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A ''vomitorium'' is a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre or a stadium through which large crowds can exit rapidly at the end of an event. They can also be pathways for actors to enter and leave stage. The Latin word ''vomitorium'', plural ''vomitoria'', derives from the verb '' vomō, vomere'', "to spew forth". In
Smock Alley Theatre in Temple Bar, Dublin, has two ''vomitoria'', one stage left and one stage right, as does the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, for instance, has ''vomitoria'' in two of its theatres, the outdoor Elizabethan Stage and the Angus Bowmer Theatre. The "voms", as they are called, allow actors to mount the stage from halls cut into the amphitheatre. The Guthrie Theatre in
A ''vomitorium'' is a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre or a stadium through which large crowds can exit rapidly at the end of an event. They can also be pathways for actors to enter and leave stage. The Latin word ''vomitorium'', plural ''vomitoria'', derives from the verb '' vomō, vomere'', "to spew forth". In ancient Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often consi ...
, ''vomitoria'' were designed to provide rapid egress for large crowds at amphitheatres and stadia, as they do in modern sports stadia and large theatres.
Modern examples
Smock Alley Theatre in Temple Bar, Dublin, has two ''vomitoria'', one stage left and one stage right, as does the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, for instance, has ''vomitoria'' in two of its theatres, the outdoor Elizabethan Stage and the Angus Bowmer Theatre. The "voms", as they are called, allow actors to mount the stage from halls cut into the amphitheatre. The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, has two permanent ''vomitoria'', one at stage left and one at stage right, of its thrust stage. The Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...
, designed to reflect the theatres of ancient Greece and Rome, is the only Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...
that has a ''vomitorium'', which is still used in many of its productions as an entrance and exit for the actors.
The Cockpit Theatre, built in London in the 1960s, is one of the very few purpose-built theatres in the round in London, and features four ''vomitoria'' as corner entrances between four banks of raked seating arranged in a square.
The Chichester Festival Theatre, founded in 1962, was the first of its kind to be opened in the United Kingdom for 500 years, because there is no proscenium arch or wings. Instead, there is a thrust stage with ''vomitoria'' or "voms" for the audience and performers to enter and exit.
In addition, the Mark Taper Forum, one of the three theatres making up the Los Angeles Music Center, has two ''vomitoria''. It has a strong thrust stage such that the audience sit in an amphitheatre-type array.
Winnipeg's second-largest theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, has two ''vomitoria'' on either side of its thrust stage, with seating on three sides.
The Space Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts is a theatre "in the round" with a pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°.
A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...
configuration. It contains five ''vomitoria'' spaced 72 degrees apart, creating five equal seating sections.
Historical notes
A commonly held but erroneous notion is thatAncient Romans
The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens
(; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...
designated spaces called vomitoria for the purpose of literal vomiting
Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose.
Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...
, as part of a binge-and-purge cycle.
References
External links
* {{wiktionary-inline Ancient Roman architectural elements Misconceptions Parts of a theatre Stage terminology