 the Skene became a permanent stone structure and the stage was raised off the ground.In surviving examples this stage seems to have been raised by 2.5–4 m above the orchestra, and to have been 2–4 m deep, terminated by the "skene".As the Greek chorus declined in importance compared to a smaller group of main actors, the chorus remained in the orchestra to perform, while the main actors generally performed from the stage on top of the "proskenion".