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.
Kabuki, with its origins in popular entertainment, drew crowds of common folk, along with high-class samurai looking to win their favorite performer for the night.
When rivalries between Okuni’s samurai clients grew too intense, the shogunate took advantage of the conflict and banned women from performing onstage in 1629.
The women were replaced by beautiful teenage boys who took part in the same after-dark activities, leading Kabuki to be banned from the stage completely in 1652.
[3] With the dampened sensuality of Kabuki theatre, performers turned to exploiting art and spectacle to keep their audiences engaged.
After the embarrassment Kabuki brought to upper class society, it needed to develop into a more serious art form in order to survive.
The revolving stage, called the mawari-butai, was invented by Edo playwright Nakimi Shozo in 1729 and solved the issue of moving heavy scenic properties quickly as Kabuki adopted Bunraku into full scale designs.
[7] By walking on the revolve in the opposite direction of its motion, actors could appear to go on long journeys through woods, down city streets, etc.
[9] In 1889 Lautenschlager was hired by the Munich court theatre to design an efficient revolving stage for productions of Shakespeare.
Ten years after Lautenschlager’s stage, Max Reinhardt employed it in the premiere of Frühlings Erwachen by Frank Wedekind.
[16] Director Trevor Nunn's decision to use the feature was informed by the need for rapid changes of location, especially in light of scenes added to the musical in its adaptation from the original French version.
[17]: 75 The turntable also provided "cinematic" changes of perspective on a scene, and, crucially, permitted the cast to walk against the revolve for dramatic motion.
Today revolving stages are primarily used in marketing and trade shows and constructed in a modular design that can be set up and taken down quickly in different types of venues.
[18] A notable revolving stage show that is used for the concept for Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando Florida, where the stage remains stationary while the auditorium revolves around it.
