theater in the round
1
5.4
- noun
- /ˈθiːətər ɪn ðə raʊnd/
- Specialized
:
teatro en círculo
- During the performance, the actors moved gracefully around the stage in the theater in the round format.
Examples
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Theater in the round.
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The speaker would turn his attention in different directions as he spoke, managing to face each section of the audience around him at least once every couple of minutes—classic theater-in-the-round staging.
Fiction book (1998) -
That's that mall sort of thing where they'll have an opera house, a ballet stage, a theater-in-the-round, and all sorts of gourmet restaurants and exotic souvenir shops. "Why'd he lock you up?"
Fiction book (2000) -
In a theater in the round, the audience surrounds the stage, allowing for a more immersive experience.
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The design of the theater in the round ensures that everyone has a clear view of the action from any angle.
Synonyms
A stage with seats on three or more sides so the audience sits close
How Surrounded
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'theater' combined with the spatial prepositional phrase 'in the round' (using the spatial sense of 'in' and 'round' = circular) yields a theater with a circular/central stage surrounded by the audience. This configuration follows ordinary spatial composition and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The noun theater in the round comes from a simple picture: the stage is put in the round, in the middle, and the audience sits all around it. So the name now means a theater where the audience sits on 'at least three sides' of the stage, making the performers feel closer to the viewers.