How To Produce Amateur Plays Part 7

_Slight increase_ { _again._ {ADR. (_recovering mastery over herself_). I beg {your pardon--there! There! (_Brushing away her {tears_).See, it's all over!

{BRI. Adrienne!

{ {ADR. (_rising_). Monsieur!

{ {BRI. It's true, then, if there were some way, you {would--? Not the way I mentioned just now--but {another--you wouldn't leave, would you? You'd _Quickly_ {stay here--near me--always--and be happy?

_increasing_ { _rise._ {ADR. (_lightly_). Oh yes, it's too--I say it from {the bottom of my heart!

{ {BRI. Very well, you shan't go.

{ _Quickly._ {ADR. I--?

{ {BRI. No, you shan't go.

{ {ADR. But--how?--Why?

{BRI. I have found a way!

_Moment_ { _of suspense._ {ADR. And it is?

{BRI. To make you my wife!

_Climax._ { {ADR. (_Sits down again, overcome_).

{BRI. I'll do it!--Go and speak to your Aunt--Here!

{Come here! (_Enter_ NOEL, _right, carrying a {bundle of papers_). Come here! Don't be afraid! You {may go and get your wife. Bring her here! I'll {forgive her as I forgive you! (_Shakes hands warmly {with_ NOEL).

{ _High tension_ {NOEL. Uncle!

_after_ { _the_ {BRI. You were right--now I know it! What do I _climax,_ {care if she is a watchmaker's daughter? Go and get _and preparatory_ {your wife--bring her here--and we'll live together, _to another_ {the four of us us-- _climax_ { _later on._ {NOEL. All four of us?

{ {BRI. Yes, all four! (_To_ ADRIENNE). I am going {to speak to your Aunt--I'll be back at once.

{(_Exit Center_).

[Ill.u.s.tration: "SISTER BEATRICE" OF MAETERLINCK, PRODUCED AT THE WESTERN RESERVE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

The simple hangings produce a good cyclorama effect. (Courtesy of Miss Ida Treat).]

CHAPTER VI

REHEARSING

III

The dress rehearsal usually takes place on the night before the regular performance.

Every effort must be made on this occasion to have conditions, on the stage and behind it, as nearly as possible like those under which the play is to be given. Scenery, lighting, costumes, must all be ready, and the performance carried through with as few interruptions as the director can afford to make. The director should be in the back of the "house", and stop the players only when they do something absolutely wrong. It is very unwise to change lines or "business" at this eleventh hour. The stage manager and his a.s.sistants must be in their a.s.signed places, the lights manipulated, actors "called", the curtain rung up and down on schedule. The director watches the general effects, sees that the stage is not crowded, that the lights are in order, and above all, watches the tempo of the performance.

The actors must be informed that on the occasion of the performance the audience is likely to distract them by applause, laughter, etc., and that they, the actors, must pause for a moment when there is any such interruption. A little advice as to resting, not worrying about lines, etc., will not be out of place.

Besides the _acting_ dress rehearsal, there should be a scene and light rehearsal. This is merely for the a.s.sistants behind the stage. The different scenes (if there is more than one) should be set and "struck"

(taken down), furniture and "props" stationed, lights worked, exactly as they are to be on the following night. Everything should go according to clockwork, the stage manager "holding the book" on all his a.s.sistants.

The performance should begin on time. Every one knows the irksome delay usually incident to amateur performances, and it ought to be the object of every director to remedy a defect which is inherent in our usual slipshod method of reproducing plays. Promptness is the prime requisite of efficiency, and the production of plays is successful only when the component elements are organized on a sort of military basis. The actors must be in the theater on time, and "made-up" in costume, at least half an hour before the curtain rises. It is well for each actor to see the property man and make sure that all the "props" necessary to his part are in readiness. The property man himself must also check up his list for the last time, in order to avoid confusion during the performance.

When everything is in order, there is little more to be done. The director might make a few general remarks to the cast, endeavor to inspire them with confidence and impress upon them the necessity of playing together harmoniously, and so on, but if his work has been well done during rehearsals, this will not be necessary.

The prompter must follow the play line for line and be ready to prompt any actor who forgets his part. It is well for the stage manager to be near the prompter, in order that every cue for lighting, "business"

off-stage--like ringing bells, shooting, etc.--may be acted upon as required.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TWO VIEWS OF THE STAGE AT TUFTS COLLEGE, SHOWING PLENTY OF OPEN s.p.a.cE FOR THE STORING AND SHIFTING OF SCENERY.

(Courtesy of L. R. Lewis).]

CHAPTER VII

THE STAGE

A great deal more attention is being directed--in this country, at least--to the improvement of the physical requirements of the stage than heretofore. During the past few years, numerous writers[10] have made a systematic study of theaters abroad and at home, and revealed the fact that on the whole our theaters, both before and behind the curtain, are antiquated, ill-equipped, and fall far short of the infinite possibilities which have been made realized in certain cities of Germany and Russia.

[10] Hiram Kelly Moderwell, in his "The Theatre of To-day"

(Lane), and Sheldon Cheney, in his "The Modern Movement in the Theatre" (Kennerley), have rendered signal service in this field. The first book contains a thoroughly systematic account of practically all the new theatrical experiments.

Revolutionary experiments in lighting, as well as in the disposition of stage settings, have, during the past ten or twelve years, opened up fields formerly undreamed of.

It is not the purpose of this chapter to describe at great length these innovations; the reader is referred to the books of Moderwell and Cheney mentioned in the footnote above. A few elementary suggestions, however, which may be used by skilled and intelligent amateurs, will prove suggestive to the average director and stage manager.

It is likely that by far the greater number of amateur plays will be performed on a stage which is already built and equipped. In such cases, all the stage manager can do is to use his own scenery and at least have a voice in the matter of lighting. Still, many plays are performed on improvised stages, in private homes, clubs, or schoolrooms, or out-of-doors. This allows the stage manager a little more leeway, and often he may modify the size of the stage to suit himself, and introduce some innovations of his own.

To those who are in a position either to build or temporarily construct their own stages, this chapter is primarily addressed.

We shall now proceed to a consideration of a few of the more important innovations on the modern stage. The first of these is undoubtedly:

=The Cyclorama.= This is "a white or tinted backing for the stage, built in the form of a segment of a vertical cylinder. It may be constructed of canvas or of solid plaster.... Now, if made of canvas, it is more usually kept, when not in use, on a vertical roller, at one side of the stage, near the front, and carried around behind the stage, unrolling from its cylinder the while, until it connects with a similar cylinder at the opposite side of the stage. It hangs from a circular iron rail, and almost completely encloses the stage, rising to the required distance.... It can be rolled up on its original cylinder when it is not needed, leaving the stage once more approachable from all sides.... The chief uses of the cyclorama are evident. It presents a continuous dead white or tinted background, which, when played upon by the proper lights, gives a striking illusion of depth and luminous atmosphere....

But perhaps the chief value of the cyclorama, from the standpoint of the stage artist, has not yet been mentioned. For the new device changes altogether the problem of lighting. Ordinary sunlight is, as we know, not a direct light, but an infinitely reflected light, bandied about by the particles of air and by the ordinary physical objects on which it strikes. The mellowness and internal luminosity of ordinary sunlight is wholly due to this infinite reflection. It was the lack of this that made the old stage lighting, with its blazing direct artificial glare, so unreal. The cyclorama, and especially the dome cyclorama, permits the stage to be lighted largely or wholly by crisscrossing reflection. The mellow and subtle lighting which makes it possible was altogether unknown under the older methods."[11]

[11] Moderwell's "The Theatre of To-day." John Lane Company.

The construction of a cyclorama, either of cloth or of plaster, is rather difficult, but there are certain simple subst.i.tutes which may be used to secure some of its elementary effects. The following system has been used by some amateurs with signal success.

First take a wooden rod, or better, iron pipes, curved to the desired shape.

Fasten this framework either to the ceiling of the "loft" or, if that is too high, to the wings. On the rod hang curtains of burlap, or some similar material, or else two or three thicknesses of cheesecloth, so that they fall in simple folds. The color will depend on the sort of play to be produced and the kind of lights used. As a rule, dark tan, green, or dark red are the best colors, and can be used on many occasions and for nearly every sort of play. Whether the "cyclorama"

thus improvised be permanent or temporary, this is one of the best possible backgrounds. In out-of-door scenes, it gives a suggestion of distance.