CRUISE SHIP THEATRES
36 AUDITORIA 2020 VOLUME ONE
most venues on land and when the huge
variety of entertainment is factored in,
a theatre at sea is one of the most extreme
environments for entertainment technology.
Reliability is a huge factor as spare parts are
hard to come by in the middle of the ocean,
and concepts must last the life of the ship.”
How many decks?
One of the biggest constraints is space. “The
earliest ships had venues within a two-deckhigh
volume,” says Marcionek. “We pointed
out that to achieve a well-proportioned
proscenium, raised stage and great sightlines,
a space at least three decks high is needed.
There should also be an additional deck under
the stage for orchestra pits, lifts and traps, plus
a fifth deck level above the stage for a fly gallery.”
Since its first cruise ship project in 1998,
Waagner-Biro Stage Systems has delivered stage
equipment including automatic seating systems,
moveable LED panels, walls and turntables to
more than 30 ships. “The equipment used is very
similar to that in land-based theatres, only the
individual systems are much smaller,” says Ulrike
Schuch, global sales director at the company.
B ig, sophisticated shows are a
massive – and expected – part
of life on board cruise ships. Not
only do they keep guests happy,
but performances help shape
traffic patterns on board. “A performance can
draw 800-900 people out of dining, freeing
space for another wave of guests,” says
Ben Marcionek, masterplanner and lead
architect for Wilson Butler Architects.
The firm has been involved in the design
of more than 40 cruise liner theatres, as
well as many land-based ones. “Creating
an anchor venue is one of the first jobs in
designing a new ship,” says Marcionek.
These theatres are expected to
deliver shows to the standard of the West
End or Broadway, with extreme flexibility
and reliability. For Saga’s Spirit of Discovery,
launched in 2019, Creative Project Design
created a theatre set to stage everything from
cinema to musicals, lectures, rock and roll
bands and classical recitals. “The plan is to use
it day and night, 365 days a year,” says Darren
Harvey, project manager at the company. “This
demanding schedule is much busier than that of
Norwegian Cruise Line
Above: Waagner-Biro Stage
Systems stage technologies
feature on Norwegian Bliss
Inset above and
on following
pages: An aerial
performance, Cirque
Dreams, on a Norwegian ship
Norwegian Cruise Line