Sections · Section 01
One Wall
The Roman stage wall as a reflector.
A single hard vertical plane behind the performer is the oldest sound system in this register. Orange keeps the only Roman stage wall in the western empire that survives more or less intact; the other theatres of the Vaucluse kept their slopes and lost their walls, and the difference is audible.
- 01
The wall at Orange
The Théâtre Antique d'Orange keeps a 103-metre Roman stage wall, the only one in the western empire standing more or less intact, and it works as a reflector — which is why the Chorégies put voices in front of it.
- 02
What a scaenae frons does
A hard vertical surface behind the performer returns early reflections to the audience and gives an outdoor voice something to carry it.
- 03
Vaison and the others
The other surviving Roman theatres in the Vaucluse and what is missing from each.
