The traditional theater, as used in almost all Broadway shows and in the majority of stage shows throughout the country, has existed in its current state for several centuries. Shows of this sort include The Phantom of the Opera, Guys n’ Dolls, Cats, and many other popular productions. This type of theater always includes distinct areas for the audience, performers, and administrators. In traditional theaters, as dictated by ritual, the cast is constantly segregated from the audience in their own spaces. This spatial situation is ideal for Broadway-style theater shows and musical stage shows where the audience and the cast are two separate entities, but what happens to this relationship when the audience and the cast become intertwined during the course of the show?
At this year’s People’s Choice Awards, actor Charlie Sheen stated that, “every year, the line between reality and entertainment blurs”. This is not only true of television but also true in stage-theater. Over the past twenty years, a new type of stage-theater that involves and responds to the audience has developed in the entertainment world. This type of theater is often referred to as interactive theater. Interactive theater is a participatory type of theater that “invites the audience to share in the drama” . Such theaters’ “emphasis is on bringing out the creativity of each audience member and creating a collective fantasy which we all can play within, discovering new ways of behavior” . As the show unravels, these interactive theaters gradually allow for audience interaction, creating a dialogue between the audience and the performers, who improvise the show together. Interactive theater breaks down the classical relationship between the audience and the players, simultaneously altering the conventional theater ritual. Here exists the following architectural problem:
The majority of contemporary theaters are designed to service the ritual needs of the traditional theater, but with the advent of new performance styles such as interactive theater, this ritual has evolved and along with it the architecture that cultivates this ritual should also change.