Louis Duprey’s Trapdoor Theater Seats
One of the minor annoyances of going to a theater is having your view blocked if someone in front of you gets up from their seat. Or having to stand from your seat to let someone get by.
Back in 1924, Louis Duprey patented a solution to this problem. He envisioned a theater in which guests would enter through a subchamber, get into their seats, and then be raised upwards by a hydraulic lift, through a trapdoor, into the theater itself. Anyone who wanted to leave early could simply lower themself back down, disturbing no one else.
It's an over-engineered solution to a minor problem, but I would happily pay extra, at least once, to experience a theater like this. Though I'd probably spend the entire time going up and down in my chair.
More info: Patent No. 1,517,774
Related Posts: Thomas Curtis Gray's horizontal theater, Theater in a Whale, Lloyd Brown's Globe Theater
via New Scientist
Back in 1924, Louis Duprey patented a solution to this problem. He envisioned a theater in which guests would enter through a subchamber, get into their seats, and then be raised upwards by a hydraulic lift, through a trapdoor, into the theater itself. Anyone who wanted to leave early could simply lower themself back down, disturbing no one else.
It's an over-engineered solution to a minor problem, but I would happily pay extra, at least once, to experience a theater like this. Though I'd probably spend the entire time going up and down in my chair.
More info: Patent No. 1,517,774
Related Posts: Thomas Curtis Gray's horizontal theater, Theater in a Whale, Lloyd Brown's Globe Theater
via New Scientist
Comments
A better machine would simply remove Dolly Parton wigs and screaming children.
Posted by JoeW on 10/20/22 at 05:22 AM
I hear it accompanying the musical score of a play.
Posted by KDP on 10/20/22 at 08:01 AM
We REALLY need the airplanes to work like this.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 10/20/22 at 08:55 AM
This theater would allow you to experience what it was like for the lions 'n' tigers 'n' bears in the Colosseum.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 10/20/22 at 08:56 AM
Would there be a way to freeze the trapdoor a little higher so you can see past the 7-foot giant and Marge Simpson lookalike in front of you?
Posted by Yudith on 10/20/22 at 11:47 AM
Ooh... I'm not sure I'd prefer this, looking at it from the stage, to the normal arrangement...
Posted by Richard Bos on 10/22/22 at 12:19 PM
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Category: Architecture | Entertainment | Theater and Stage | Patents | 1920s