Black Box Theater: Starting Simple. A ... An end stage is similar to a proscenium stage but without the arch. The audience is seated directly in front of the stage, which can vary in size and setup.

The proscenium arch perfectly framed a still-glowin,’ still-crowin’ Carol Channing in “Hello, Dolly!” and drew all eyes to a gravity-defying Idina Menzel in “Wicked.” ...

Whether proscenium, theater in the round, thrust, platform, black-box, or open air, different stage types require different performance considerations.