Black box theater

Storefronts, church basements, and old trolley barns were some examples of the earliest versions of spaces transformed into black box theaters.

[3] The black box is also considered by many to be a place where more "pure" theatre can be explored, with the most human and least technical elements in focus.

The first flexible stage in America was located in the home living room of actor and manager Gilmor Brown in Pasadena, California.

Black box theaters are usually home to plays or other performances requiring very basic technical arrangements, such as limited set construction.

This intimate space may also serve to try and eliminate the implied mental distance between the audience and actors, while it still physically remains.

Black box spaces are also popular at fringe theater festivals; due to their simple design and equipment they can be used for many performances each day.

This is common at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where the larger venues will hire entire buildings and divide each room to be rented out to several theater companies.

"The Black Box Theatre" in Oslo, Norway,[10] and the Alvina Krause Studio at Northwestern University[6] are theaters of this type.

The architecture of black box theaters typically allow for easy modifications and decorations, but at the expense of time and monetary cost.