Where is a proscenium arch usually found?
Proscenium Proscenium A proscenium () is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame into which the audience observes from a more or less unified angle the events taking place upon the stage during a theatrical performance. The concept of the fourth wall of the theatre stage space that faces the audience is essentially the same. It can be considered as a social construct which divides the actors and
Proscenium "orchestra" level, now usually containing "stalls" seating, but no proscenium arch. However, the Teatro Olimpico's exact replication of the open and accessible Roman stage was the exception rather than the rule in sixteenth-century theatre design. Engravings suggest that the proscenium arch was already in use as early as 1560 at a production in Siena. The earliest true proscenium arch to survive in a permanent theatre is the Teatro Farnese in Parma (1618), though many earlier such theatres are now lost. Parma has a clearly defined "arco scenico"—more like a picture frame than an arch, but serving the same purpose—outlining the