A ''vomitorium'' is a passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre or a stadium, through which big 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 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 considered one ...
, ''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
The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...
, 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, has two permanent ''vomitoria'', one at stage left and one at stage right, of its
thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...
. The
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extend ...
, 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), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...
that has a ''vomitorium'', which is still used in many of their productions as an entrance and exit for the actors.
The
Cockpit Theatre
The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was named The Phoenix.
History
The original building was an actual cockpit; that is, a s ...
, 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
Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin ...
, founded in 1962, was the first of its kind to be opened in the UK for 500 years, because there is no
proscenium arch
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
or wings. Instead the stage is a
thrust
Thrust is a reaction force
In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can al ...
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
The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ...
, 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 their thrust stage, with seating on three sides.
The
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is an organization in Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 censu ...
' Space Theatre is a theatre "in the round" with a
pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek language, Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is ...
configuration. It contains five ''vomitoria'' spaced 72 degrees apart, creating five equal seating sections.
Historical notes
A commonly held but erroneous notion is that
Ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
designated spaces called vomitoria for the purpose of literal
vomiting
Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, 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, gastroenteri ...
, as part of a
binge and purge cycle.
References
External links
* {{wiktionary-inline
Ancient Roman architectural elements
Misconceptions
Parts of a theatre
Stage terminology