archseat

Theatre Seating and Seating Capacity

Geoff Stennett

Evidence of theatre seating size and dimensions was first gained from the exposed central area of seating cut from the bedrock. As part of the quarrying process in Late Antiquity, the front parts of the seats were removed for building blocks, so dimensional analysis of the seating was achieved by partial extrapolation. Later, as excavation proceeded in the lower part of the cavea, complete quarried seat fronts were found in the rubble, several still remaining on the level of seating from which they had been cut. This established in greater detail the size and shape of the seating.

From what is revealed in excavation so far, the theatre seating rises a minimum of 33 tiers. This is equal to a rise in height from the orchestra floor (of the Roman period) to the rear of the theatre of approximately 11.7 metres.

The rise in seating is uninterrupted: excavation has revealed no evidence of a central concentric walkway or praecinctio to break the auditorium into an upper and lower cavea. Absence of such a concentric walkway is a little unusual in a theatre of this size as it would have aided in the distribution of such a large number of spectators at times of entry and exit. It may indicate there was at least one major entry and exit point to the cavea located at the rear, on the brow of Fábrika Hill, although there has been nothing revealed so far to support this suggestion.

The seating rises at an angle of 27 degrees to the horizontal. Individual seat heights range from 35 to 36cm. and the horizontal run from nosing to nosing is approximately 70cm. The bullnosed front to the seating projects approximately 7.5cm beyond the face of the vertical riser and is 20cm in height.

At the base of the nosing a near straight face meets the seat riser at an angle of approximately 45 degrees and meets the curve of the bullnose with a tangent. In at least the lower parts of the auditorium, the zone for the feet is set slightly lower than that sat on by the people in the row in front.

Excavation has revealed remains of a fine pebble cement finish to the stone of the seating. This was found on the rear halves of some of the seats and in the junctions where the seat met the vertical face of the seat behind it. In some cases two separate layers of pebble cement were found. These pebble cement layers appear to have served as a bedding for an outer plaster finish to the seats. As many as five layers of plaster have been found on broken edges. The plaster may have been added to provide a durable waterproof finish to the stone seating beneath it. No traces of paint or of graffiti have been found on the fragments excavated so far.

With a radius of 11.2m to the front row of seating, and on the basis of a rise of 33 seats - a maximum radius of 33.6 metres - the area of the cavea including radial stepways and a rear walkway is roughly 2000 sq m. This size auditorium would have accommodated approximately 7,500 seated spectators.

Theatre Seating and Seating Capacity
Geoff Stennett
Evidence of theatre seating size and dimensions was first gained from the exposed central area of seating cut from the bedrock. As part of the quarrying process in Late Antiquity, the front parts of the seats were removed for building blocks, so dimensional analysis of the seating was achieved by partial extrapolation. Later, as excavation proceeded in the lower part of the cavea, complete quarried seat fronts were found in the rubble, several still remaining on the level of seating from which they had been cut. This established in greater detail the size and shape of the seating. From what is revealed in excavation so far, the theatre seating rises a minimum of 33 tiers. This is equal to a rise in height from the orchestra floor (of the Roman period) to the rear of the theatre of approximately 11.7 metres. The rise in seating is uninterrupted: excavation has revealed no evidence of a central concentric walkway or praecinctio to break the auditorium into an upper and lower cavea. Absence of such a concentric walkway is a little unusual in a theatre of this size as it would have aided in the distribution of such a large number of spectators at times of entry and exit. It may indicate there was at least one major entry and exit point to the cavea located at the rear, on the brow of Fábrika Hill, although there has been nothing revealed so far to support this suggestion.
	The seating rises at an angle of 27 degrees to the horizontal. Individual seat heights range from 35 to 36cm. and the horizontal run from nosing to nosing is approximately 70cm. The bullnosed front to the seating projects approximately 7.5cm beyond the face of the vertical riser and is 20cm in height.
At the base of the nosing a near straight face meets the seat riser at an angle of approximately 45 degrees and meets the curve of the bullnose with a tangent. In at least the lower parts of the auditorium, the zone for the feet is set slightly lower than that sat on by the people in the row in front. Excavation has revealed remains of a fine pebble cement finish to the stone of the seating. This was found on the rear halves of some of the seats and in the junctions where the seat met the vertical face of the seat behind it. In some cases two separate layers of pebble cement were found. These pebble cement layers appear to have served as a bedding for an outer plaster finish to the seats. As many as five layers of plaster have been found on broken edges. The plaster may have been added to provide a durable waterproof finish to the stone seating beneath it. No traces of paint or of graffiti have been found on the fragments excavated so far. With a radius of 11.2m to the front row of seating, and on the basis of a rise of 33 seats - a maximum radius of 33.6 metres - the area of the cavea including radial stepways and a rear walkway is roughly 2000 sq m. This size auditorium would have accommodated approximately 7,500 seated spectators.