Traverse Staging

When the audience sits on either side of a stage, it is known at traverse staging.This type of stage is great at creating an intense atmosphere. Generally, the middle of the stage is used for direct address to the audience, where an actor must constantly turn their head to look at each side of the audience. Either sides of the stage are then used for different scenes in a play. Traverse staging is also a form of catwalk. There is generally not a lot of scenery for the performance and it doesn't have a large backdrop like many other shows do. An example of a play using traverse theatre is when The Derby Playhouse Community Theatre created a large production based on the events on Christmas Day in the trenches of World War 1 in 1914. The German and British armies face each other across the stage, creating a lot of tension. There were hundreds of people acting as soldiers when the play began in 1991.