Pagent Carts and Stages

According to Brockett, there were different kinds of stages used, both fixed stages and carts. He states that the fixed stages were more common, but to us, the carts are much more memorable and seemed to be used much more in England. Fixed stages would change themselves to be in the setting that they needed, but the carts would have a single setting, though each cart was different. The sites of the fixed stages were variable, from the Roman amphitheaters, to the Cornish rounds (Brockett pg 86-87).

The carts are really the more fascinating of the two staging areas though, mostly used in the main continent of Europe, such as in Spain, they were decorated wagons that had 6 wheels and two rooms, one for dressing actors and one for performing on. The various wagons would be all over a large area, so many people could move from cart to cart and see the plays, having the others move out and new ones move in, without having to go to completely different venues. Below I have two pictures of these carts.