The Black-Box Theatre Debuts

Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2009

One of many new features of the new middle school campus is the addition of a black-box theatre in the performing arts center. Black-box theatres are rooms that are typically square and have black walls. Because of their intentional simplicity, black-box theatres are ideal for teaching, practicing, and sometimes even performances because they facilitate creativity, flexibility and experimentation.

According to Middle School Performing Arts Teacher Foster Solomon, the most significant benefit of the new black-box theatre is space.  

“The previous drama lab was nice but there was no depth to the stage,” said Solomon. “There wasn’t room for the actors to spread out. The black-box theatre allows me to help students understand and see that there are other ways of staging theatre besides proscenium style. We have now done some scenes in thrust, in-the-round, and alleyway (or runway) styles. The black walls are simply so that when the room lights go out, the stage will 'pop' underneath the stage lights. As you can imagine, if the room was painted white, the walls would really reflect the stage lights.”  

Photo: Middle School Performing Arts Teacher Foster Solomon with one of his classes in the black-box theatre.