The world of revolving stages

In our lives, we see different kinds of stages and platforms during numerous events but nobody ever tries to know more about them. This time we are discussing about revolving stages. A revolving stage is nothing but a mechanically controlled platform that can be rotated both clock wise and anti-clockwise and assists in projecting the change of scene in a show. This revolving stage was developed by an 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.

Very less number of people know that the use of revolving stages in the eastern parts of the world has started almost one hundred years before the onset of stages in the western world. Japan first make the use of these revolving stages in some Kabuki performances. The first revolving stage used as a permanent element of the theatre was in the Nakamura-za in Edo in 1793. Not only were rotating stages used in Kabuki but they also had the technology to lower or lift stages and sets. This technology would later be used in the western theaters during the nineteenth century.

You will be amazed to know that theaters like the Dresden, that did not have a bottom side to their stage, each sector of the revolve would have “wo wheels operating directly on the stage floor and run by a small motor fixed to the underside of the turntable. However, some of the revolves had only two distant sections while some had as many as seven. Not all sections had to be divided into same proportions. Sections could be very shallow or very deep depending on the requirement of the play and drama. Rectangle sections were even used many times for indoor shows. Some stages had sections that were connected to each other to make the look of travel and help give the set viewpoint. Lastly traps, elevators and rotating stages combined in some theatres. The separate sections of the turntable could be lowered and raised to and from the underneath the stage to make scene changes even more effective.

Nowadays, revolving stages are not only used in drama and plays but for marketing purpose as well. Many times you see the launch of a product such as car or motorbike is done on these revolving stages. Today, they are an important element of a company's marketing strategy right from the branding to the final selling.

Want to know more about revolving stages and stage equipment manufacturer? Concept Staging Ltd was formed in 1997 and has quickly established in the staging industry catering for Conferences, Events, Television, Arenas, Stadiums, colleges and Schools.