Theatre of Epidaurus
I’ve been thinking about working with a large space sonically for my upcoming assignment project. I’ve always been fascinated by spacial acoustics and the ways in which we perceive sound depending on the surrounding space. This interest guided me to research sound in large spaces which led me to learn about the Theatre of Epidaurus.
The ancient theatre is approximately 2,350 years old. It was originally designed by the ancient greeks so that attendees can see the stage from anywhere and hear every word from the actor on the stage from every single seat, no matter the distance or position. The theatre originally hosted worship, music, singing and dramatic games. The furthest row of seats is an astounding 60 meters from the stage. The impressive acoustics of the theatre have been the subject of numerous sound studies. The perfect acoustics within the stadium is something that has attracted many researches and is something that interests me too.
There are many factors working together that enhance the acoustics of the theatre. However, one of the main factors is the circular seating of the structure. The circular geometry of sound and the way sound travels fits the circular geometry of the seating structure. Every attendee sat in the same row will be the same distance from the source of the sound, and as a result will experience the same intensity of sound. Another feature is the steepness of the seating; The steepness and height of the structure makes it so that less sound is escaping from reaching the audience by caving in the sound reducing the distance it would have to travel compared to if the structure was flat.
