Theatres are spaces where acoustics is important to the space meeting its intended objectives.  These spaces rely upon the quality of the sound transmission within the room to provide a high-quality auditory experience and to ensure clear and intelligible speech, with often natural (unamplified) sound as the source.  These outcomes are not always easy to achieve and require careful consideration of the basic principles of theatre design.

The ideal theatre provides an audible experience that is immersive across a wide range of experiences.  In unamplified performances, there should be notable reverberance which will provide an experience of richness and warmth.  At the same time, listeners are acoustically aware of the room boundaries that define and support the sound.  In these uses, listeners experience instruments and voices in a confident but relatively straightforward way, which allows expressive changes in timbre during a performance to be clearly revealed.

The acoustic consultant has a major role in achieving these outcomes through defining the surface finishes, chairs, ceiling and wall construction shape and panels, room volume, entrance passages, location of stage design of any proscenium arch and doors, positioning of seats, and MEP design.

In this design work, we must address the sound received by the audience and the performers.  If the performers do not receive sufficient or accurate feedback from the sounds being  generated, it is hard for them to perform well.