See Also: proscenium(dictionary)
proscenium(encyclopedia)
proscenium(dictionary)

literally (iou) and proscenium (sh)


literally (iou)



literally adverb. L15.
[formed as LITERALISM + -LY2.]
In a literal manner, in the literal sense; so as to represent the very words of the original; so as to depict or describe the thing realistically; (emphasizing the use of a word or phrase) without metaphor, exaggeration, distortion, or allusion, colloq. with some exaggeration etc., emphatically.
Steele Others repeat only what they hear from others as literally as their parts or zeal will permit. T. Hardy A tone expressing that these words signified..about one hundred times the amount of meaning they conveyed literally. G. Greene He had only two pounds in his pocketnot literally in his pocket because..they had been taken away from him. J. B. Morton Though Tennyson's Enoch Arden was not literally inspired by her, yet he was staying with some friends of her great uncle's when it was published. K. Amis Literally hundreds of men were always pestering her to marry them. R. M. Pirsig He literally had to move heaven and earth to arrive at this systematic understanding.

proscenium (sh)




In a theatre, the frame or arch separating the stage from the auditorium, through which the action of a play is viewed.

In ancient Greek theatres, the proskenion was an area in front of the skene that eventually functioned as the stage. The first permanent proscenium in the modern sense was built in 1618 at the Farnese Theatre in Parma. Though the arch contained a stage curtain, its main purpose was to provide a sense of spectacle and illusion; scene changes were carried out in view of the audience. Not until the 18th century was the curtain commonly used to hide scene changes. The proscenium opening was of particular importance to 19th-century realist playwrights, for whom it served as a picture frame or an invisible wall through which the audience experienced the illusion of spying on the characters.