Stage Types – Traverse

Traverse is a form of catwalk – though in its purest form it does not have the stage and back wall area that a fashion catwalk has – the purest form of traverse is illustrated above.

 

Traverse offers an intimate setting and has also been used to great effect in larger productions. For example in 1991 The Derby Playhouse Community Theatre mounted a large scale production based on the events on Christmas Day in the trenches of World War 2 in 1914. The German and British armies (composed of a cast of hundreds) faced each other across the stage.

Traverse is (not surprisingly) well suited to scenes of confrontation; however its catwalk feeling makes for dynamic fast paced entrances when called for.