Italian style picture frame stage - Itaruashikigakubutchibutai

… What is noteworthy about the emergence of these permanent theaters is that, on the one hand, it is inseparable from the dominance of a new way of concentration for both performers and audiences centered on words, which was brought about by the establishment and completion of literary drama, and, on the other hand, it was also an event that made it possible to pursue the comprehensive pleasure of fantasy in both audio and visual terms, by realizing a grand spectacle through the technical refinement of stage mechanisms such as in opera and ballet, and integrating it into the theater itself. The two-person stage that gave rise to this differentiation within theater, which is unique to Europe, is usually called the ``Italian frame stage,'' and since it enclosed the fictional space on the stage as a ``magic box'' by utilizing perspective, it eventually gave rise to the ``peeping'' perspective of 19th century realist theater, in which one peers into a closed room through the fourth wall. Even though it was a two-person stage, the seats were often arranged in a horseshoe shape, with the seats for the nobles in the most visible places, such as the front boxes, and the seats themselves became a spectacle that strangely reflected the hierarchical structure of society. …

*Some of the terminology used to refer to the "Italian-style picture-frame stage" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　これら常設劇場の出現で注目すべきことは，一方ではそれが文学戯曲の成立･完成による，言葉を中心とした演者･観客双方における新しい集中の仕方の優位と不可分であること，しかも他方では，オペラやバレエといった舞台機構の技術的洗練による大スペクタクルの実現と演劇内部へのその統合という，視聴覚両面における総合的幻想快楽の追求を可能にする事件でもあったことである。ヨーロッパに固有のこのような演劇内の分化を生んだ対面型舞台を，通常〈イタリア式額縁舞台〉と呼ぶが，それは舞台上の虚構空間を，遠近法の活用によって〈魔法の箱〉として閉じ込めることであったから，やがては第四の壁を通して密室を覗くという19世紀写実主義演劇の〈覗き〉の視角を生むことになる。また，対面型といっても客席は多くの場合馬蹄形に配された桟敷をもち，貴顕の席は前桟敷のような最も目につくところにあり，観客席自体が社会の階層構造を奇妙に反映するスペクタクルとなるのであった。…

※「イタリア式額縁舞台」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報