the part of a modern theater stage between the curtain and the orchestra (i.e., in front of the curtain) [syn: apron, forestage]
the wall that separates the stage from the auditorium in a modern theater [syn: proscenium wall]
[also: proscenia (pl)]
Wikipedia
A proscenium is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame into which the audience observes from a more or less unified angle the events taking place upon the stage during a theatrical performance. The concept of the fourth wall of the theatre stage space that faces the audience is essentially the same.
It can be considered as a social construct which divides the actors and their stage-world from the audience which has come to witness it. But since the curtain usually comes down just behind the proscenium arch, it has a physical reality when the curtain is down, hiding the stage from view. The same plane also includes the drop, in traditional theatres of modern times, from the stage level to the "stalls" level of the audience, which was the original meaning of the proscaenium in Roman theatres, where this mini-facade was given more architectural emphasis than is the case in modern theatres. A proscenium stage is structurally different from a thrust stage or an arena stage, as explained below.
Usage examples of "proscenium".
An exquisite dulcet epithalame of most mollificative suadency for juveniles amatory whom the odoriferous flambeaus of the paranymphs have escorted to the quadrupedal proscenium of connubial communion.
The gallery was crammed with Dedelphi: sail-like ears, leathery skin, round, multi-lidded eyes, all watching a gathering on a proscenium stage.
Grimaldi--Veronique and Her Sister I noticed that the four principal boxes on both sides of the proscenium were adorned with pretty women, but not a single gentleman.
An exquisite dulcet epithalame of most mollificative suadency for juveniles amatory whom the odoriferous flambeaus of the paranymphs have escorted to the quadrupedal proscenium of connubial communion.
Curtains slid across the front of the proscenium, luxuriously hung in tiers of pleats, spotlit in pink and orange and green.
The building was tall and narrow, making the most of precious Shanghai real estate, so the proscenium had a nearly square aspect ratio, like an old-fashioned television.
Because of my mechanical bent I took pleasure in all the mechanism of a fine theatre, and wanted to know how the flymen and scene-shifters organized their work, how the electrician contrived his magic, and how Macgregor controlled it all with signal-lights from his little cubby-hole on the left-hand side of the stage, just inside the proscenium.
My preference is for the old, traditional form of dramatic presentation known as the proscenium theater: three walls, and an imaginary fourth wall between the players and the audience.
He dodged the vulvas, which pouted, walked through the proscenium arch, which debited Tile Dance, and stepped inside, where an ornate chair found him, conveyed him along a curved aisle and into the auditorium, where he asked for privacy.
Ahead and below us the stage stood dark and shadowy, the curtain-what was left of it-raised into the proscenium arch, its edges frayed by age.
When the stage lights were periodically dimmed, a score of revolving crystal ballroom chandeliers cast swirling splinters of color that seemed to coalesce into supernatural forms that capered under the proscenium arch.
There was the usualthe cart-sized puppet theatre with its little carved figures in garish clothes stock-still on their stagebut the miniature wings and proscenium arch had been torn off, and the puppeteers stood in plain view dressed too-nearly like militia officers in dark grey.
He had given her the backdrop and the proscenium arch for this little drama to be fully appreciated.
He only smiled, making his face a perfect mask of comedy from the proscenium arch.
Passing through a proscenium arch, they came out onto what was, to all intents and purposes, a crowded street.