Tyrone Guthrie Theater

Tyrone Guthrie Theater

Lawrence Technological University

March 10, 2015

Rapson, Ralph

O’Connor, Thomas (photograph)

American

Single Built Works

July, 1965

Minnesota (state)

Minneapolis (inhabited place)

Modern (styles and periods)

theaters (buildings)

façades

Exterior view of facade at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota designed by Ralph Rapson and completed in 1963, the building was demolished in 2006. "Rapson experimented with several stage/audience relationships from proscenium, to thrust, to theater-in-the round. Both Guthrie and Rapson favored a thrust configuration because seats could wrap the stage on three sides, thereby fostering a more intimate connection between the actors and the audience. Additionally, Rapson wanted to break up the monotony of what he described as “one large, undifferentiated, static mass,” of seats in which there was a class distinction between those in the orchestra and balcony. He did so by designing an egalitarian, asymmetrical auditorium that eliminated the traditional barriers between the two. The result was a theater in which 1,441 seats were arranged in a 210-degree arc around the stage. Remarkably, no seat was more than forty-five feet, from the stage,"--from Docomomo US website.

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LTU-TO-414