How Theatricality Shapes the World of Entertainment

When we think about entertainment nowadays, we tend to think of television, film, and maybe gaming. But not so long ago, entertainment was reserved for the stage. We don't have to look back all that far to understand the ways in which the theatre has influenced modern day entertainment. But while the way the past theatre has influenced entertainment is obvious (lighting, costume, set design, and pacing), the way modern theatre is influencing it is even more interesting. By looking at 3 examples of mainstream sectors that utilise theatricality, we can unveil exactly how theatrical elements shape our entertainment today.

Alexander McQueen: Fashion Meets Theatre

Unless you're particularly into lighting design, it's often something that goes a little unnoticed, but it's incredibly important to the final production. Lighting designers in theatre have long mastered the power of colour temperature and shadow to shift mood. Those same techniques now appear in fashion shows, where a change from cool blues to warm ambers can take an audience from futuristic minimalism to nostalgic romance in the space of a single outfit change.

Costume departments obviously have a huge influence on high-end fashion too. One of the most loved examples is Alexander McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2006 collection. This drew heavily on period stage costuming and helped to cement his position as one of the greatest designers of a generation.

The Hippodrome’s Theatrical Legacy

London’s Hippodrome opened in 1900 as a music hall hosting everything from circus acts to Frank Sinatra. Its balconies, sweeping staircases, and gilded details were designed to create a sense of spectacle long before the curtain even rose. That visual drama carries perfectly into its modern incarnation; the Hippodrome Casino, where the ambient lighting and lively background music sets the scene.

The Hippodrome has extended this same level of detail to its online live casino offering in the UK. It hosts some of its own games from the casino itself. With the clever use of multi-camera angles and friendly hosts, as well as immersive set design, the team are able to recreate the buzz of the Leicester Square casino, via nothing more than an internet connection.

The Royal Opera House: Global Staging from Covent Garden

While the Hippodrome has mastered high-energy entertainment delivered via the internet, the Royal Opera House has taken traditional performance to a global audience in a similar sort of way. In 2008, it became one of the first major UK venues to stream live performances into cinemas. This helped some of the best opera in the world to reach a global audience. So how did they do it? They used cinematic camera techniques to capture the static stage. It created the feeling of an art-house film that added to the production rather than taking away from it.

Their technical team even developed bespoke lighting rigs and projection mapping to help tell the story better. Don Giovanni is a great example, where moving visuals projected onto the static set helped to show the audience the shifting landscape. While some settings refuse to modernise, this creative flexibility has helped the Royal Opera House stand out and remain relevant.

The Next Act

It would be fair to say that theatricality’s migration across creative industries shows no sign of slowing! Audiences have it good, so they want richer experiences. As we become more discerning, designers and directors will keep borrowing tricks from one another’s playbooks to help to keep up with demand.