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Notes Issue 07 · Autumn 2026 1 min read

The harp in the theatre

A marble figure on a theatre staircase, and two other buildings made for performance.

By Ines Calloway

A marble statue of a woman playing a harp in a decorated theatre hall

She stands at the turn of the main stair, playing a harp nobody has heard. Theatres of that age were built to be looked at as much as from.

A marble statue of a woman playing a harp in a decorated theatre hall
A temple theatre with a wide sloping roof at the end of a stone path
Two theatres, a world apart: marble and gilt, and a temple playhouse under one wide roof.

The temple theatre is the older idea: one roof, one room, and the audience close enough to touch the stage.

Ines Calloway

Editor of Monograph. Writes about rooms, stairs and the buildings cities forget.

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