You walk out of the dark cool ramp into the hot blinding sunlight and enter the horseshoe-shaped orchestra, which faces the raised stage on the ground floor of the theater. More than 121 feet in diameter, it serves a different function from the orchestra of the Greek theater (the dancing place of the chorus at Epidauros). In Rome, however, it is the locus of superior viewing accommodations for senators, priests, magistrates, and persons of honor.
You turn to survey the cavea, the seating area rising steeply above and behind the orchestra. Your clothing instantly marks you as an intruder, a person of the lower classes, and you are firmly ejected from the orchestra by the guards.
As you are roughly hustled up the exterior steps an actor with a round belly, a grotesque imitation of you, steps to the front of the raised stage curtain to invite you to visit backstage after the performance (click on his image below for an opportunity to chat with him).
Cavea of the Theater of Marcellus