SceneAround

SceneAround, also known under the brand name StageAround,^[1] is a theatrical performance system invented by Robin de Levita. It involves a rotating auditorium with the sets built around the auditorium. The auditorium is a so-called revolve on which the audience rotates from scene to scene.^[2][3][4]

Origin

TheaterHangaar at the former airport Valkenburg, where the musical Soldier of Orange is performed

The system was developed and used for the Dutch musical production Soldier of Orange at TheaterHangaar, produced by Robin de Levita and Fred Boot.

De Levita invented SceneAround as a solution to play a large-scale production inside a former airplane hangar at former military airport Valkenburg between Wassenaar, Katwijk and Leiden. The auditorium is surrounded by projection panels that can open up in various widths up to 180 degrees and frame each set.

Auditorium

The auditorium at TheaterHangaar was designed by Dutchman Robert Nieuwenhuis. Within three months, a gigantic steel turntable with 1100 seats was created.^[2] The turning movement, speed and direction can be adjusted by computer. The auditorium is able to spin on its axis in both ways seven times.

Facts

• Diameter turntable: 33 m
• Speed: 1-2 metres per second on the outer edge of the turntable
• Weight: 300 tons, the audience included
• Seats: 1103

Set

Austrian Bernhard Hammer designed the set at TheaterHangaar for the musical production, under the direction of Theu Boermans. The set is built around the auditorium, revealed by the moving panels. While the audience rotates to a new scene, the scene transformations are achieved by the motion of the auditorium, the movement of the projection panels and any live action in front of the screens. By using theatrical masking techniques, the reference to the actual location is avoided.

Technique

The control of the turntable revolving auditorium and the screens are automated and linked to the sound and projection cues.

Company

Designers, engineers and companies that contributed to the initial production started the company SceneAround. The company wants to create similar theatrical venues around the world.

Other theatres

Theater Amsterdam, located on the south-west side of the port of Amsterdam, is the first permanent theater in the world specifically built to be a full, large-scale SceneAround rotating auditorium. On May 8, 2014, the theatre had its opening with the play Anne, based on the diaries of Anne Frank.^[5][6][7][8]

In March 2017, the IHI Stage Around Tokyo opened as the first Asian theatre which used the SceneAround system^[9][10] until its closure in 2024.