Revolving Stage

A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show. A fully revolving set was an innovation constructed by the hydraulics engineer Tommaso Francini for an elaborately produced pageant, Le ballet de la délivrance de Renaud, which was presented for Marie de Medici in January 1617 at the Palais du Louvre and noted with admiration by contemporaries. Such a stage is also commonly referred to as a turntable.

The first major use of revolving stages began in Japan during Kabuki performances. In the 1750s, Namiki Shōzō, previously just known for his work as a theatrical dramatist in Japan, introduced a stage design known as a "mawari butai". The literal English translation is "revolving stage"; however, the denotation is quite different from the modern understanding of the word. Initially, the stages were wheeled circular platforms that were fixed on a stage and turned manually. A wall running through the diameter of the circle allowed a quick reveal of other Kabuki performers and chanters. Although the platform did indeed revolve, the problems of visual scenic changers still hindered the spectacle. Through trial and error methods involving the issues still at hand in the Kabuki theatre, the platform eventually became flush with the immobile sections of the stage. This in turn placed the mechanism below the stage and hid the manual labor. After this downward shift, the manual technology only increased. One circle, in the 1820s in Japan, was placed inside another circle and was used for various transitions. Some special effects included one boat passing another by the two rings turning against each other. This was just an example of many tricks that the Kabuki theatre developed. Revolving stages were a huge step towards the stylized form Kabuki theatre is known for today. They made it possible to depict supernatural transformations and use more creative entrances and exits. Modern Kabuki theatre companies still employ a rotating stage but in a much smaller capacity. For the most part, the wall on the circle is flush with the wall behind the chanters, and a rotation is used to allow new head chanters to be revealed seamlessly.

The first revolving stage in the western world was built by Karl Lautenschläger (1843–1906) in 1896 in Munich, Germany. Lautenschläger studied under Carl Brandt at the court theatre in Darmstad. From there he went to Munich, where he worked for 22 years and became the head machinist at the Royal theatre. He is known for his revolving stage, sometimes called the Lautenschläger stage, which later acquired the legacy of being called the new Shakespeare stage. The stage was installed at the Residenz Theatre for a performance of Don Giovanni, an opera by Wolfgang Mozart. The revolve at the Residenz Theatre was fifty feet in diameter and was raised slightly off of the regular stage floor. With the proscenium, a little less than a fourth of the revolve was visible to the audience. Lautenschläger used electricity to power the turntable, with the table turning on rollers, which ran on a circular track. This particular revolve was split into quarter sections and allowed four scenes to be set at the top of the show. The rotating stage allowed for depth, like landscapes with views in the distance and a more three-dimensional set in front of the walls of the revolve.

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