9 3 i. A\ <* SHAKESPEARE FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS All rights reserved J} > SHAKESPEAREAN COSTUMES SHAKESPEARE FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS BY ROY MITCHELL DIRECTOR OF HART HOUSE THEATRE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO; FORMER TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF THE GREEN- WICH VILLAGE THEATRE, NEW YORK CITY ILLUSTRATED BY J. E. H. MACDONALD 1919 LONDON &f TORONTO J. M. DENT & SONS LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON CO. TO NELLA JEFFERIS true artist and loyal colleague throughout years of experimental work this book is affectionately dedicated 42'. 833 PREFACE THE present volume is the outcome of many requests from amateur directors and players for advice on the stage presenta- tion of Shakespeare. In any other art, when such aid is asked, one is able to refer the inquirer to some book or another covering the ground. This is not possible in the field of Shakespearean presentation, and very difficult in the whole department of amateur drama. The probable reason for the dearth of hand- books is that the amateur player's serious invasion of the domain of the theatre is so recent that no library has yet grown up for him. Assuming, therefore, that the need which I have discovered locally is a general one, I have prepared a discussion of theory and practice, which, I hope, will answer most of the questions which arise. The most difficult part of such a task has been to gauge the type of reader. The ranks of community players to-day embrace groups which would seem very diverse both in aims and capa- city. There are, on the one hand, adult organisations, like Mr. Peel's in London, which are revolutionising dramatic art, and on the other, those advanced teachers who are using the Shakespeare plays for the twofold purpose of developing powers of expression in their pupils, and of inculcating a real love for our finest dramatic literature. In such a case, the best course seemed to be to write for the beginner, and to allow the more advanced player to take what he needed and leave the rest. In doing so, I proceeded in the perfect confidence that the true artist is always the readiest to study another man's statement of fundamentals. The only reader, therefore, who has not been provided for in some measure, is the one who believes he knows everything and consequently has no need for any book. ix x PREFACE There have been borne in mind, throughout, the problems of the teacher-director, which, after all, differ very slightly from the problems of all directors under whatever circumstances they work* No previous experience has been taken for granted, and if the reader find some descriptions too explicit, he will probably be glad that other passages are as explicit as they are* Throughout the book, also, I have addressed the director, on whose efforts must depend the success of any dramatic venture, and through him his actor and craftsman colleagues, and have assumed that he is planning sustained work* The great fault of such handbooks as do exist for the community player, is that they are more or less under the idea that any kind of non- professional drama is merely an occasional diversion, to be staged with makeshifts, ROY MITCHELL. TORONTO* CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION i The new spirit in the schools The dramatic method of instruction Teaching literature Shakespeare as a school text Community playing Method of the present volume CHAPTER II. CHOOSING THE PLAY 6 The principles of selection The plays suitable for presentation Twenty-seven short plays taken from the greater plays, and the methods of editing and playing them CHAPTER III. ORGANISATION ........ 22 The regisseur The producing staff The stage director The stage manager The chief prompter The property master The ward- robe master The musical director The director of dances The stage carpenter The director of lighting Special posts The players The house staff Sustained work The studio Discipline CHAPTER IV. REHEARSAL 31 Theories of rehearsal Definitions Symbolised stage movement Applications of the method Reading for position Reading for texture Bridging Rehearsing for Tempo Training the actor The suggestion of emotions Traditional rules for actors Voice General observations CHAPTER V. STAGE-SETTING ........ 45 Essentials and non-essentials playing without scenery A simple arras Doors and windows The arras on frames The Elizabethan canopy Its advantages The stage The multiple box system Adapting the technique to the hall The intimate stage Materials for hangings Open-air playing CHAPTER VI. FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIES 60 Chairs and settees Unit system chairs Tables A judge's bench Staining Table utensils Gilding Preparation of stage goods Caskets Swords Spears, halberds, etc. Bows, etc. Lanterns Candelabra Musical instruments Helmets and armour A wind machine A rain machine A thunder machine A musketry machine Hoof-beats Ordnance Chimes Stumps Rocks- Distemper xi xii CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER VII. DRESSES 69 Historicity y. decoration Standardisation Minimum of garments Materials Hose Tunics, doublets, jerkins and smocks Capes Cloaks Surcoats Women's gowns Classical dress Fairy dress Shoes Sandals Armour Jewellery Embroidery Men's headdress Women's headdress Traditional figures Working from pictures Silhouette General observations CHAPTER VIII. LIGHTING 88 Painted shadow New lighting methods Arc lamps Incandescent lamps " Cluster " lamps Horn lamps Out-of-door lighting Use of natural lights Switchboards Tinting lights Lightning Open fires Braziers Candles Lanterns CHAPTER IX. MAKE-UP ......... 96 Need for good make-up Grease paints Lining colours Powders Miscellaneous materials Preparation for making-up Young women Young men Elderly women Elderly men Lining in Beard-making Nose-modelling Miscellaneous effects Re - moval of make-up General observations CHAPTER X. Music no The use of music Settings of songs in the plays Choral settings of the spoken text Instrumental music for the plays Trumpet calls, drum music, etc. General observations CHAPTER XL THE " MATINEE LYRIQUE " 124 The oratorio method A typical matinee Values of the method Preparing a programme Examples of distribution of parts A Toccata of Galuppi's La Belle Dame Sans Merci Reading in Unison Dressing the stage The printed programme Planning a season's work CHAPTER XII. BIBLIOGRAPHY .... r~ . . .136 Books on the new art of the theatre Books on Elizabethan stagecraft Books on dress Books on voice, music, make-up, etc. Magazines Books on community playing SHAKESPEARE FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION MUCH has been written within recent years on the changing spirit in the schools, and the gradual revolution which is occur- ring in our educational system. If an exponent of the new peda- gogy were asked to explain wherein lay the difference between the new method and the old he would probably say that the new teacher begins by establishing in the mind of the pupil the sense of direct need for a certain phase of knowledge before imparting it to him, with the result that, instead of the teacher going to the child with knowledge, the child comes to the teacher, seeking it. Because there are obvious financial reasons why a child never feels the necessity for counting more than a few coppers, he can only become interested in operations involving larger sums by playing a game where his role requires higher mathematical operations. So the game, which is his life just as much as what we call our " work " is our life, leads the child on and on, eager for knowledge instead of resenting it. In the education of young children, this method is generally accepted in theory, and fairly widely in practice, while the advanced teachers are pushing their conquests into those departments of the higher grades where the greatest need exists. More and more are languages taught by the direct conversational method, instead of by long and tedious drilling in grammar. Science has prospered because it has to be taught by object lesson and individual experiment ; the classics have fought a losing battle for lack of these same elements, and it is beyond argument that the study of history ,2 SHAKESPEARE thrives best where there is the most interesting collateral 'reading* ' In many regards the greatest sufferer under the old system has been English literature, the branch which it would seem desirable to teach most thoroughly* After due allowance has been made for the saving grace of the personality of the teacher, the English class of the secondary school must linger in the minds of most men and women to-day as a very dull affair. There is something awful about forty boys and girls staring at 44 When I consider how my light is spent/' as if it were some- thing to be looked at, like a wax flower under a bell jar* We talked about it, ticked off the iambs with our pencils, put in two neat vertical lines for the caesuras, but it never occurred to any- body present to vocalise the poem and allow it to speak for itself* It would not have made any real difference to us anyway, because nobody had ever taken the trouble to teach us to read poetry* Years afterward I found out by the merest chance that it is one of the finest poems in the language, when it is read aloud* The irony of the situation is rather increased than other- wise by the historical fact that Milton himself never saw the poem either in manuscript or print, but was forced to use the unaided human voice to mark the iambs and caesuras. When we come to the Shakespeare plays, the corner-stone of English literature, the absurdities of eye-reading multiply. Here is a series of memoranda of lines to be spoken by certain actors who belonged to Shakespeare's company* The speaker is indicated in each case, and from time to time there is a reminder to the stage manager to have trumpets sounded or cannon dis- charged behind the scenes* There is no direct description of the appearance of the persons, their age, their dress, their idiosyn- crasies, the gesture which accompanies the speeches, the posi- tion of the persons on stage, the mood of a speech nor the mood in which it is received, A character may be calm or may be sobbing convulsively without any direct indication in the text* All of this by-play, without which the spoken words are mere fragments, are gone with Burbage and Kemp and Hemyng and FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 3 Condell and the others who first made the plays live* And still we persist in putting a Shakespeare play before a child as if it were a novel and expect him to appreciate it* Almost as well give him a conductor's score of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and expect him to realise the splendours of the composition. Who does not remember the dismal periods in his own schooldays when a class of apathetic pupils laboured with com- parisons of the characters of Antonio and Bassanio, or heard without emotion or even intellectual interest what a Jewish gabardine was ^ At no single point did that printed page seem to touch life, even for those who had a sympathy for letters. What, therefore, must it have been to the boys and girls to whom all literature was a vexation ? The present situation in the com- mercial theatre would indicate that those boys and girls took refuge in the word " high-brow " and will hate Shakespeare all their lives. The task before the teacher is not one of dissecting Shake- speare, but of completing him. The text should be accepted unreservedly as material for dramatic reconstruction. A few years ago this was theory ; to-day it is a fact demonstrated by scores of experiments, and in many schools it has become the fundamental of instruction in dramatic literature. In Canada the lead as in so many cases has been taken by the Depart- ment of Education of the Province of Alberta, where a short, time ago Principal Davis of the Victoria High School, Edmonton, was asked to experiment with the dramatic method of teaching the Merchant of Venice. His report on the venture speaks for itself : " Several days before we staged a certain scene in class, a cast was selected in order that each member might become thoroughly acquainted with the character he represented. In this way the notes in the introduction were carefully read and the student was able to give a truer interpretation of his role. In my opinion such an exercise in character study is not only very interesting to the student, but it is invaluable as a means of expression. It makes the various characters real men and women, not merely poetical figures. 44 Early in February we staged nine scenes of this play at the Empire Theatre. The result as far as the students taking part is concerned has 4 SHAKESPEARE been very noticeable ever since that time. These students in all forms of oral expression have made very considerable progress, and have taken far greater pains in giving various passages in literature the correct interpretation. 44 1 believe that more attention should be paid to the dramatic inter- pretation of literature in our high schools. The interest of the students would be greatly increased, and a genuine appreciation for the classic drama would result." As is so frequently the case when any new work is taken up, the direct benefit desired is only one of many which accrue* The first important result is the reaction in favour of all literature . No one who has studied Shakespeare for vocal interpretation will ever be content to skim lyrical poetry with the eye, nor will he fail, after the intimate study of Shakespeare which preparation for playing entails, to find new values in all poetry. Another result is the training in self-expression and poise which it gives to the actor and, indeed, to all who have to do with a rehearsal. The bodily control which comes of well-directed walk and gesture, the improvement in voice and diction, all laboriously sought by other means, are best taught as incidental to dramatic work. Where a venture is made beyond simple class-readings, and the play is staged in a conventional manner, either indoors or in the open air, the results are even more satisfactory, because scope is given to a host of contributory activities which are often quite as valuable as the interpretation of the text. There are many young people who lack the desire or ability to play parts, but who are specially talented in music, dancing, design, car- pentering, sewing, decoration, metal-working, or who may possess the capacity to hold executive posts. Indeed there is scarcely a type of person for whom work cannot be found in connection with the presentation of drama along the new lines. Herein, perhaps, lies the difference between the amateur playing of a few years ago and that of modern groups. The novice in the drama, who brought the fine old word " amateur " into such thorough disrepute, was primarily an embryo actor and forgot everything but his own department of the work. COMMUNITY PLAYERS However good his own playing might have been, the wretched- ness of his appointments dragged the performance down* He did not realise that the drama, above all others, is a community art, depending for its success upon the combined effort of play- wright, actor, musician, designer and craftsmen* With the new sense of the interdependence of the arts, the phrase " com- munity player " came into use to designate the new amateur* Community playing is still in its infancy, but its growth has been so remarkable as to give promise of working a revolution, not only in educational institutions, but in the theatre itself. The gradual extension of the dramatic method into other branches of study will give the rising generation an apprecia- tion of art values which will make bad work on the professional stage impossible. The movement has many battles still to fight with a form of narrow Puritanism, and more with that type of reactionary official who instinctively suspects any method of education which gives pleasure to the pupil. For the teacher it provides a line of effort which affords a means of self-expression in all the arts, and, so far from being a distraction from study, can be used as an incentive to greater application by the simple process of making participation in it dependent upon excellence in other work. The aim of the present volume is to place before any one who contemplates community playing, whether he be teacher, social worker or lover of the theatre, a handbook which will acquaint him with the detail of dramatic representation. It is recognised that in all cases a gradual start is not only advisable, but best. Each chapter will lay down the prime considerations for the simplest work, and the instructions will then be ex- tended to a point where it is hoped they will be of service to the most advanced groups. Community playing is not a casual frivolity. It is the most direct and natural means of getting into touch with the arts. The love of creative work is its motive power, the zest of united effort is its binding force, and its end is the interpretation of life in terms of beauty. 6 SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER II ' CHOOSING THE PLAY IN the choice of a play or of scenes from a play, several things must be taken into account* The first, of course, is the necessity, if there be any, under which the work is undertaken* If it be for the study of a prescribed text, the director's choice is made for him. If, however, he have no fixed work, but be free to present any play, he should follow certain principles of selection. The first is, of course, that he give careful thought to his roster of players. They must be studied carefully, both as regards physical type and as regards ability to read. This would seem to go without saying, but the fact remains that more plays suffer from inaccurate casting than from any other error. In certain parts a good walk and the ability to wear clothes well, will stand an actor in better stead than a fine voice and diction. On the other hand, a fine reader may be anything but graceful in bear- ing. The only recourse for the director is to choose his play so that the best readers may have parts which will absorb their eccentricities, A second consideration is the nature of the audience, A piece which may seem best for commencement exer- cises or a public festival may not be suitable for an audience of young folks. The nature of the occasion must be borne strictly in mind, A third and more important consideration than the pre- ceding is the scope and power of the producing staff. The commonest error in life is to attempt too much. Every artist is prone to expand and embellish an idea. The director must therefore undertake a little less than he knows he can perform, or his people will be put under such a strain that they cannot repeat the effort. Finally there is a consideration which involves the whole problem of the relation of the community player to the people FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 7 among whom he lives. He must avoid playing those things which have been done before in his field. The best argument for community playing is that it be useful both to workers and auditors. The community player's business is to supplement life, and contribute to it those things which cannot be had by other means. The rule is " Avoid hackneyed pieces ; avoid pieces whose production in your vicinity is in prospect, and above all avoid unworthy pieces," It is not my purpose here to discuss the playing values of the Shakespeare dramas. Of the thirty-seven plays in the accepted Shakespeare canon, one Titus Andronicus is utterly out of the question for modern production. Six others require so great emendation and cutting that they are only presentable in fragments or for advanced academic work. These are the three parts of Henry the Sixth, Troilus and Cressida, Timon of Athens, and Pericles. Of the remaining thirty, Henry the Eighth is almost entirely pageantry, and All's Well that Ends Well is not acceptable in theme, while Love's Labour's Lost is so euphu- istic and topical in its dialogue as to be unsuitable except in fragments. There remain twenty-eight plays suitable for pre- sentation. From these the director will choose according to his necessities and his own canons of taste. One service, however, which I may be able to render him, is to list a number of the little plays which may be taken from the greater ones ; a work which, so far as I am aware, has never been undertaken in any book for amateur players. In the following descriptive list of excerpts, an effort has been made to include as far as possible those which are complete plays in themselves, and which depend in the smallest possible measure upon the main play. This is quite easy in the so-called clown scenes, because Shakespeare's comedians frequently carried on a secondary action as a device to relieve the prin- cipals. The serious scenes, on the other hand, are important episodes belonging to the main theme, and require that the auditor be comparatively familiar with the play. The director who is free to choose will do best to make a start with 8 SHAKESPEARE the comic scenes. They possess, as I have said, better plots, and are more acceptable to the ordinary audience* They are also much easier to costume. In each case I have indicated the number and names of the characters needed, the time re- quired for playing and the editing necessary to disengage the piece from the main plot of the play. In some cases hints have been given as regards the production. The editing to remove Elizabethan frankness of expression I leave to the individual director, with the recommendation that if a scene appear too coarse for use he should delete offending passages and read the scene over again before deciding against it. Second impressions are best. THE TEMPEST. Love Scenes. These charming scenes require, in the simplest form, four characters Prospero, Ferdinand, Miranda and Ariel. The first episode is that in Act L, scene 2, entire, containing the entrancing of Ferdinand* The second is Act III., scene i, entire, containing the wooing. The third episode, the betrothal, is contained in Act IV., scene i, down to Prospered line, " Sit then, and talk with her, she is thine own/' In this form it is a delightful little play run- ning twenty minutes, but if the means are available, the masque should be added, with its song and pastoral dance. In such case the last episode is continued down to the stage direction " in a graceful dance " and there must be added the characters of Iris, Ceres (with song), Juno (with song), and four, eight or twelve nymphs and a corresponding number of reapers* The dancers may be quite small children. The nymphs will wear simple Greek chitons, and the reapers, buff chain's smocks and breeches, and wide hats. All may go barefoot if desired. The masque will occupy another fifteen minutes* THE TEMPEST. Clown Scenes. These episodes for Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Ariel and Prospero, abound in fine broad comedy* There are four scenes in all. The first two, Act II., scene 2, entire ; Act III., scene 2, entire ; the third FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 9 requires editing. It is contained in Act IV., scene I, from Enter Caliban, etc., all wet, down to Stephano 's line, " Ay, and this/' The actual hunting may be omitted, but indicated in Prospero 's order to Ariel beginning, " Go, charge my goblins * . ." down to the end of the scene* The last episode would begin with the stage direction, Re-enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, etc., and its effect is to round off the story by confronting the miscreants with the real master of the island. Sebastian, Antonio and Alonzo may be omitted. The crisis of the scene comes when the trio see Prospero and are dumbfounded. Caliban exclaims, " I shall be pinched to death/' Then Prospero to Stephano, " You'd be king of the isle, sirrah i " and Stephano, " I should have been a sore one then/' Then Prospero to Caliban, " Go, sirrah," etc. Caliban replies and Prospero says, " Go to : away." The culprits go out. Ariel carries a silken scarf to show that he is invisible. Where the text says Prospero is invisible, he needs only to conceal himself slightly. Stephano is fat and deep-voiced. Trinculo is thin and whimpering, with a cold in his head, and Caliban is uncouth and laboured in his speech. The time of performance is thirty minutes. This is an admir- able outdoor piece. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Garden Scenes. These form the gayest and most graceful of all the little plays within the greater plays of Shakespeare. There are five scenes in all. The first is a brief fragment from the end of Act II., scene i, beginning with Don Pedro's line commencing, " Come, you shake your head," etc. to the end. Then follows Act II., scene 3, entire ; then Act IIL, scene i, entire ; then Act V., scene 2, entire ; then the latter part of Act V., scene 4, begin- ning with Benedick's line, " Soft and fair ; which is Beatrice t " down to the speech before the entrance of the messenger. The characters required are Benedick, Don Pedro, Leonato, Claudio, Balthasar (with song), Boy (who may be singer, lutanist or both), Beatrice, Hero, Ursula and Margaret. In order to give balance to the second and third scenes, it is well to let Margaret play in io SHAKESPEARE the third one with Hero and Ursula, and if desirable, give her some of Ursula's lines* It will be seen that this little play con- tains one of the finest lyrics in Shakespeare and may be made to end with a minuet, for which Balthasar and Boy provide the music, or seem to* The first four scenes play in full sunlight in the garden* The fifth may be lighted with lanterns on staves (see Chapter VIIL) brought in by the maskers and placed in suitable receptacles around the back and sides of the stage* The garden setting should be very conventional and with a bower or summer-house one-quarter from the director's right* Potted trees will enrich the scene* The characters in the last scene enter masked (omitting Friar and Antonio) and dressed in domino cloaks for a revel* The time of performance is slightly under an hour* MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING* Watch Scenes. The parts of Much Ado involving the inimitable Dogberry and his colleague Verges are easily isolated into a little play. The char- acters are Dogberry, Verges, First Watchman (Seacole), Second Watchman, Third Watchman, Fourth Watchman, Sexton, Borachio and Conrade, The first episode comprises Act III*, scene 3, entire* The second is the trial, contained in Act IV,, scene 2, entire* If the traditional Elizabethan setting be used, the first scene will be played before the drawn curtains of the canopy* The light may then be turned off to indicate an interval, and the second scene is played with the curtains open and a tall bench set for the magistrates* A table before them will serve for the sexton* The first scene is played in low, blue light, and the second in the light of candles placed on the justices' bench, Dogberry is traditionally huge and Verges small and aged, Borachio and Conrade are fashionably dressed young men. The Watchmen carry lanterns and quarter-staves. Some directors may think it desirable to insert the episode of Act III,, scene 5, thereby introducing the line " Fare you well," If so, the entry of the messenger is omitted. In this form the scenes occupy about half an hour. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS n LOVE'S LABOURS LOST. The Nine Worthies Scene. Unlike the parallel entertainment in A Midsummer Night's Dream, this masque cannot be isolated entirely. The baiting of the actors is so persistent that it may not be omitted. The result is that at least fifteen characters including courtiers and masquers are needed. It is especially suited for outdoor presentation, and although euphuistic in its style is attractive where a Shakespearean rarity is required. The masque proper should be preceded by the scene in which it is planned, namely, Act V., scene i, beginning in the middle of Armado's speech, 44 Do you not educate youth/' etc., and thence to the end. The second part would begin with the entrance of the King and his party, and the dialogue would start with Costard's speech in Act V., scene 2, " O Lord, sir, they would know/' etc., running on to Armado's line " The naked truth is/' etc. At a signal from the Princess the fight may be stopped, and Armado coming forward may resume the dialogue with the line, " Sweet Majesty, vouchsafe me . . ." From here the piece runs to the end. The time of performance is about half an hour. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. The Fairy Scenes. This exquisite little drama telling of the bewitchment of Titania and the transformation of Nick Bottom is especially suited for school playing* It requires only one man or youth to play Bottom, the rest being boys and girls of various ages. The speaking fairies are Oberon, Puck, Titania, Mustardseed, Pease- blossom, Cobweb and Moth. The fairy trains may be as large as desired. The first episode is contained in Act II., scene i, down to Oberon 's speech ". * . render up her page to me." This is Puck's cue to return with the juice, and Oberon says, 44 Hast thou the flower there t " Puck replies and Oberon delivers the next speech to the words " hateful fantasies." The second episode consists of the part of Act II., scene 2, from the beginning down to Oberon's line, 4( Wake up when some vile thing is near." The third episode begins in the middle of 12 SHAKESPEARE Act III*, scene i It may open with alarmed exclamations from the other clowns off stage, and Bottom enters, exclaiming, " I see their knavery/' Titania is already on stage and asleep. The episode runs to the end of the scene* The fourth episode is Act IV*, scene i (omitting of course the four human lovers), from the beginning down to Oberon's speech, " Swifter than the wandering moon/* The fairies dance off laughing and waking Bottom, with whose speech about his dream the scenes close. The traditional business for Bottom in this speech is to deliver it with a broad bumpkin smile of amusement to the very end* Then he puts his hand in his pocket and brings out a wisp of hay, whereupon his expression changes to wide-eyed dismay and he goes out in frightened haste* The costumes should be Greek with the exception of that of Puck, who usually wears mediaeval dress, and of Bottom, who is an Elizabethan yokel* The playing time with intervals, music and dances, is nearly an hour* A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM* Clown Scenes.- The rehearsal and presentation of the lamentable tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe is a classic for amateur players, and it never fails of results* Only men characters are required* They are six in number Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Starveling and Snout* There are four episodes in the fullest version, the cast- ing of the parts, Act L, scene 2, ending ; the ^rehearsal in the wood, Act III*, scene i, ending on Quince's speech, " Accord- ing to his cue " ; the anxiety over Bottom, Act IV*, scene 2, entire ; and finally the presentation, Act V*, scene i, begin- ning Enter Quince for the prologue, omitting all interruptions of the courtiers and replies thereto, and ending with the Bergo- mask dance* In this form the scenes play thirty minutes. Most frequently, however, the rehearsal and the reunion are omitted, which reduces the playing time to twenty minutes* A few hints to the director may prove useful* The scenes gain all their effect from their intense seriousness. There should be broad, crude playing, but no merriment among the actors* In the FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 13 play, Pyramus and Thisbe, the two principals, wear Greek garments, Snug an ill-contrived skin with a crude lion's head, Wall (Snout) wears a sandwichman's board marked like a wall, and Moonshine (Starveling) carries a lantern, a thorn faggot and a toy dog. Snug is little and has a thin voice, very unlike a lion* Wall (Snout) is laboured in his speech. Starveling is very old and deaf. His difficulty in making his big speech arises in the play from the " ragging " of the audience. When playing the scenes without the courtiers his stumbling is made to appear failure of memory. It is customary for Pyramus to repeat " Moon take thy flight " several times, and failing to make Moon hear the cue, he suspends the operation of dying while he angrily pushes Moon off stage. This done, he returns and dies. Quince, as Prologue, sits prominently in the wing with his script ready to prompt, but save for a great rustling of pages accomplishes nothing, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Lovers' Scenes.- These form the chief theme of the play, and, divested of the clown scenes and the episodes involving Titania, make a coherent and attractive comedy replete with splendid speeches and interesting situations. Ten speaking characters are re- quired, seven men and three women. They are Theseus, Egeus, Philostrate, Demetrius, Lysander, Oberon and Puck, and Hippolyta, Hermia and Helena, Puck may be a girl and should be a good actor. There are five episodes. The first is contained in Act I,, scene i, entire ; the second in Act IL, scene 2, from the entrance of Demetrius and Helena to the end ; the third in Act IL, scene 2, from the entrance of Lysander and Hermia to the end ; the fourth in Act IIL, scene 2, from Oberon's line, " But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes/' to the end ; and the fifth is in Act IV,, scene i, from the en- trance of Theseus et aL t down to " recount our dreams," In this form the play takes from seventy to eighty minutes to perform. It may be played indoors or in the open air prefer- ably the latter. The costumes are Greek, 14 SHAKESPEARE THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. The Trial Scene.- This time-honoured classic has probably been played more times by non-professionals than anything else in Shakespeare, except the Balcony Scene from Romeo and Juliet. It is an admirable little play, and, by reason of the slight movement for any but principals, possesses great advantages for novices* It casts Shylock, Portia, Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Nerissa, The Duke, Salerio and as many magnificoes, officials and spec- tators as may be desired. The scene comprises Act IV,, scene i, entire, and plays thirty-five minutes. Sometimes the Trial Scene is preceded by the Borrowing Scene, and lengthens the performance to fifty minutes. The Borrowing Scene does not possess sufficient dramatic value to be played alone, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, The Casket Scenes.- These five scenes constitute a beautiful play, complete in itself and full of fine lines and pageantry. The first scene, for Portia and Nerissa, is contained in Act I,, scene 2, entire ; the second, for Portia, Nerissa, Morocco and train, in Act IL, scene i, entire ; the third, for the same, in Act IL, scene 7, entire ; the fourth, for Portia, Nerissa and Arragon and train in Act IL, scene 9, entire, and the fifth, for Portia, Nerissa, Bassanio, Gratiano and attendants in Act II L, scene 2, down to Gratiano *s line, ". . , for a thousand ducats," The play occupies less than an hour in performance. If two attendants each are provided for Morocco and Arragon, and four or five for Portia's own household, economy in costumes will result, and the rich effect of a full stage will be maintained better than if the visiting trains are larger. Trumpet calls should mark the approac and departure of the guests, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, The Homecoming Tailor, and Roadside Scenes from the Shrew provide an exce! lent little comedy well within the means of young players They require in all fourteen characters, thirteen men and on woman Petruchio, Hortensio, Katharine, Grumio, Curtis FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 15 Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarsop, Tailor, Haberdasher and Vincentio, The parts of Hortensio, Tailor, Haberdasher and Vincentio may be doubled with those of Nicholas, Philip, Walter and Sugarsop* The three episodes are contained in Act IV,, scenes i, 3 and 5, all played entire* The end of the little play is not so satisfactory as might be wished, but the Wager Scene requires too many extraneous characters to be added easily* The time of the performance is half an hour* TWELFTH NIGHT* The Tricking of Malvolio. This is by all odds the finest little play in Shakespeare, It requires only seven players, all with notable parts, Malvolio, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Feste (with songs), Fabian, Olivia and Maria, There are six episodes. The first is Act L, scene 3, entire ; the second, Act IL, scene 3, entire ; third, Act IL, scene 5, entire ; fourth, Act III,, scene 4, beginning with Olivia's second query " Where is Malvolio t " and running down to Sir Toby's line ", * , for a finder of madmen " ; fifth, Act IV,, scene 2, entire ; sixth, Act V,, scene i. This last scene requires a little editing to eliminate the figures of Duke, Viola and Sebastian, It should begin with the line " Fetch Malvolio hither. How does he, sirrah 1 " spoken by Olivia as she enters the room, as if she had been talking of the steward before her entrance, Fabian goes out, and Feste continues the colloquy, reading the letter described in the text as read by Fabian, At the end of the letter Fabian returns with his charge, and Olivia greets him immediately with " How now, Malvolio ! " The scene then runs to Olivia's line ending ", . , has been notoriously abused," The whole piece may end with Feste's song, " When that I was and a little tiny boy," The time of the performance is about an hour. All the scenes may be set in the same room in the house, Olivia and her household should be in sombre colour, excepting Malvolio after receiving the letter, Malvolio *s cross-gartering consists of circular garters a little above the knees, despite the unwarranted tradition of diagonal cross- binding. 16 SHAKESPEARE THE WINTER'S TALE. Scene for Autolycas and Clown. This may be used separately, as a two-part piece or in con- junction with the Sheep-Shearing Scene (q.v.). It is an excel- lent bit for two men, one of whom must sing welL The text comprises all of Act IV,, scene 3* THE WINTER'S TALE. The Sheep- Shearing Scene. A considerable part of this very long scene is occupied with dialogue necessary to the plot of the play. It is possible, how- ever, to omit the dialogue, and by slight editing to make a very attractive Elizabethan country revel* The scene would begin in Act IV., scene 4, with the dance of the Shepherds and Shep- herdesses* The dialogue would open after the dance with the entrance of Servant and would run without a break to the dance of the twelve Satyrs, in the second part of which the yokels might join* The exits of Dorcas, Mopsa and Autolycus could be ignored* The number of characters for this scene would be at the discretion of the director* The principals are Shepherd, Clown, Servant, Autolycus (with song), Dorcas (with song) and Mopsa (with song)* Enough yokels for a set dance and the Satyrs would make up the cast* The Sheep-Shearing is an admirable piece for any open-air festival* The dances may be extended at will* HENRY THE FOURTH, FIRST PART* The Gadshill Scenes. Of the several adventures in which Sir John Falstaff appears, these scenes, depicting the robbery and the later story of the same, form the most completely rounded drama for community players* They are full of rollicking comedy and brilliant situations* There are in all five scenes, involving six- teen characters, fifteen men and one woman* They are Fal- staff, Prince Henry, Poins, Gadshill, Bardolph, Mrs* Quickly, Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, First and Second Carriers and four Travellers* The first episode, wherein the plot is hatched, is in Act L, scene 2, entire ; the second, in the inn-yard at Rochester, is in Act II*, scene i, entire ; the third, the robbery, FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 17 is in Act II,, scene 2, entire ; and the fourth, the return of the robbers and their exposure, is in Act IL, scene 4, This scene may begin with the entrance of the Prince and Poins, A loud knocking is heard, and the dialogue begins with the entrance of the Vintner and his line, " My lord, old Sir John Falstaff, with half a dozen more, are at the door/' The Prince replies " * Rivo/ says the drunkard, call in ribs, call in tallow/' and the scene proceeds to the end* The fifth and concluding scene is con- tained in Act IIL, scene 3, entire. The scenes occupy about an hour. The first impression upon a director is that they are too ribald for modern presentation, especially for young folk. Closer study will show that the coarseness can easily be removed without injury to the play. It will be well, however, for the director to provide his actors with typescripts of the edited text in order to save confusion and embarrassment. Without a satisfactory person for the r61e of Falstaff the scenes of course should never be attempted. The lighting of the scenes allows for wide variety and interesting effects, HENRY THE FOURTH, The Recruiting Scene. This is a merry scene, and capable of fine comedy effects. It requires nine speaking male characters, and three personal mutes. The persons are Shallow, Silence, Mouldy, Shadow, Wart, Feeble, Bullcalf, Bardolph and Falstaff, with two Servants and one Soldier, The episode is contained in Act III,, scene 2, entire, and plays about twenty-five minutes. It may be done out of doors, say, in the angle of a building. This scene may be played alone, or as a preface to the Falstaff and Shallow Scenes given below, HENRY THE FOURTH, SECOND PART, The Falstaff and Shallow Scenes. These three scenes are always popular and may be made the vehicle for very fine work. There are twelve male roles, all character parts. The dramatis personae are Falstaff, Shallow, Silence, Davy, Bardolph, Pistol, Page, two Grooms, Chief Justice, two Officers and the voice of King B i8 SHAKESPEARE Henry V*, speaking off stage. The first episode is in Shallow's house, Act V., scene i, entire ; the second is in the garden of the same, Act V., scene 3, entire ; and the third is in Act V., scene 5, from the beginning to " Exeunt Falstaff > et a/." In the last scene the actual staging of the procession may be avoided by having it pass the centre opening at the back, off stage* The Grooms strew the rushes past the entrance off stage, at the same time forcing the spectators on stage backwards at the door* The pro- cession can seem to pass along behind the screen made by Falstaff and the others, especially if a few supernumerary citizens are used. Spears and pennons pass, although their bearers are not visible, trumpets wind, and then, when Falstaff calls, the voices of the King and Chief Justice are heard in answer. Later the Chief Justice enters and arrests Falstaff and his company. ^The time for the performance is about thirty- five minutes, and with the Recruiting Scenes it makes an excellent one-hour play. HENRY THE FIFTH. The Pistol Scenes. Henry the Fifth is par excellence Pistol's play. Here the matchless braggart swaggers through half a dozen scenes full of the most rollicking picaresque farce. The little play requires eight characters, seven men and one woman. They are Pistol, Bardolph, Nym, Boy, Fluellen, Gower, French Soldier and Mistress Pistol (formerly Mistress Quickly). The first episode is in London, Act II., scene i, entire, and deals with the last illness of Falstaff and the reconciliation of Pistol and Nym. The second episode is in London, Act II., scene 3, and tells of the last hours of Falstaff and of the departure of the rascals for France. The third episode is before Harfleur, Act III., scene 2, down to the end of the Boy's speech, and shows the first encounter with the doughty Fluellen. The fourth episode is in Picardy, Act III., scene 6, down to Fluellen's speech ". . . will tell him my mind," and shows the second encounter of Pistol and Fluellen. The fifth episode, Act IV., scene 4, shows Pistol's capture of the French Soldier. The sixth and last is the famous Leek Scene, Act V., FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 19 scene i, entire, which ends with Pistol, beaten, trudging off to swear that he got his scars " in the Gallia wars/' Jn this form the scenes occupy one hour* HENRY THE FIFTH. The French Lesson and Wooing Scenes. These delightful scenes for one man and two women are always keenly appreciated, especially by an audience with some knowledge of French, although Katharine's gestures and Alice's interpretation make the lines perfectly clear to all. The characters are King Henry the Fifth, Princess Katharine and Alice, her lady-in-waiting. The two episodes are contained in Act IIL, scene 4, entire, and Act V., scene 2, beginning with Henry's lines, " Fair Katharine, and most fair," down to his line "... a general petition of monarchs." The two scenes last about twenty minutes. ROMEO AND JULIET. The Balcony Scene. This well- tried favourite affords an excellent vehicle for good readers. It can be played from any window placed high up in a wall. The scene is Act II., scene 2, and is played entire. It occupies about twelve minutes. JULIUS CLESAR. Brutus and Cassius Scene. This is an old favourite. In its usual form it includes Act IV., scene 3, down to Brutus' line ending ". . . and leave you so." A little editing, however, will extend it in such a way as to give better dramatic values. It may start outside the door with Cassius' line, " Stand ho," in scene 2, and be continued half off stage until the opening of scene 3. By introducing the Poet and Lucius, the scene may be continued to Cassius' line ". * too much of Brutus' love," which is its logical end. In such case the orders to Lucilius may be delivered from the door into the wings. By adding the figures of Titinius, Messala, Varro, Claudius and the Ghost of Caesar, it may be played down to the end of the scene, and in this form makes a striking little drama playing hah an hour. The short form occupies ten to fifteen minutes. 20 SHAKESPEARE MACBETH. The Banquo Scenes. These episodes, taken from the third act of Macbeth, constitute a powerful drama in themselves* The characters required are Macbeth, Banquo, Lennox, Ross, about four Lords, Lady Macbeth, about four Ladies, three Murderers and a couple of Servants about eighteen in all, of whom only seven have speaking parts. The scenes used are all from Act IIL, viz* i, 2 and 4, By the mere addition of the mute figure of Fleance, scene 3 may be added with great advantage* When the piece is played with the Eliza- bethan canopy, the first scene is with the curtain open, the second the same, and the attack of Banquo on the fore stage with the curtains closed* During this scene the banquet table is set under the canopy, and Servants, after opening the curtain, place trenchers, tankards and candelabra on the board* This goes on for a minute or so with music (Gaelic march) off stage before the banqueters enter* The conventional doublet and hose may be worn for Macbeth, or, if desired, loose drawers may be worn, cross-bound with ribbon, or -hose cross-bound* The Murderers are uncouth, shockheaded men-at-arms, very tattered* The four scenes last about forty minutes* HAMLET* The Player Scenes. These scenes require about sixteen persons, Hamlet, the King, the Queen, Ophelia, Horatio, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, about five Players and two or three Servants* There are two episodes* The first is the instruction to the Players, Act IL, scene 2, beginning with Hamlets line, " You are welcome, my masters/* down to the end* The second is Act IIL, scene 2, entire* Within these bounds are contained three of the finest scenes in Hamlet. The playing time is about thirty-five minutes* Player Queen appears in the first scene dressed as a boy, to give full point to Hamlet's salutation* Her part may even be played by a boy throughout with greater fidelity to the original than if played by a woman* HAMLET* The Gravedigger Scene. This classic excerpt FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 21 has always been a favourite with fine players. It requires four characters, of whom one has very little to do. They are Hamlet, Horatio, First Clown and Second Clown* The scene is con- tained in Act IV., scene 7, down to Hamlet's line, " Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw," at which they retire, and First Clown, after a moment's work, humming to himself, gets out of the hole and goes out also. To continue the scene to the end would require enough characters to do the entire play. The scene as indicated lasts about twelve minutes. ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA. The Monument Scene. This great dramatic projection, while it is grim, is too lofty a tragedy to be harrowing. Given a good Cleopatra and Clown, it can be made profoundly impressive, with the simplest means. There are eight speaking parts, Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, Dolabella, Caesar, two Guards and Clown. Some soldiers may be added for Caesar's train. The text is contained in Act V., scene 2, beginning with Iras' line, " Finish, good lady, the bright day is done, and we are for the dark." This provides for Charmian 's exit on her errand to find the Clown. The scene then runs to the end. The part of the Clown is an exceedingly fine bit. He should be very old, and agonisingly deliberate of movement and speech. It is by this means that Shakespeare gets the suspense before the catastrophe. Each time Cleopatra tries to get rid of him he almost goes out, but just at the door he turns with fresh advice, until at last on the line, " Yes, for- sooth," he actually goes out, only to return after a few seconds to wish her " joy of the worm." His work is enhanced if he have two or three steps to climb up in going offstage. Cleopatra, on the line, " So, have you done 1 " seats herself in state upon a sort of throne, and death comes without a tremor, leaving her erect and beautiful. The scene lasts about twenty minutes. 22 SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER III ORGANISATION THE method of organising a dramatic corps depends so largely upon local conditions that I can only hope to give here certain essentials which will make for success, and to indicate certain things to avoid, In a city or large town the most successful dramatic organi- sation is that which grows under the auspices of some institution with a more comprehensive aim, a school, a college, a church, an art institute, a settlement or a social or art club. The reason is that, by identifying itself with a parent body, the corps may draw upon a larger circle for its audiences and its support, In a small community the patronage of a big organisation is not so essential, because the town itself takes the place of the larger institution, so far as personal interest in the players and their work is concerned. The chief requisite for success in an amateur company is a General Director who possesses the power of getting work out of others, and of going on with the project whatever happens. He, or she, does not need at the outset a detailed knowledge of stage-craft. That can be acquired. What the Director does need, however, is an intense love of the things of the theatre and the consciousness that good art is not a matter of days, but of years. He must be prepared to understudy everybody in his organisation, from the carpenter to the principal actor, if the need arise. The Director may do his own producing, and perhaps some of the acting this latter only under grave necessity or he may content himself with choosing the play and delegate the casting and 'preparation to another person. The more frequently^ isjpossible to do this, the better for all concerned. The Director is then free to act as a court of appeal. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 23 Since, however, the Director, in most cases, does his own staging and rehearsing, I shall refer to the person in charge of the pre- paration of the play throughout as the Stage Director, or more simply as the Director, In a fully organised corps the Director has three staffs. The first is the producing staff, the second the playing staff, and the third, the house staff. The first includes those engaged in the preparation of the play on its mechanical side ; the second is made up of the actors, and the third comprises those who look after the audience. Such an organisation differs vastly from the old-fashioned dramatic club, led by a bumptious youth, who fancied himself as Hamlet, and rearguarded by a cheerful drudge who did the work which the actors could not be expected to do. Playing has become a community art in which the actors are only a part. In the nature of things they will always remain the most important part, but their function is so well known and that of the craftsmen of the theatre so little known, that I shall devote the bulk of this chapter to the section known as the producing staff. The Director will do well to keep his producing staff for each production distinct from the actors. This need not be a hard rule, but it should be a principle. It will bring into his organi- sation a number of keenly interested persons, who are not able to, or do not wish to act, but who will specialise in crafts which will enhance the value of the finished work. The members of the producing staff and their duties are as follows : The Stage Director is in charge, of the entire production up to the time of actual presentation, when he gives place to the Stage Manager, He plots out stage movement, casts the play, rehearses the actors, designs settings and furniture, chooses dresses, decides upon colour schemes, and is the final authority on the reading of lines. He has charge of both actors and pro- ducing staff, and if he is also the General Director he controls the house staff, The Stage Manager is the only exception to the principle 24 SHAKESPEARE regarding the staff not acting* It is often desirable, especially if a crowd is to be used, that he be in costume and have a small speaking part First Citizen, or something of the sort* This will permit him to go on stage and marshal his forces. The Stage Manager's work begins with the start of rehearsals, and he is required to know every detail of the performance* His authority does not begin, however, until the dress rehearsal* From that time and throughout the performance of the play, he is responsible for the entrance of actors, on time and properly dressed ; noises and alarums off stage, the starting and stopping of music or voices off* The curtain rises and falls at his bidding, and he is responsible for discipline among the players and staff* He also supervises the setting of the scene and any changes of setting during the play* The Stage Manager is an important official* He must be an even-tempered person who commands respect, and does not easily get excited* The Chief Prompter is the Director's right-hand man, and is training to direct some day himself* He " holds the book " at rehearsals and performances, issues the call for rehearsal and, if the play be a big one, conducts the rehearsal of minor scenes* He also rehearses understudies, and frequently conducts 44 prompter's rehearsal " where a piece is to be repeated after so long an interval that the actors require freshening up* In a permanent organisation he is Librarian, and distributes and collects " part " scripts* He is par excellence the company manager as opposed to the man who handles stage and crew* Lest the public think his only duty is to give actors their forgotten lines, it may be preferable to follow the French custom and call him the Regisseur. The Property Master has charge of all accessories used in the production chairs, tables, weapons, candelabra, letters, money and so forth* He also produces the noises -wind, thunder, guns off, and so on* During the time of preparation of a play the Property Master is at the head of the crew to make the properties, and in a well-equipped organisation has several assistants. He also clears and places properties on stage in the FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 25 intervals between scenes. For a person of an ingenious turn of mind, the post of Property Master is the most interesting and attractive one in the whole producing staff, and a clever " props " is a jewel to be treasured* The Wardrobe Master is at the head of the department for the making of dresses. He also attends to storing the costumes and keeping them in good repair* This is a critical post, and the care and skill with which it is filled will go a long way towards permanent success* One of the duties of the Wardrobe Master is the maintenance of a scrap-book of costumes containing illustrations drawn from all sources* Such a book becomes invaluable after a short time. The Musical Director. The office of Musical Director is as important as its holder cares to make it* For the routine needs of the players, he should be able to make simple transpositions of song settings, and to direct the singing of them. Another valuable service which he can render the company is arranging music for dances. He may also enrich the musical library of the dramatic corps by making excerpts of interesting cue music from classical compositions. These are some of his direct ser- vices to the players. Another field lies open to him. Very frequently it is desired to play a piece which does not occupy a full evening. It falls to the Musical Director on such occasions to unite with the Director of Dances to provide independent numbers which will make up the programme. If the Musical Director can recruit and train a small orchestra, a string quartet or a glee club, he can arrange a programme of, let us say, Elizabethan music, either instrumental or vocal, or both. The Director of Dances. Dancing has come to be an impor- tant activity in almost all institutions, and the influence of the revival of the beautiful art has shown itself markedly in the theatre. To the Director of Dances falls the task of devising and teaching dances to be used in the plays. If a good Dance Director be available, the corps may attempt those scenes which require dances, and may thereby greatly increase the interest of its work. Some of the senior community groups to-day make 26 SHAKESPEARE instruction in dancing and fencing obligatory upon their players as a means of acquiring grace and ease of carriage, The Stage Carpenter is the Stage Director's right-hand man on the structural side, until the night of the dress rehearsal, when he becomes right-hand man to the Stage Manager, In the early days of preparation he and his assistants execute the designs for scenery, affix draperies and make any large set pieces used in the play rostra, daises, canopies and the like. At the performances, he erects anything which needs erecting, strikes pieces of scenery when they are not required, changes draperies, and under the instruction of the Stage Manager attends to all structural detail. He has his own staff, as large or small as may be required. The Stage Carpenter is the natural person to supervise storage and the removal of the property of the corps after a performance, as well as its transport to the place of performance, The Director of Lighting not only instals and repairs all light- ing fixtures, but operates all lights during the play. Candles, torches, lanterns and the gelatine screens used for colour effect come within his field. He also colours lamps where needed. A good electrician is a boon to the Stage Director, His posi- tion is coveted by youngsters, who quickly become adept in making connections, fixing sockets and switches, and in operat- ing lights. Further details regarding the work of the electrician will be found in Chapter VIII, These nine persons make up the producing staff. For the sake of brevity I have used masculine designations throughout, although all the positions may be admirably filled by women, and the post of chief of wardrobe is almost invariably filled by a woman. Four of the nine may have assisting groups, indeed some must have them. The Wardrobe Master requires assis- tants, the Stage Carpenter should have his own group, and so should the Property Master, The assistants of the Musical Director the musicians and those of the Director of Dances the dancers are really performers, and not properly members of the producing staff. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 27 In addition to employing these assistants, the Director will find it well to train up certain specialists. By allotting branches of more expert work to individuals, and encouraging them to learn their intricacies, excellent results can be secured. Dyeing is a craft so valuable to theatrical work that some one may well be told off to learn to do it well. Jewel-making and metal-working constitute another field for an individual (see Chapter VII,) ; stage make-up, especially the making of beards, may be given to some suitable person, and wig-making in its simpler forms may be learned by another. The foregoing is an ideal organisation which should be the aim of the Director if he wishes to develop the community value of the drama to the utmost. Manual training, design and the natural joy of young people in creative work may all be combined into one single artistic result, I have given the organi- sation in its fullest form, partly in order to demonstrate the field of the producing staff and its relation to the finished play. There are others besides actors who love the theatre, and their enthusiasm can be employed in full measure, I do not mean to imply, however, that the staff which I have outlined is in any sense indispensable to good work. The offices mentioned can be abridged and combined as much as necessary. The Director may be, and frequently is, his own Stage Manager, and few Directors know the luxury of a Chief Prompter, Only too often the Carpenter, Property Master and Electrician are one and the same hard-worked person, and frequently there are none of the assistants of whom I have spoken. There are times when it is easier to do a piece of work one- self than to explain it and entrust it to another, but it is better to delegate as much of the work as possible. Distribution of the work not only strengthens the esprit of the company and gives dignity to the individual workers, but it has a great educational value. It is even preferable to set up lay-figure executives, at the risk of somebody getting credit for what he has not 'done, than to get avowedly one-man results, however good they may be. 28 SHAKESPEARE No rules can be laid down for the organisation of the actors. Conditions vary so widely that only hints are possible* It is well to teach the actors early in proceedings that the star system does not prevail. There are, to be sure, better and worse actors and actresses, and some are suited to more important parts than others. If the Director can do so, he should rotate the parts so that the principal rdles will not always fall on the same persons, The duty of an actor is to make the best of the part assigned to him, and if he refuse a part or behave badly, the best discipline in an amateur society is to neglect him for a time. It is advisable to keep as big a company of actors as one can, and draw from them as required. Any who are not needed for a particular play may be used to advantage in some department of the producing staff. The House Staff remains to be considered. It is made up as follows : The House Manager is its chief. He has full control of matters affecting the audience. He has charge of seating, appoints ushers, and gives out all printing of tickets, programmes and announcements, The Treasurer is his chief assistant, and one of the most important functionaries in the entire organisation. He super- vises the sale and collection of tickets, and keeps the funds of the corps, which he disposes as decided upon by the Director, He also handles the funds for producing, and the producing staff accounts to him for disbursements, The Press Representative attends to any publicity which may be desired, writes advance notices, places complimentary tickets, and attends to the advertising. If the corps play for the public, a great deal of the success of the work depends upon his efforts. While the theatre can only thrive in a democratic environ- ment, it is, in itself, pre-eminently an artistic autocracy. All lines lead back to the Director, and the success of any body of players is measured by his skill and devotion. He should aim at sustained work. It is of no advantage to play so ambitiously FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 29 to-day that everybody has to rest for two years* It is far better to do several small scenes at intervals throughout the season than one big play* The Director should start a new piece as soon as one is laid away, and keep his corps always in commis- sion* If actual performances are impossible it should be his effort to seem to be working steadily ahead* Rhythm is half the battle. Good acting and good craftsmanship come of experience and steady, evenly distributed work* The social side must not be overlooked* More can be accomplished at a " bee " than in solitary labour* There is a 2est in working in company which makes otherwise onerous tasks seem trifling* If the Director can contrive it, there should be at the disposal of the corps a " studio " an unused room, an attic, a shed or the corner of a basement will do where rehearsals and " work parties " can be held and where the mementos of past performances may be kept as incentives to effort* There, with a tea kettle and a tin of biscuits, actors and craftsmen may experience the golden days that we come upon so rarely in life, and which, once experienced, we never forget* There is one serious consideration without which this chapter would not be complete. Everybody, from the Director to the youngest recruit must be taught the necessity for scru- pulous fulfilment of obligations* If anything be borrowed for a performance, it must be returned as soon as possible. If a time be set for moving into the playing hall, it should be kept to the minute* After the play is over, every vestige of it should be removed with the utmost despatch and promptitude* More dramatic organisations have gone down before the animosity of janitors than for any other cause* Some conscientious person should act as transport officer and make it his business to see that the company acts honourably on every occasion on which it comes into contact with any one outside its own ranks* In the rush of putting a play together there is often a temptation to do something and chance the result* It does not pay. Above all, the Director must preserve harmony among his people* An incorrigibly " bad actor " who displays ill-temper 30 SHAKESPEARE or a tale-bearing disposition is impossible, however great his ability as player or worker. If it be necessary to employ such a one, he or she should be carefully watched and disarmed at the first sign of trouble* The Director must teach his lieutenants not to gossip and to suppress chatter in others. No good work can come out of discord. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 31 CHAPTER IV REHEARSAL No two directors follow the same method of rehearsing a play* The procedure varies widely, but three general systems are recognisable* The first is the anarchic style of the old school, which consists in distributing the parts and per- mitting each actor to interpret his r61e with no more than a passing thought of the ensemble. As a book for amateurs of the last generation naively reniarks : " It is advisable to get some friend artistic if possible to sit in the centre of where the audience will be when the critical night arrives, and to request him to stop the rehearsal when the actors get into a confused mass " ! Does any one wonder that people ceased " to take amateurs seriously " i Diametrically opposed to the sauve qui peut technique is the method of some latter-day directors, who study the text in detail, decide upon the minute points of reading, movement and stage business, and then endeavour to force their human material into the scheme which they have imagined* This scheme presupposes the co-operation of perfectly plastic actors, who do not exist even in the best professional ranks* The day of Mr* Gordon Craig's uber-marionette may come, but it is still a long distance off. The third method is such a compromise between the two pre- ceding as will serve to interpret the soul of the play, at the same time suiting the treatment to the limitations of the cast* After all, the actors are the medium of the artist of the theatre just as much as steel and stone are the medium of the architect, and he would be a foolish architect who designed for steel and tried to execute his plan in stone* The most successful director lays out his general scheme of treatment, and then composes as he 32 SHAKESPEARE goes, plotting out the movement and evolving his finished work little by little as the reiteration of the lines gives him an oppor- tunity to study his players. Not only will he be enabled to mend the weaknesses of his cast, but, by repeatedly seeing the play in action, he will get fresh inspiration from each rehearsal. Before proceeding with the chapter a few definitions will be useful, " Movement " refers to the passage of actors to and fro on stage ; it is the grouping and regrouping of animate masses of colour. Stage " business " refers to the gesture, facial expression and interpretative actions of the individual player. When, for instance, an actor limps across the stage, the change of position is " movement," The limp is " business/' " Action " refers to the unfolding of the plot of the drama. The " action " of a play may be rapid and vigorous, whether the actors are in motion or not. It is in these distinct senses that the foregoing words will be used throughout the book. Although the words " stage left " and " stage right " are traditionally used to designate the actor's left and right as he faces the audience, I shall use them from the director's point of view as he faces the stage. Many references have been made in recent years to symbolic stage movement, and such a thing seems at first sight to be very abstruse and advanced. In reality it is a step in the direction of simplicity. Instead of being a bugbear to the director, the sym- bolisation of movement is his strongest instrument, and will carry him through many a difficult place in his work. Symbolic movement consists in the disposition and passage of the figures in such a manner that they will create certain lines of force tending to interpret the idea of the play. The director's task is to determine the dynamic qualities of his piece and then to draw from them the ruling idea. Every good play has one, and so has every scene. For greater particularity let us take some examples from Shakespeare, Let us, for instance, examine the Garden Scenes from Much Ado About Nothing. (The reader will do well to read the scenes as indicated in Chapter II, (p. 9) before continuing this chapter,) In this little comedy within a comedy, a group of persons, FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 33 three men and two women, plan a practical joke upon Benedick and Beatrice to persuade each of them of the other *s love. The men confine their attentions to Benedick and the women to Beatrice. Since Benedick and Beatrice must be in full view of the audience and still believe themselves hidden, it is customary for them to play the first two scenes concealed in a summer- house, while the plotters walk up and down the garden pretend- ing not to see them* We have, then, two forces at work first the plotters, who seek to re-shape the victims of their joke, and second, the victims themselves. The former are active and the latter passive, and the summer-house in which Benedick and Beatrice are successively concealed becomes the focus of the attack. It is, as it were, an anvil upon which both Benedick and Beatrice are hammered out and made anew* Now for the com- position of the picture. Most artists compose sweeping motion from left to right, possibly because the right hand throws naturally in that direction, more probably because we read from left to right. The audience's left is therefore the active side of our picture and the right the receptive side. Let us now put our anvil or focal point one-quarter from the right of the stage. This gives us three-quarters of the stage for our hammer stroke, and incidentally a roomy space in which Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio may walk to and fro. When they plot, i.e. prepare the blow, they are at the extreme left of the stage. When they deliver the blow they are at the centre. The scene, it will be noted, contains a succession of strokes. Withdrawal marks hesitation or successful effort. Advance marks reassur- ance or effort directed at the victim. The striking space does similarly for Hero and Ursula, and the summer-house for Beatrice. The effect of this formal scheme upon the spectator is to lead him unconsciously to identify certain areas of the stage with certain moods and to grasp readily by vision alone the ideas of attack, resistance, hesitation, balked effort and so on. The advantage to the director and players is quite as great as to the audience. Instead of having to surmount the innumerable difficulties of so-called 34 SHAKESPEARE " appropriate " movement which produces jumble and chaos for both player and spectator, the director has before him a straightforward, logical scheme which solves all problems* When later in the same scene Beatrice and Benedick are together, the summer-house, now identified in the mind of the spectator with the passive or static figure, is still the point of focus* When Beatrice enters to call Benedick to dinner she is for the moment an assailant, and follows the line of attack, a last blow to the bewildered Benedick* In the third episode the action centres around the summer-house, and in the fourth Benedick finds her hiding there among the maskers* Explained thus, the symbolic method seems very mechanical and even childish, but it must be remembered that what has been described is merely the substratum of the movement* The spectators know nothing of the machinery of it. They are conscious only of greater order and harmony* Assault and resistance is only one of the dramatic themes, although it is by far the commonest, and will, in one of its many phases, interpret the great majority of scenes* A modification of the same idea of conflict is to be found in the Fairy Scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Here victory is obtained by repeated shocks from the active force and also by making a spell* Oberon and his train enter from the left, and midway on the stage meet Titania and her train. There is a momentary deadlock, after which Titania retires leaving Oberon immovable, temporarily master of the field. From that moment the theme becomes one of the Magician weaving a spell, and he weaves it as a spider weaves his web in rings around him* This spell he energises from the left or active side. So when Titania appears again on the stage she walks into a mase, where she is an easy victim of Oberon 's magic. Puck comes with his juice, Bottom comes in and Oberon appears from time to time, all from the left. If Oberon were to enter at random from any side, the audience would entirely lose the feeling that he was brooding over his plot and watching eagerly for its successful outcome. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 35 The Trial Scene from the Merchant of Venice conjures up another figure, that of a buffer between the active and vengeful Shylock and the passive, resigned Antonio* The buffer figure of Portia is the fulcrum of a lever, and appropriately enough the design on further elaboration becomes a living pair of scales* On the one end of the beam is Antonio with his friends, on the other Shylock, friendless, but supported by the officers of the law, whose force he uses* Between the two groups is Portia, and above all the Duke and the Magnificoes ; the Duke higher than the rest, not only topping the design but making a support for the pendant scale figure* When this scheme is chosen by the director, the actual physical intervention of Portia between the Jew and his victim becomes easy, the impudences of Gratiano are provided for, and finally the desertion and expulsion of Shylock* There is also the theme of force hovering over a victim, as Richard and his favourites hover over old John of Gaunt, taunt- ing him to his death* Here Richard and the assailants at the left of the stage do not assault boldly* They prefer to keep out of reach* Gaunt sits at the right, supported by his friends, and if the director desire to carry out his figure of the strong man fall- ing under the intrigue of his little enemies, he may gradually encompass the figure of the dying man in a mesh of light and shadow falling from a fretted window high up at the left like a net falling over the victim* Lack of space forbids further examples* Enough have been given to show that every dramatic crisis is resolvable into terms of conflict, intervention, enmeshing, or the deliberation of deli- cately poised forces* The finer the drama, the more perfect and subtle may be the working out of the figure* It is the task of the director to read his text over several times, evolve his interpreting diagram and set about rehearsal* The first rehearsal is sometimes called " reading for posi- tion*" The players, armed with books and with their minds as free as possible from preconceptions, read their lines, moving about as required in the scheme. There should be at this stage 36 SHAKESPEARE especially with novices no attempt to teach anything but the topography and general idea of the piece* Finished reading comes later* It will save a great deal of suffering if the actors are expressly told that no attention will be paid at this time to the way in which lines are read. There is more discomfort in the first plunge than in all the other rehearsals put together. When the actors know their stage positions throughout, it is time to " read for texture/' This work, which occupies the bulk of the time spent in rehearsal, includes vocalisation, phras- ing, emphasis, gesture, characterisation and all those things which have to do with light and shade, " Reading for texture " is the most fascinating part of the work. Early in its progress the players should be letter-perfect, because satisfactory results are impossible until the books are laid away. It will be the task of the director to explain not only each character in the play, but also the mood in which each line is spoken and the effect which it should produce on the other characters. With younger players he will find it best to say the line himself, and require the player to follow him. The mimetic faculty in young people is the strongest force at the disposal of the director, and should be utilised to its utmost. It will also be the duty of the director to invent stage business which will not only lend life and colour to the spoken lines, but will also make difficult lines less hard to say. Short speeches give the greatest trouble to the actor, and if suitable business cannot be devised to give them life, resort may be had to a method sometimes called " bridging/' This consists of inventing, for the actor with the short speech, a line or two to say silently before or after the uttered words. If the silent lines are by the way of introduction or supplement to the spoken one, and in the same mood, the player will sound the vocalised words with perfect certainty. The line " Why, my lord ! " is capable of being read in a score of ways. It may be outraged astonishment, " Heavens, you're mad. Why, my lord ! What do you mean i " It may be frightened surprise, " What has come over you t Why, my lord ! You're ill I " It may be incredu- lity, "I never heard of such a thing. Why, my lord ! " or in an FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 37 effort to soothe, " There's nothing to fear. Why, my lord ! " or reproach, " Surely you were never guilty of that ! Why, my lord ! Tm ashamed of you" In each case the italicised words are spoken under the breath and establish an emotional context which gives perfect accuracy to the short, awkward line* Another task of the director is to " open out " the lines* Passages which are printed in the book without a break are not necessarily to be spoken so. Pauses, rests, hesitation, sighing, catching for breath, and business for face and body, hands and feet, with or without " properties/' must be put in. These things are not accomplished all at once. In the early stages of rehearsal they come with discouraging slowness. Whole sections of the work remain lifeless and dull, but, gradually, as rehearsals proceed, flashes of inspiration come until the whole text is vivid and alive. As the rehearsals draw near their conclusion two things require to be done. The first may be called " rehearsing for atmosphere. " The director will find, after all the business has been put in, that in the effort to attain ease and fluency the actors may have become mechanical. They deliver their speeches well, but with a certain parrot-like quality, without freshness or spontaneity. It is necessary now to make them put thought behind each phrase, to think the words before voicing them, as if they were creating speech instead of merely mouthing the lines of another. It is the easiest thing in the world to tell whether an actor is thinking as he goes, or is simply repeating a mechanical exercise. No amount of glib assurance can make up for the sense of now-ness which gives the real atmosphere and spirit to the play. In the trite phrase of the stage, the actor must learn " to make his lines his own/' The last task is to " rehearse for tempo/' The director should clear his mind of detail and, viewing the piece as a whole, decide upon the speed at which it is to be taken. It will need slowing down at some points and speeding up at others. Some parts of the movement will have dragged, while others which should be deliberate will have become too fast. 38 SHAKESPEARE The foregoing should be the order of training* It is useless to try to teach stage business or characterisation until the actor Knows where he and the other players are to stand for each speech* It is equally futile to try to instil atmosphere while the player is still struggling with movement, business and reading. The director's rule must be to proceed from the general to the particular, and to conclude by binding the details into a unified art work. So much for the piece as a whole* A discussion of the methods of training individual actors presents greater difficul- ties* There are two schools of acting. The first school includes those who, in their own phrase, " live the part " ; they throw themselves so intensely into it that when a situation requires tears, they weep unfeignedly ; when it requires hatred, they hate with vigour* In spite of the remarkable results which have been gained by these methods of self-revelation, such actors are in no sense artists* Art implies intellect, and by means of it the complete control of emotion, voice and body. For a strongly emotional person the anti-vivisectionist's method is the easiest method of acting, but it is far removed from art* The best type of actor does not live sorrow and hatred* He suggests them* He registers them, as the motion-picture people say, by induc- ing in himself those qualities of breathing, voice and gesture which go with such moods* His mind is always in control. He plays upon his body as a musician plays upon an instrument. This distinction would seem too subtle for directors of amateur players, but really it is their key to success, Shake- speare's art is one of suggestion. Remember that Juliet and Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, to whose interpretation our great emotional actresses have brought their methods of self-revelation, were originally played by beardless boys, and probably better played, Shakespeare's women-roles were written for boys whose only method of interpretation could be artistic suggestion of moods. The probability is that the men's roles were written for the same kind of interpretation* It is improbable Shakespeare changed his technique a hundred times in evei FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 39 play* The very use of poetry indicates that suggestion was his intent rather than naturalism* The director, therefore, must teach his actors devices whereby they may secure effects* Emotion is largely a matter of breathing* Laughter, for instance, may be induced by pass- ing the breath rapidly and irregularly over the throat, and may be continued or stopped at will* Tense, deep breathing will induce tearful or tremulous voice, charged with pathos, and if continued sufficiently long will cause the voice to break and real tears to flow* Holding the vocal organs tense and making the body rigid will give the harsh tones of hatred and anger. Terrible hatred is inseparable from heaviness in the body, the feeling that the feet are pressing to the floor with a weight of a ton each* The reversal of this making the feet light will bring the corresponding qualities of voice and gesture. Light- ness of mind goes with lightness of body, and the lightening of body by an act of will gives grace and delicacy to the corre- sponding actions* Shiftiness of eye deliberately practised will give the coefficients of treachery ; swift, searching glances will bring in their train the other qualities of suspicion* Raising the corners of the mouth in a smile will bring laughter into the voice, and dropping them will bring bitterness, A sudden and seemingly uncontrollable fit of weeping may be started at will by emptying the lungs of breath and taking it suddenly with a shudder. The voice of a drunken man may be achieved by inducing laxity of the muscles of the mouth and throat ; the unsteadiness of the body by thinking numbness in the trunk and limbs ; his hiccough by drawing the breath very sharply into the trachea and vocalising it slightly* The infirmity of old age in its varying degrees is a matter of applying appropriate stimuli ; turning the palms up, feeling weakness in the small of the back, feeling a leaden heaviness to the lower limbs, not the tense weight of anger but the slack weight of age, looking carefully ahead when a step is taken, as if in fear of a fall, will give all the illusions of age* The mere clenching of fists will bring anger into the voice, and a silent tapping motion with the foot (inside the shoe) will produce the tones of irritation and impatience. Raising the 40 SHAKESPEARE brows will bring incredulity and surprise* Director and actor can extend this list indefinitely, and, once the rule is realised, need fear no problem of dramatic interpretation of moods, It need scarcely be said that the application of these rules will not make an actor unless the pupil have the essential quality of attention. It is the ability to keep the mind definitely on the thing in hand, whatever it be. It is this faculty of intense absorption in the mood of the moment which marks the born actor, and without it he can never be more than a lay figure. The devices which I have mentioned will, however, help many a lame dog over a stile, and will enable many a real actor to find himself* When the special emotional difficulties have been sur- mounted, the director will find it profitable to develop the characteristic gesture, or what has been called the " master- gesture," of a part. An experienced actor will find this naturally, but the novice must have it given to him. An actor, playing a nervous old man, for instance, may be helped into the character by being given the master-gesture of stroking his beard or of nursing the end of it in his hand, or of twining it around his finger. This, which is his normal or characteristic position, is the one from which all special gestures start and to which they return when the special occasion is passed. It is modified to suit his mood, whether of agitation or anger or fear or pleasure of gratified vanity or whatever it may be. A portly old man may habitually carry his hands folded comfortably in his girdle and use that as his basic position. Another man may hold his right elbow in the palm of his left hand and stroke his moustache or beard with his right hand. His gesture begins from this posi- tion. These devices, which are especially valuable as marking character parts, must not be overdone. Used with circumspec- tion they give aplomb and certainty of attack to the actors, as well as being conducive to that most important of all elements in dramatic presentation the " feeling " of the scene. With even the most experienced actors a director will frequently say, " How does that feel to you FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 41 feel all right to you, Mr* Blank t " and he keeps altering the business and reading until it does feel right to everybody concerned* Frequently, also, an actor will say, " That feels fine now/' This factor of " right feeling/' which is the most elusive and intangible in all the realm of stagecraft, is the chief aim of the director* If he try to drive his players into his own method, regardless of how they feel, he will get nothing but lifeless automatism* If he realise his office as existing for the purpose of helping his actors to do things easily and beautifully, he will get sincerity and joy into his work* Sometimes a pause will bring the right feeling ; sometimes an actor who is about to speak will get it from the expression on another actor's face ; sometimes the reading of a line will have to be altered in order to " feed " the speakers who are to follow* These things con- stitute the chief business of the director, and if he approach his work with the knowledge that when the player cannot come to his aid he must go to the aid of the player, he will be able to work miracles* The experience of generations of players has given rise to some traditional rules of acting, which may be given here for the use of the director* Special conditions have prior claims over any of these. They are not to be taken as Median in their rigidity, and should be aids to the director rather than shackles upon him* Turns should be made down stage instead of up stage ; in other words, the actor should turn toward the audience instead of away from it* Actors should stand with the down-stage foot drawn back and the weight thrown on that foot* When it is necessary to advance, lift the forward foot and carry it forward a short pace, then bring up the rear foot* To retreat, throw the weight on the forward foot and retire a short pace with the rear foot. Then step back with the forward foot, and so on* This prevents jerky and awkward starting* In kneeling on one knee, kneel on the down-stage knee Le. the one nearest the audience* When two or more characters enter in company, the one 42 SHAKESPEARE who is to speak first enters second* If the first to enter spoke first and turned to do so, he would set up a barrier which would obstruct the entrance of the others. Unless there is some good reason to the contrary, persons on stage should keep their eyes on the speaker. With peasants this is less obligatory* Gesture should be used as sparely as possible, especially the business of touching one's breast at the pronoun " I " and pointing to one's vis-&-vis at the pronoun " you." Do not let your players emphasise pronouns unless the obscurity of the passage absolutely demands it. Teach your actors to stand in a naturally erect position. All such rules as drawing in the chin, throwing out the chest, etc., are superficial guides and result in mere distortion. The sovereign rule is to try to touch an imaginary object above one with the crown of the head. The rest of the body will then fall into line. If an actor is incorrigibly slouchy, back him against a wall to let him see if his heels, calves, hips, shoulders and head touch at the same time. The hands are a nuisance, especially in costume. They should hang easily at the sides. Teach an actor that half his battle is in the art of standing still gracefully. It is hard to learn that the longer an actor remains immovable on stage the stronger becomes his position on the scene. He grows upon the consciousness of the audience. If his part require business, the actor must not stop acting as soon as he stops speaking. It is a poor chess-player who idles until it is his turn to move, and a worse actor who loafs until he has to speak again. He must think his part all the time, or he will get out of the picture. Unless a player be speaking a pro- logue or epilogue, he must never look directly into the eyes of his audience. Inculcate in the players the realisation that the audience is a mere incident, and that it is no business of theirs whether there be five or five hundred in front. Very young actors have a trick, as soon as the first panic has worn off, of looking for their friends. A sarcastic remark or two will soon cure this. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 43 The scope of this work forbids extended discussion of voice production* It is an extremely important consideration, how- ever, to which the director will do well to give study* Young actors have a belief that a stage voice differs from an ordinary one. and in order to get force and power, constrict the vocal organs and the throat. They should be taught that the vocal apparatus must be relaxed and plastic ; that power is directly dependent upon the amount of air in the lungs, and that purity of tone depends upon the extent to which the air is vocalised, Huskiness and sibilance in a voice are the result of the escape of un vocalised air* The old test of speaking with a lighted candle before the mouth without making it flicker is an excellent object-lesson in teaching complete vocalisation of breath* The speakers should keep the abdomen drawn in and breathe easily through the nose* A good exercise before going on stage is to wash out the lungs by breathing deeply and vigorously twenty or thirty times* The first effect is a slight dizziness, but after that has passed the improvement in vocal quality and power is wonderful* The director will have to guard against three kinds of actors* The first is the actor who acts all the time, whether on stage or off* He is never happy unless he is acting, even in ordinary conversation* The fact of the matter is that he is nearly useless, because he has built up such a wall of conceit that a real idea cannot get through to him* Given a piece of business at one rehearsal, he will embroider it so that at the next rehearsal it is unrecognisable* With a free hand for a week, he will enlarge a " carriage-waits " part into a principal role* The second bete-noir of the director is the insincere actor* He is usually very vain, a trifle diffident, but so little in earnest that he is never convincing in any part he essays* The third bugbear is the actor who will not " stay put*" He learns a thing at one rehearsal, and at the next one he has slipped back again, It is well towards the end of the rehearsals to introduce visitors, chiefly for the sake of taking the edge off the nervous- ness of the actors before the first performance is given* Visitors also serve as a test whether the lines can be heard at the end of 44 SHAKESPEARE the halL Their usual complaint is that they cannot hear. This testimony must be taken with reservation, because voices carry better in a well-filled room, where the echoes are absorbed by the bodies of the audience* Work your actors out to the limits of the stage and well forward* Do not let them huddle behind furniture. Do away with futile and ineffective movement. If an actor has to walk up angrily to another, let him go decisively and stand close to his opponent near enough to strike him. In such a case remember that a hand drawn back is more threatening than one thrust forward. Teach your actors to relax when they fall. A fall only hurts when the body is rigid. Cushions do not help for rehearsal purposes. Do the fall each time " in order, as before the Duke." It is well to eliminate the sound of footsteps as much as possible. Have your players soft-shod, especially in exterior scenes. When you make a correction or indicate a reading of a line, have your actors make the correction then and there. Do not let them nod assent and go on from where you left off. The gravest defect of modern Shakespeare playing is the length to which the actors drag out their lines. Shakespeare was written to be spoken " trippingly " and eagerly. When the passage is in verse the rhythms should be preserved. By way of conclusion, a word about the general conduct of rehearsals may be in order. Start them promptly and insist upon steady work until the appointed hour for stopping. It is well not to keep too tight a rein, or rehearsal will become a bore, but enough discipline should be preserved to allow the rehearsal to go on without being interfered with. It is a high offence for actors awaiting entrance cues to laugh in their conversation. The actors who are on stage cannot stop to find out the reason for the mirth, and they are seriously embarrassed by the feeling that they have done something to cause merriment. Rehearsals can be made -much more pleasant if half an hour after the work is reserved for social purposes* FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 45 CHAPTER V STAGE-SETTING OF the many methods of stage-setting which have been de- veloped within recent years by experimentalists in the theatre, it is impossible to treat fully within the scope of so small a book as this. I shall have to content myself with a discussion of essen- tials, and then outline one or two systems of conventional setting best suited to amateur needs, Our constant association with the modern theatre has led us to mistake certain conventions for essentials, as, for instance, the rectangular hole through which we view the picture, the false perspective of the painted stage, the sharp row of foot- lights, the grotesque tormentors at the sides of the scene, the orchestra-well and the guillotine-like drop-curtain. These have been identified so long in our minds with the theatre that we look upon them as necessary things. When we subject these conventions to scrutiny we discover that the rectangular proscenium is merely a frame for a painted picture stage, and the need for it disappears with the passing of picture scenery. The introduction of perspective was the work of a painter who in his enthusiasm forgot that there were actors ; the footlights survive from the primitive candle-light days when the light could only be thrown a few feet ; the masking pieces at the side are nothing more than a device to conceal the edges of scenery, and the orchestra-well dividing audience from players is a relic of opera, where music is the prime considera- tion. The facile drop-curtain is a contrivance to permit changes of scene, as well as an aid to weak dramatists who did not know how to end their scenes effectively without cutting them off from view. It all amounts finally to this, that all a play requires is a 46 SHAKESPEARE clear space where the actor may move to and fro unhampered by his audience* If the director have no more than this, it lies within his power to get artistic results* His playing-space may be in the centre of his audience, as in the case at the presenta- tions of East Indian temple-dramas, or it may be at the end of a room, where all spectators can view the performance from nearly the same angle, and where the end wall will act as a sounding- board* Anything more than this is by way of luxury* It is preferable, although by no means imperative, that the actors be raised slightly above the main floor of the hall, in order that they may be seen more easily* Finally, it is an advantage if there be a closed-off retiring space at each side and at the back, where an actor may pass out of view of the audience as soon as he leaves the scene* If the director have these desirable features to his hall a dais and three entrances at right, left and centre, and if his back wall be of good colour and style, he will do best without scenery of any sort* The very artlessness of his fittings is the best safeguard against disaster* No scenery he could make would be so noble as the wall of a fine room* The effect of a set stage which differs from the decoration of the auditorium is to give the spectator the feeling that the drama is occurring in 44 that " place, whereas the fact of having the scene in harmony with the auditorium gives the feeling of having it occur in " this " place a far more intimate and desirable suggestion* Since it is for this sense of intimacy and " here-ness " that modern producers strive, the amateur is fortunate indeed if he can secure it without expense or trouble* If, on the other hand, the hall does not provide these simple elements and it is a reproach to architects that so few halls do the director must set about converting it to his needs by use of the simplest possible machinery* Of the many available devices, the least expensive and the easiest to contrive is the arras stage* It is at once straightforward and noble in its lines, and is almost unbelievably plastic* The most elementary form of the arras stage is shown in FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 47 Figure i. It is supported by two light steel cables, stretched tightly with turn-buckles from wall to wall about twelve feet high* The hooks for these should be anchored firmly in the wall, because the strain is considerable* The front wire should be about two feet behind the stage line, and the back one far enough from the back wall to allow easy passage behind the th I PI CURE iH SIMPLE. ARRAS HANGINGS (SNOWING WIF\ES) p~ t) 2.5 FT. ; Q o PL/vN OF STAGE TOR ABOVE i 5^" _?L i arras. At a distance of five feet from each side wall, the space between the wires should be bridged with a piece of six-inch board, just long enough to jam between the wires. This board should be supported from the wire by hooks so placed that the upper edge of the board will be flush with the wires. If the board shows a tendency to sag, it may be supported at the centre by an upright from the floor. Heavy wire may be used for the bridging, but it cannot be tightened without pulling the cables out of the parallel and making bad reveals at the sides. The hangings may be of any material, but the best, as well 4 8 SHAKESPEARE as the least expensive, is the variety of gunny-sacking known as hessian* It is very rough and loose in texture, and may be bought in the bolt at a few cents a yard* It is straw- coloured, and makes a beautiful background * The hessian should be cut into thirteen-foot lengths, to allow for a six-inch hem at the bottom and a six-inch turn-over at the top* Each strip should be hemmed across at the bottom and weighted with shot, or sand* The sand must be put into cotton bags three inches wide and as long as the hessian is wide* Otherwise it will sift out* The strips should not be sewn together. The POOR THRONE WINDOW g FIGURE Q. ff TME USt OP TAPESTRIES hessian is ungrateful stuff, and puckers in seaming* It should be hung, ungathered, over the wire, each strip overlapping the next about six inches and pinned in place at the top with large pins or two-inch finishing nails. Doors are made by removing as many strips as desired and hanging in their place short strips descending to about eight feet. An advantage of the strip-hanging is that the actors may enter at any point by merely parting the strips* Additional decoration may be given by pinning horizontal or vertical strips of another colour to suggest dadoes, friezes or pilasters. Windows of decorative scheme, rectangular, Romanesque or Gothic, may be made of fabric and pinned or lightly stitched in place, and even the trunks and foliage of trees may be cut out of cloth and applied decoratively to give tapestry effects* Behind a throne in the centre of the back, or behind a judge's high FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 49 bench, a tapestry or Persian rug may be hung, as in Figure 2, A good method for doors is to cut out of heavy goods felt is best a complete door-frame whose lintel goes right to the top of the arras, and lift away the strips behind it (see Figure 2), The door-frame may have any style of decoration* Many other beautiful methods will suggest themselves to the director. These hangings possess the advantage of being easily stored* It is imperative when they are used that all the light shall be kept in front, because they are very thin. While not so easily converted to a variety of uses, the strip-arras serves admirably PLAIN FRAME tl H f HI A sD U4 WINDOW srca A K>C DOOR n r rSAriL FR/NME. s L ii TRAMES FOB ARRAS for the Shakespearean method of playing if combined with the 44 shadow " or canopy which will be described later. If a cur- tain is used, it may be run on a wire three or four feet forward of the front panel, and thus give a wing entrance which is of great service. Cluster lamps may be concealed here. Exclusive of labour, such a set of hangings and cables would cost about $35 for a thirty-five-foot stage. More plastic in its combinations and permutations than the arras on wires is the arras on frames. This is so universally valuable for amateurs that if it is intended to make playing a regular means of instruction and recreation the director should aim to possess a set. The frames, which are made of wood, as in Figure 3, should be of uniform sise, in order to be inter- changeable, Five by twelve feet is a handy sise, or higher if 50 SHAKESPEARE practicable. The width should be evenly divisible into the width of the stage from wall to wall. Each frame should be well braced and have a pair of feet to keep it upright. There are three varieties of frame plain flats, windows and doors. For a thirty-five-foot stage about fifteen are needed ; see plan in Figure 4, This includes backing flats for doors and windows. Along the tops of the flats are nails or the japanned buttons used by carriage-makers. The curtains may be sewn up (gathered or plain) and fastened at the top on a piece of heavy canvas exactly the width of the frame. To " bend on " a set of curtains it is only necessary to affix the canvas band to the nails or buttons. It is possible by this method to have several sets of H 2S^ tl 0; ' : o o ~ * * i : CJT o . 14 gptAN OP ARRAS STAGE. VTTH PRAMES. curtains, which if desired can be changed in the course of a play. Figures 5, 6 and 7 show the combinations of such a set of flats. Wing entrances may be had by turning the side flats parallel to the stage front line. Gardens, streets, forests and interiors may be suggested at will by the use of simple acces- sories. The faces of the flats themselves may be decorated in a variety of ways and beautiful results achieved. This appa- ratus may be used with the Eli2^bethan " shadow " if desired, or it may be changed between scenes with great rapidity, It is almost unbelievable to what an extent a director is able to change the entire appearance and atmosphere of his stage, If the frames are well made they will stand on their own feet without gaping at the top. If they do gape, however, the defect is easily remedied by lacing them together with a lash FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 51 ([FIGURE: s STAQE AS, AN INTERIOR ARRAS STAGE AS A GARDEN . ' ARRAS STAGE AS A STREET SHAKESPEARE \FI6URE8' b^ r METHOCV OF USING "LASH line (see Figure 8), or fastening them with an iron screw clamp, I have referred to the Elizabethan shadow or shade the canopy which formed so unique and valuable a part of Shake- ^___ speare's own stage, and for which his plays were written. Reduced to its simplest elements, the Elizabethan stage consisted of three parts a rear stage, a middle stage and an apron, which pro- jected into the audience. The rear stage can be dispensed with without much loss, and the plays performed on apron and middle stages* Over the middle stage stood the " shadow " or, as we shall call it, the canopy, with two tall columns and two pilasters supporting a roof (see Figure 9), Between the columns was a curtain which could be drawn across. Many times throughout the plays a line occurs where some one instructs a servant to draw the curtains. Outdoor scenes were played before the canopy with the curtain drawn, and indoor scenes with the curtain open, A close examination of the plays will show that the common method was to occupy the audience with an ex- terior scene while the middle stage was being set with chairs, tables, etc. Then, when the curtains were opened and the acces- sories revealed, the entire stage became an interior. At the back of the middle stage, high up between the pilasters supporting the canopy, was a curtained balcony. This served for Juliet's window, the platform over the gate of Flint Castle from which Richard addressed Bolingbroke, the battlement from which Arthur leaps, the place where the citizens of Angers appear, and so on. Below the balcony is a curtained door, for centre-stage entrances and exits. The use of the canopy gives great and substantial advantages. Not only is it the stage for which the dramas were written, but FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 53 with it they may be played continuously without a break between the scenes. When once the canopy is understood and fully used, entirely new values and new beauties are visible in the Master's stage-craft* Portia, Nerissa and Morocco enter on the apron stage, and the curtains being drawn at Portia's command, the caskets are revealed. In Much Ado About Nothing, the canopy is the garden house, and Benedick sits half-concealed behind the THE ELIZABETH AN STAGE, (FROM DARRELL FIGGIS' 'SHAKESPEARE) partially-drawn curtains. The curtains part to reveal the rostrum and bench of the Duke in The Merchant of Venice, of Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, of Escalus and Angelo in Measure for Measure, the banquet tables in Macbeth*, and in such cases the crowd swells out on the apron and uses the apron stage exits as if they were doors of the room indicated, Mr, Ben Greet in his productions in the Elizabethan manner uses a low canopy about twelve feet high, but if a permanent setting is adopted, one at least fifteen feet high is preferable* It may be of the style used in the Globe or the Swan (see Figure 9), or better, may conform to the general decoration of 54 SHAKESPEARE the hall in which it is to be used* Of course no front curtain is needed where a canopy is used* A suggested canopy is shown in Figure 10* Under the head of permanent stage-setting one thing requires to be dealt with, namely, the stage* In many halls the JJTIGURE. IQy A -SUGGESTED CANOPX "p 7 s - LJ t) t) ^ CURTAINS CU RTAINS PLAN OF STAGE FOP\ AC>OV stage is a mere shallow platform, slightly bowed out to meet the audience and falling sheer to the floor* Where one of these 44 table and a jug of water " stages is the only thing available, an apron stage about eight inches lower than the main stage may be made, of a series of daises running from one side of the hall to the other* An admirable means of making it is with multiple boxes, say eight by sixteen by thirty-two inches, boarded in on all sides, and made of seven-eighths-inch pine. These, when FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 55 stained to match the floor, may be used in a multitude of ways. Made as they are on an eight-inch unit, they can be piled on face, side or end, like children's blocks, into stairs, seats, rostra, buffets, thrones, daises, walls, judges' benches, tables or terraces. If multiple boxes are used, do not forget to have a few half and quarter sizes, eight by eight by thirty-two, eight by sixteen by sixteen, and eight by eight by sixteen. These are very useful for filling in where the boxes will not work out evenly. Another tiresome trick of hall designers is to make a stage which is a small recess with two dressing-rooms flanking it. In such a case an apron stage is essential. It should run right across the hall, eight or ten feet in depth, and a few inches lower than the floor of the recess. The rear stage should be curtained off and used only for interior scenes in somewhat the same manner as that in which the shadow is used. Every hall presents its own peculiar problems, in dealing with which the director must use his resource and ingenuity. The lines of the setting should harmonise with and echo the general lines of the hall, and the colours should blend with the decorative tones of the building, unless they are too bad. Endeavour to incorporate the eccentricities and peculiarities of the hall into your general scheme. If there be a balcony over or behind the stage it should be used for " upper " scenes battlements, balconies, cliffs, etc. If there be a stair in full view it should be made an integral part of the design. If you have a good front curtain so much the better, but unless you can con- trive a good one omit it altogether. Do not try to roof in your setting. Let the walls suggest a room and end frankly with their own frieze or moulding. If the lines of the wall above conflict with the lines of your scene, shade your lights so that everything above the line of the arras shall be in darkness or low light. A dark band or frieze around the top of the arras will " pull the scene together " and cut it off from the detail of the roof and upper walls of the hall. Let your stage " flow " into the auditorium. If possible, 56 SHAKESPEARE have steps right across the front, and allow any long rugs used in the scenes to run right down and end on the auditorium floor* Above all, do not separate audience and actor with footlights laid along the top ridge of the stage* If you must use footlights, lay them on the auditorium floor, just in front of the first row of seats* Their rays will be more nearly horizontal and far softer* Do not hesitate to let the actors use the lower steps in front of the dais, if the action suggests it. They may sit or sprawl on the steps, or stand on a lower step with a foot up on the next one. There is an intimacy and frankness gained by the use of a dais stage which can never be secured on the profes- sional boards. Strive after broad effects and be ample in your design. If you use a band of colour for a frieze, use full colour and a wide band* If you use side lighting to get shadows, seek long shadows* If you mass a group of spearmen, use very tall spears* If you make a door, let it be a high, narrow door, and if a chair, a chair with a tall back ; if a banner, let it be a big banner* Weak, ineffectual design is unpardonable, and only a quarter of the audience sees little, prosy details* On the other hand, if you cannot make a thing well, leave it out. Everything you use should show firm, plain craftsmanship. A word as to materials for hangings may be in order. Denim gathered or pleated is too stiff to fall well in a distance of twelve feet. It falls well, if hung flat and overlapping, and gives a beautiful surface, especially the kind which is shot with a second colour, or " bloom*" Cheap ratine in a full colour avoid pastel shades hangs well and gives a fine surface* Cotton challis, which is very cheap and in good colour, especially the tan, russet brown and grey, folds handsomely and falls well. It needs, however, to be well weighted below. The regular house- hangings, casement cloth and monk's cloth, repp and velours, are out of the range of the ordinary purse, but give such splendid results that the purchase of a set may well be one of the aims of the director. An arras stage is strictly conventional scenery. It does not strive after actuality but suggestion. It has dignity, reserve, FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 57 simplicity and beauty, and above all is within the skill of amateur craftsmen* There remains to add to this chapter a note on open-air playing. This* which is the most delightful of all modes of presenting drama, is especially advantageous to the community player* It solves at one stroke the problem of scene-building* and possesses the further value that it compels the director to work within definite limitations, giving his work greater coher- ence and unity* He must accept unreservedly the conditions he finds, and will thereby gain a certain native quality which his production may lack within doors* Instead of having to say, 4 This is coopered up to look as much as possible like Arden," he finds himself saying, " This is Arden," and by that very process of bringing the play into a familiar scene, instead of pushing the scene forward to meet the play, he gives to the imagination of the audience a fillip which wins him half his battle* While it is impossible to discuss here all the varieties of location for open-air playing, such locations are capable of being divided broadly into classes* The great subdivision is into those places which are purely pastoral, as opposed to those in which buildings and walls play a part* Playing on a terrace with a wall for a background possesses the immense advantage that the wall acts as a sounding-board, and permits a far wider range of audibility with far smaller expenditure of voice* With novices playing to an audience extending more than seventy feet from them, a sounding-board behind the actors is indispensable* In the purely pastoral locations, the ideal one is that which most closely approximates to the form of the Greek amphitheatres, a curving hillside with a level playing-space at the bottom and a screen of trees behind the actors* Next in desirability is a straight slope with a level stage-space at its foot, and less desir- able still, but most frequently found, a greensward where actor and audience are on the same level* In all three of these sites, the indispensable feature is a fairly continuous screen of trees and foliage behind the players* The sides of the scene should 58 SHAKESPEARE also be marked by two large trees or clumps of shrubbery, about thirty to forty feet apart, behind which the actors may make their exits and entrances* If possible, the stage section should contain at least one large tree somewhere near the middle, as a pivot for the action. This tree formed a central feature of Mr. Ben Greet *s method. He would choose a large oak or elm in the centre of a clump of trees, and build around it a platform about five feet high, and thirty feet square. The structural supports were then screened with evergreen branches or small trees, and the floor carpeted with evergreen twigs. The actors entered by steps at the back, and came forward at one side or the other of the central tree-trunk, which served as a screen for a concealed observer, a retiring-place for some one who was required to step for a moment out of the picture, or for any of the bits of business which arose during the play. A method frequently followed by Mr. and Mrs. Coburn in their pastoral presentations was to play in the foreground of a grove of trees, where the actual stage area was quite large in extent, both as regards width and depth. An entering actor could be seen thus, sauntering into the scene for a whole minute before he came within speaking distance. The disadvantage of this is that the audience's attention is frequently diverted from the action of the play to the approaching figure. Where there are no side screens to serve as wings, they may be made with evergreen trees lashed to a rough framework, and the audience's side fixed with boughs in such a way as to give the appearance of a hedge or thicket. Very few properties are permissible in out-of-door playing. A rustic seat, or, better still, a large, shapeless framework of two levels and covered with dark green goods to suggest a rock, may be used to advantage, or, if the play represents a formal garden, a sundial and stone garden-seat* jThe lighting of an outdoor scene has been dealt with else- where, but it is worth while to remind the director that if he play at night he will need plenty of light. Although it is safer indoors to err on the side of too little light and thereby conceal FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 59 flaws in scenery, the reverse is the rule in the open air* Trees and walls will not suffer from too much illumination* Four motor lamps, judiciously placed, will give enough white light. Two more should be added if the light is to be coloured. With a brick or stone sounding-board behind the actors the natural speaking voice will carry a distance of a hundred and fifty feet if the air is still. Where there is considerable humidity and atmospheric pressure it will carry another fifty feet. In an exposed place where the wind can sweep across the auditorium, the natural voice with a sounding-board behind it will carry about eighty to ninety feet. Without a sounding-board, in a pro- tected place, the voice will carry about seventy feet at the most, and fifty feet is all the director can be sure of. These distances should be verified from the chosen site by careful experiment, and the distances laid out in such a way that the actors will not be forced to shout. 60 SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER VI FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIES THE making of properties is the most fascinating of all the crafts connected with the art of the theatre* Seeing that the intent is primarily to suggest a given object, there is no attempt at imita- tion in detail* Only the salient facts regarding the object are to be seized and translated into a suitable medium. The finding of the particular medium in each case, and the discovery of common, inexpensive objects which can easily be converted to use, gives unfailing interest to property-making. Every play, with its wide variety of accessories, is in itself a great adventure. Under the heading of " properties" comes everything movable on stage except scenery, rostra and clothes. Even clothes, if they are not worn but merely carried on and passed from one person to another, are " props," although they are made by the costumier. Furniture is the most considerable item among stage acces- sories. This should be made on the simplest and most massive lines. Whenever possible, it is best to make up furniture on the unit system, where a few pieces used in combination can be made to serve many purposes. Figure n shows a variety of chairs and a settle. Figure 12 shows a standardised set of chairs which will be universally useful. In this set there are three plain chairs and two corner chairs which make up into a throne, a settle, or a garden seat. Figure 13 shows two tables and a judge's bench. The first (a) is most generally useful. It is quite narrow (two feet wide), and, placed across the stage in any desired position, will occupy a minimum of space, on even the shallowest of stages. The table shown in (b) is shorter, and may be used up and down the stage. The judge's bench should be high and quite shallow ; FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 61 ARMCHAIRS 0TMRONt j SETTLE., r I CURE, tjf STANDARDISED C.HAIRS . UDGES BE1NCM . N^ROW TABLE . i < i II II I 00 not 00 62 SHAKESPEARE sixteen inches is enough* Any of these tables may be converted into a desk by placing on the centre of it a simple inclined book- rest* Buffets, cupboards, wardrobes and chests should be of the most elementary design, made up out of pine and stained or painted* Very satisfactory stains may be made of dye in powder form, dissolved in boiling water and applied with a dish-washing mop* Black, green, brown, red or orange may be used singly or mixed in desired combinations to give all the natural and artificial tones of wood with sufficient fidelity for stage purposes. Table-ware, such as trenchers, bowls, flagons, goblets, jars, mugs and vases, may be made out of heavy crockery stoneware, and glass utensils painted or gilded* A jaunt through a crockery store will reveal a host of fine decorative pieces at a very low price which can be treated by the maker of accessories to give fine results* If it is desired to use liquid in a glass vessel, any gilding, silvering or paint- ing should be put on the outside* If the glass is not intended for use with liquid, paint on the inside is best, because the glass gives a burnished, surface* For gilding, do not buy the prepared leaf* It is too expensive* Buy the metallic powder, mix it with banana oil and apply with a soft brush* These metal powders may be had in several tones of gold, silver, copper, rose and green* With so ample a palette of colours the property- maker need not stop at solid tones, but may secure bold inlaid and modelled effects in his metal table-ware* Under the heading of table utensils should come foods* The best material for soup is sawdust or birdseed, which should be served with a ladle* Chops, steaks and roast meat may be made of brown bread cut to the desired shape* A fowl may be sculp- tured from a stale loaf of brown bread with a sharp knife, and made to steam by pouring boiling water over it* An appetising- FlGURE 14 FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 63 looking dish is made by heaping a trencher high with white bread and brown crusts, and drenching it with boiling water just before it is carried on. Cold tea in various degrees of dilu- tion will serve for most liquors, but if red wine is required, water may be safely coloured with the red colouring matter used by confectioners. Soda waters are not advisable for wines. They cause " frog in the throat," Cheap wooden kitchen-ware, bread-boxes, salt-boxes, knife and fork trays, hinged together and so on, may be painted or }ii ^r |[HAL5EKD HUNTING SPEAP\ PikE. FIGURE 15 Be PIKE. MACE gilded, or both, to make caskets, table-boxes, despatch-boxes, and jewel-cases. Weapons form another delightful field for the maker of acces- sories. Where a sword fight is required it is best to use the modern buttoned foils, and contrive some means whereby they need not be drawn from their scabbards on stage. The use of anything more real than a foil is not advisable. If it is imperative that swords be drawn on stage, a scabbard for a foil may be made from tin piping, built out and covered with leather. Swords used for personal adornment need only be a scabbard with a handle. These may best be made of wood, following some fine model, and the hilt and decorations made in metal. The armourer of the company will do well, however, to consult a book or an encyclopaedia article upon these and all weapons before setting to work. 6 4 SHAKESPEARE Spears or lances may be made out of wood. It is a mistake to put on hollow tin points. It is better to shape a point out of wood and silver it. Tin tops are continually working loose and JTfCURE- 1&/ BOWS AND ARQUEBUS , clattering down on somebody's head. Make lances at least ten feet long, especially where several are carried together. Nothing looks meaner than a feeble lance or spear, and nothing finer than a tall one. Halberds need not be so long, especially if they carry ornate heads. Figure 15 shows typical spear, pikes, maces, and halberd. Bows should be tall and decorative, and are carried un- LANTtHNS e TOR H -STKkTS. strung. Figure 16 shows a typical long-bow, crossbow, and arquebus. These may all be of soft pine or cedar cut with a jack-knife. Lanterns should be made of soft tin and riveted into shape. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 65 It is possible to buy lanterns, but it is more fun to make them. Figure 17 shews some types of lanterns as well as torch-sticks. FIGURE 18 Floor candlesticks, which are universally useful for all types of interiors, may be made up of curtain-pole set on a foot or held erect with a tripod. A small tin pan makes an excellent drip-cup. A method of simulating massive candles is given in the chapter on lighting. Smaller candelabra may be of wooden lattice-work in a variety of forms, or of round wood held together with cross-bars (see Figures 14 and 18). Another method is to make a grill out of wall-board reinforced with wooden battens. The best single candlestick is part of a baluster nailed to a square base. The candle goes in a hole bored in the top. A nail- point sticking up in the bottom of the orifice will give stability to the candle. If you have occasion to make or use Greek lamps, do not trouble with oil. Use tapers adjusted to last for the scene, or a bit of candle inset. Figure 19 shows a lantern and pole to be carried in lieu of torches. It is made of draughtsman's linen stretched Chinese-lantern fashion on a wooden frame. The frame may be made of heavy FIGURE 19 66 SHAKESPEARE iron wire if desired, and many beautiful forms achieved. The design may be applied in coloured ink such as draughtsmen use. Musical instruments are another interesting field, and may be used to give fine decorative results. All the varieties of lute can best be made of a board shaped for the top and neck, to which is fastened a bowl of papier-mache. The rounded side of the neck of the lute should be made of a slip of wood shaped and nailed on. Trumpets should be made of wood, tapered, and MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS with a modelled horn end added. Figure 20 shows a number cf instruments. Since the property-maker usually possesses the skill and tools for the making of helmets and armour, such work is usually turned over to him, although it belongs properly to the depart- ment of costuming. While many helmets and casques can be made from old felt hats cf various shapes, there are some which are better fashioned frcm papier-mache. Any encyclopaedia or any volume showing mediaeval costume will give types of helmets. Papier-mache is also suitable for brassards, greaves, cuirasses and such pieces of body armour as may be required. Another of the departments which falls to the property- FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 67 FIGURE 21 man is the production of noises wind, rain, thunder, mus- ketry, horses' hoofs, ordnance and so forth. For most of these there are traditional machines. The wind machine is very simple, A slatted cylinder is rotated by means of a crank or an axle between two frames, A piece of canvas or silk fastened at one side falls over the cylinder and, as the crank is turned swiftly or slowly, gives all the sounds of whistling wind (see Figure 21). The sounds of rain may be pro- duced by means of a bass drum and a few handfuls of small shot. The operator lays the drum on the floor, and slightly rocking it, rolls the shot round and round the head near the rim, occasionally letting it race diametrically across, and from time to time lifting a handful and allowing it to pour slowly on the leather, A sea surge is made by lashing two window-screens together and putting a handful of shot between them. The commonest thunder machine is a piece of one-sixteenth-inch sheet iron, about three feet wide and eight feet long (see Figure 22), It is hung firmly at the upper end and shaken by a handle riveted into the other. A cheaper method is to roll cannon-ball or athlete's shot along the floor, A keg filled with sand will do. The simplest device for musketry is the cushion from a carriage, laid on a box or two chairs and beaten sharply with switches. " Horses' hoofs " are imitated with two half-cocoanut-shells on a piece of flat stone. A bass drum struck sharply and deadened after the blow does for ordnance. FIGURE 22 68 SHAKESPEARE Complete tuned chimes are expensive contrivances, but the single hollow tubes used in theatres for a church bell are not beyond the means of amateur organisations. If such a tubular chime is not available, the property master should experiment with pieces of iron pipe about four feet long and two inches in diameter. Pass the suspending cord through two holes in the end of the pipe, and fasten to a stout nail so that the pipe hangs free. Tree stumps are usually made of two discs of inch wood con- nected by uprights of two-by-four scantling. Cotton is laid on in narrow pleats all round, and the stump painted with distemper colour. Small rocks may be made of various-sized boxes covered with padding and cotton. Start the cotton along one edge of the open side of the box, and stuffing in excelsior, flock or mattress seaweed in liberal quantities, carry the cotton round until it can be tacked on the other edges of the open side. The rock will then sit squarely, and should show none of the angular edges of the box. This is then painted with distemper colour. While distemper occupies a far less important place in con- ventional setting than on the everyday stage, it is handy some- times for small painting jobs and possesses the advantage of being very cheap. The ingredients needed are glue size, whiting and dry colour of the tints desired. Put a handful of the glue size into a pail and pdur in boiling water. Stir until most of the size is dissolved and the mixture is " tacky " that is, sticks slightly between the thumb and finger. Then stir in the whiting until the liquid is of the consistency of cream. This is scene- painter's primer, and should be used as a preliminary coat to give stiffness and body to the cloth. The primer is also the basis of most colours used. Pour out as much of the primer as re- quired into a pan, add the colour or colours desired, and paint the object as soon as the primer coat is dry. Snow on the clothes of the actors may be simulated with damp table-salt. Glycerine coloured with red aniline or any red pigment may be used for blood. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 69 CHAPTER VII DRESSES THE problem of dresses is an important one to the amateur, equalled only by that of stage setting. He is at a disadvantage for lack of money, but, as is so frequently the case in art, and in all life for that matter, the very slenderness of his resources may prove his means of salvation, David Belasco tells how, in his production of The Darling cf the Gods, he spent thousands of dollars and weeks of experiment on a device to represent the souls of the warriors crossing the river of death. Finally, at the eleventh hour, he found by accident that a simple folded gauze gave perfect results. The amateur, to whom a hundred yards of cheese-cloth is a big item, would probably have solved the problem at the very start. So it is with dresses. The director with a long purse will burden his actors with fuzzy wigs and plush fol-de-rols, where the impecunious amateur is forced by strict necessity to cut back to essentials, and thereby secure simpler and more beautiful effects. The chief asset of the artist of the theatre is the human figure. When he comes to dress it he may follow either of two courses. He may load it with the sartorial follies of the exact period of the play, and convert it into an inferior museum exhibit, or he may, choosing at will from the beautiful costumes of the Middle Ages, dress his actors in garments that will give them grace and distinction. Historical accuracy may satisfy the emotional and mental needs of the antiquarian, but it falls below the requirements of the artist. His queen is beauty, and his stage dresses must serve beauty, whether they serve historicity or not. The four hundred years embraced in the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in England, were productive of most of the fine designs in costume, and from these the director will do well to choose with a pretty free hand. 70 SHAKESPEARE It is surprising how small a wardrobe will do for a long series of Shakespearean performances* Benedick's costume will serve equally well for Bassanio, or Ferdinand, or Sebastian or Romeo, Leonato's robe for Prospero, Egeus or Capulet, FalstafFs tunic for Sir Toby or Stephano, and Trinculo's motley for Feste or Touchstone, In laying his plans for a play or series of plays, the director should decide upon his standard and adhere to it FIGURE 23 throughout. If he choose for his men simple, smock-like tunics, unshaped at the waist (see last sketch in Figure 23), he should carry that scheme throughout, securing variety by means of colour or ornament. If he decide upon shaped tunics, that should be his style. Similarly if his fancy run to more elaborate slashed and puffed effects, he should maintain that standard. Only thus will he attain harmony and, more important still, interchangeability of the separate garments which make up each costume. Exclusive of shoes, girdles and head-gear, the practical FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 71 minimum of garments for a man is two, and for a woman one* If the director will fix this axiom in his mind, and depart from it only under necessity, he will save himself from worry and will rid his production of many a vanity. For male attire, the essentials are tunic and hose. Only in special cases should trunks be used, and never the loose, bulgy sort. The effect of the latter is to break the fine natural line of the hips, and, almost invariably, to cut the figure into three parts. The only excuse for trunks is when a character has to divest himself of his tunic, and appear in his shirt for a fight or any other purpose. In such a case the trunks should not alter the scheme of the dress, but should merely be worn under the tunic, giving the effect of a two-piece costume. Women's dress provides a narrower range of pieces, but quite as wide a range in cut and style. The most effective and satisfactory is a one-piece gown, cut princess style, with shaped panels falling from shoulder to floor (Figure 24A) or with a full skirt gathered on a close-fitting bodice (Figure 246), Capes, cloaks, surcoats, mantles and scarves may be added at the dis- cretion of the director, but should not be worn without excellent reason. Stage dresses, especially if they are to do for a series of plays, should be well made and out of substantial materials, I do not mean expensive materials. It is a fundamental principle in the best stage-craft, that the players should wear clothes and not fancy-dress costumes, A wide berth should be given to sateen, mercerised satin, farmer's satin, and roman satin. In their stead the director should use matt-surfaced goods with a body to them serge, melton, Venetian cloth, cashmere, cash- merette, ratine, lustre, alpaca, velveteen, felt, and, for big cloaks and capes, baise. Woollen tights not only wear better than cotton or silk, but they also hold their shape better at the knees. Silk tights are very expensive, and cotton ones become baggy after a few minutes' wear. While it is impossible to generalise, because of the wide variety of requirements in the various garments, a safe rule is to avoid 72 SHAKESPEARE the cheap, shiny fabrics* Their sheen is nearly altogether due to the loading of the goods with rice sise or metal of some sort, and not only is the lustre evanescent, but the very nature of the goods is such that it falls into ugly crinkles and folds which give harsh facets under the light. Serge is admirable for almost all purposes* It shapes well, and, when used for cloaks, hangs exquisitely, in clean, beautiful lines. It can be had in a wide range of blues, purples and reds, The rich, luminous surface of even very cheap serge makes it one of the most valuable materials for the stage costumier. Melton cloth of the less expensive varieties gives soft effects for both shaped and draped garments. It is very valuable for simple tunics of the sort shown in Figure 23 (second from left), Venetian cloth, which is much lighter in weight and contains a greater choice of colours than melton, may be used for both men's and women's dresses. It is especially suitable for capes and cloaks* The big family of cashmeres and cashmerettes answers many purposes, especially for draperies and women's dresses. When used for shaped garments, they require to be lined. It is best to avoid the necessity for lining anything; it involves difficult tailoring, and rarely looks so well as a single piece of heavier goods. Lustre and alpaca are very useful materials for pleated or skirted doublets. Their use is limited, however. Ratine is a great boon to the costumier. It may be had as cheaply as ten cents a yard, and shapes and drapes beautifully, Its fine texture and its wonderful range of tints make it such that it can be used in every department of the work. It frequently occurs that all the ratines of a certain quality and price form a family of colours, made with the same dye-base throughout, thus rendering colour discord impossible. Indeed, a costume-maker might do worse than use ratine exclusively, buying a better grade of goods where more body is required. The uses of velveteen are better known. It should, however, be used sparingly, and for only royal personages where special FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 73 74 SHAKESPEARE richness of surface is desirable* It must always be cut and made up the same way of the goods, or the pile will rub in different directions, and give two shades on the same garment. Felt is another good friend of the costume-maker* For shaped tunics it possesses few equals. It has a good colour range, and its firm body makes it very durable. It is the best material also for big cloaks and gowns. One advantage of felt is that it need not be hemmed. Unless he can afford to use them extensively, the amateur should avoid silks, except for applique. The only advantage which silk possesses for this purpose is its variety of fine colour. Skirt-lining with the shiny side out is useful as a substitute for leather. It can be had in red, brown, slate, black, tan and green. When used for jerkins and tunics, it should be lined with a heavier material, such as canton flannel or drill. For sword- belts, and girdles, it should be laid over a strip of heavy canvas. Denim is an ungrateful material both for workers and wearer. It can be used to advantage, however, for heavy jerkins for soldiers, foresters and the like. Calico and frankly cotton goods are not very valuable for mediaeval men's costumes, except for yokels' smocks. Challis and cotton crepe may sometimes be employed for women's garments. The foregoing detailed suggestions do not apply to the classical costume required in the Greek and Roman style. Here calico, challis and cotton crepe form the stock-in-trade for the producer. Crepe is probably the most satisfactory of the materials. Its crinkled surface makes it drape beautifully, and there is an excellent field of colour from which to choose. With these generalisations on method and material, let us now consider some of the specific garments with which the director will have to deal, and the method of making them. Hose. These may be purchased from a theatrical costumier or from a sporting-goods dealer. In either case they are ex- pensive. The amateur producer will find it much better to make his own out of natural-coloured underwear and dye them FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 75 the desired colour* The silk facings and buttons should be removed, and the front sewn up, making liberal allowance for the fact that without the facings the goods will stretch. Stock- ings may then be sewn to the ankle-bands. Avoid light balbriggan drawers ; they stretch out of shape and, in addition, take dye badly. The shoes will cover the join at the ankles, A neater job can be made by purchasing drawers several sizes too big, removing the ankle cuff and taking in the leg along the leg-seam. If this is done the seam should be carefully over- cast with herring-bone stitching on the inside. Dye tights in TYPES OF HOSE. full tones, avoiding pink, heliotrope, mauve, pale blue and pale yellow. Such colours as magenta, blue, purple, brown, black, tan, olive green, plum, orange are to be preferred. For yokels the natural iron-grey and brown in which coarse underwear is made are best. There is another way of treating the nether limbs cf yokels. They may be encased in loose drawers and cross- bound to a point below (or above) the knee. Cross-binding is also effective with loose hose, Trunks. If these are essential, they should be made very snug. The simplest and probably the best form is made of a strip of goods a few inches longer than the waist measure of the wearer, and as wide as the distance from waist to crotch. The ends should be seamed together, and one side caught together at the middle in such a manner as to make two holes for the 7 6 SHAKESPEARE legs. The three openings for legs and waist should then be hemmed and an elastic run through each, Tzzmc, This is the general term used to include all the forms of garment covering the body from the shoulder to the thigh. The commonest form of tunic was the doublet, which itself runs an extensive gamut, beginning as an ungathered shirt of heavy material drawn in with a belt, gradually degene- FlGURE 26 rating into the modern waistcoat* There are many other variants of the tunic, according to the use which it served. Sometimes it was a close-fitting jerkin, shaped to the figure ; sometimes the buff-jerkin, or buff-coat, of leather used over, or instead of, armour. Another form of the tunic was the smock or smock- frock of the rustic, a loose shirt of linen or cotton, frequently gathered at the shoulders. So great is the variety of forms that the director will do best to study the illustrations given in this book and elsewhere, and follow the modes best suited to his needs. The simplest form of tunic is made exactly like a man's FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 77 shirt, with a long sleeve gathered to a cuff, or a short sleeve ending just above the elbow. The skirt should come three or four inches below the crotch, and may have an unbroken hem or a four-inch vent at each side seam. There are many treat- ments for the neck. It may have a small collar, or a simple band coming down in a V at the throat, or if preferred, may have a low, square opening at front and back with a guimpe of another colour. Ornament may be applied at the shirt hem, at the neck and to the hem of the short sleeves, and the same trimming employed to enrich the baldrick or girdle, from which wallet or sword is suspended. The shaped tunic or jerkin presents a few more difficulties in the initial stage, but gives more graceful effects. When one is made and the general method established, the making of others is almost as easy as in the case of the un- shaped tunic. Any pattern for a plain, tight-fitting gown may be readily modified for use as a jerkin pattern. It should be the same length as the unshaped tunic, and may have short or long sleeves preferably the latter. There is great latitude for the costume-maker in the sleeves of all tunics, and here, as well as in the colour and ornament, lies his opportunity for variety in the dressing of the players. Peasants' smocks admit of con- siderable eccentricity. They may follow the traditional form used by modern English peasants, or they may range from mere sacks with short sleeves to Mother Hubbard wrappers. In the accompanying illustrations an effort has been made to give as many varieties as possible of the tunic. Mr. D. C. Calthrop's books (see Bibliography) will give many more. Capes. The simplest cape, as well as the best for general purposes, is the circular one. The material when laid out should make a complete circle, with a hole in the centre for the neck, and a vent from the collar to the edge. It is preferable that the cape should have a collar, which may be stiffened with buckram to make it stand up at the back. These circular capes vary in length. They may, for young men, come just below the hips, or for old men they may brush the floor. They should be lined or liberally faced with some other material in order that they 7 8 SHAKESPEARE may be thrown back over the shoulder. The long cape is readily modified into a form of cape for high ecclesiastics, by stiffening the front edges with half-yard strips of canvas, and so arranging the fastening across the breast that the collar at the back will stand up almost to the top of the head, A beautiful form of cape is made from a rectangular piece of goods as wide as twice the distance from shoulder-head to shoulder-head, and as long as from shoulder to calf. Across one end are run three rows of shirring, an inch apart, gathering the goods with such tightness that when shirred it will just go comfortably around the neck, The cape is put on the left shoulder, and fastened at the right side of the neck, leaving the right shoulder and arm exposed. The left arm is passed under the cape, and "the folds of the goods allowed to rest in the angle of the elbow, Cloaks. These are mostly on the order of the modern man's dressing-gown, but considerably fuller, and with a wealth of variety in the sleeves and in the ornamentations, A dressing- gown or bath-robe pattern can be modified in such a way as to meet all needs. The gabardine used among the lower orders and prescribed for Jews was such a cloak, and frequently sleeveless. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 79 .28 1/ MENS CLOAKS 8o SHAKESPEARE Sur coats. The simplest form of surcoat to be worn over armour was a long piece of goods, with a hole for the head and falling down before and behind to the knee* It was caught together along each side at intervals with tape ties. Another form of surcoat was similar to the modern night-gown, with or without a vent at each side* Sur coats were frequently belted at the waist* Women's Gowns. Recent years have seen a revival of many Or WOMEN'S DRESS of the outstanding features of mediaeval women *s dress, with the result that most of the gowns required for Shakespearean costuming seem quite modern. The most generally useful modes are the close-fitting ones, either in long panels from neck to ankle, or with a close-fitting bodice to which a skirt is gathered, as in the familiar picture of Lady Godiva* Here again sleeves play an important part* Another feature of mediaeval women's dress was a sleeveless over-garment similar in many regards to the knight's surcoat* Forms of this are shown in the FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 81 accompanying illustrations. It is customary to dress the women of some of the comedies in Elizabethan costume, especially Much Ado, Merry Wives and Twelfth Night. The director is under no obligation to do so, and had better avoid it. The costumes are extremely intricate, and are of limited use for other plays, Classical Dress, So excellent is the article in the Encyclo- paedia Britannica on this subject, under the heading of " Costume/' that it would be a mere waste of space to go into it here. The problems of Greek and Roman dress are far simpler than those of the dress of mediaeval Europe, Apart from the Greek chiton and Roman tunica, made like a sack and falling to the feet for women and to the knees for men, almost everything was draped on the figure, Mr, A, Steuart Murray has gone so fully into the detail of this draping that the director may best be referred to the Britannica article. Pink fleshings should not be worn in the classical plays unless the Purity League insists upon it. Classical armour was simple enough to present few difficulties, with the exception of the helmet, the use of which should be evaded unless the tin ones of the theatrical costumier are easily procurable, Fairies. The tradition for fairies in Shakespeare has been to use classical dress, with gausy wings at the shoulders, except in the case of Puck, whose usual dress is shown in Figure 31, Shoes. The item of footwear, a costly one on the professional stage, need not be so for the amateur. The simplest solu- ^ ^- tion is to abolish shoes altogether and u wear socks turned down around the 'ankle. These may be made to look more like shoes by slitting them for a few inches along the instep, facing back the edges of the slit and lacing it. 83 SHAKESPEARE An easier method still is to run the lace back and forward without making a slit at all. If for any reason socks are not desirable, shoes may be made up of felt according to any of the designs in Figure 32, Very satisfactory shoes may be made by removing the elastic sides from a pair of prunella gaiters. Before using any heeled shoe, a piece of felt should be glued over the heel to reduce the noise, Sandals. These are easily contrived. They may either be made with leather insoles and coloured tape, or from old shoes. This latter method is best. A pair of shoes, tall ones preferably, should be prepared by the removal of the heel and the cloth FOOTGE/\FV lining. The eyelets and a strip up the back should be left intact, and pieces of leather removed from the sides in such a manner that the remaining portion looks like a series of connect- ing straps. The sandals can be gilded or painted any colour, Armour. Full armour is beyond the scope of the amateur unless he be rich enough to buy or rent the professional variety, He will do best to dress his figure in a knitted hauberk from throat to knee, made to look like a chain mail. The simplest method is to use a long, grey, sweater coat and go over it lightly with a stiff paste of alumin'um powder and banana oil, taking care not to saturate the goods with the oil. The iron-cap may be made from the top of any old felt hat of suitabk shape. The brim should be removed, and after the crown has been cut to the desired shape, and any projections sewn on, it should be given a coat of glue sise and painted with the banana FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 83 oil and aluminium powder. The collar of the sweater should then be joined to the rim of the helmet in such a way as to leave the face exposed. Leggings of knitted material similarly treated complete the costume, A more economical way is to clothe only the arms, neck, shoulders and legs, and cover the whole body with a surcoat. For this a cheap cardigan jacket will make all the armour needed. The buttons are removed and hooks and eyes substituted, the jacket is cut off just below the arms, and the lower section used to make the leggings, and the curtain for the neck. Jewellery. This comes in so many varieties that it is im- possible to deal with it here, except in the most general way. The method of making it will depend upon the resources at the director's disposal. Unless he have the aid of a metal-crafts- shop, he will do well to make his jewellery out of very thin sheet lead and gild it. With an enthusiastic and ingenious jewel- maker in its ranks, a corps may, at kme^ slight expense, have all it s of crowns, girdles, necklaces, mantle-clasps and other ornaments. Chains for various purposes may be bought cheaply from any hardware store and gilded or silvered, Embroidery. Broad, straightfor- ward effects must be the rule in the decoration of costumes. Delicate embroidery is visible only to the other actors, A twelve-inch band of orange across the lower margin of a blue cloak is worth more than yards of delicate lace effects. An inex- pensive method of securing good FIGURE 33 designs and material for applique is to buy some pieces of chintz and scrim usually sold for hang- ings, selecting those with bold, conventional designs florets 8 4 SHAKESPEARE and borders* The goods may then be cut up and the figures applied as required* Under all circumstances, the decorator of costumes should be sparing in his use of braid and applique, and avoid fussings* For older men's tunics and gowns, fur may be used effectively for edgings* If very cheap fur is not available, the effect may be gained by the use of swansdown or any long-haire material employed for children's cloaks. Cotton wool with ink spots, for ermine, convinces no body and is an excessively untidy device* Men's Head-dress. The immense variety o hats and caps possible for Shakespearean costum makes it impossible to deal with head-dress ii detail* For gentlemen, the most usual hat i some modification of the tam-o'-shanter caj (see Figure 35) superimposed on a round brim These hats may be made out of any materia with perhaps a slight preference for velveteen The crown may be stuffed into shape wit paper* There are also many modifications o the cap of maintenance, which can be reproduced in felt o suitable colour* For old men, the skull cap is frequentl sufficient* Old soft felt hats, men's or women's, stripped o ribbon and sweat-band, may be converted to a variety of uses especially for yokels* Helmets have been dealt with above* Women's Head-dress. Unless the lines of the scene specifi cally demand it, the amateur will profit by having his womei go bareheaded, or at most, wear the little close-fitting cap o silk mesh, sometimes called the " Juliet cap*" For older womei head-dresses maybe used, but the extravagant horned and cone shaped styles are best avoided* Figure 36 shows some types o headgear which are attractive and easily made* In addition to the drawings of typical costumes and part of costumes given herewith, it would be advisable to pro vide the costume-maker with pictures of the costumes for FIGURE 34 FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 85 number of the characters whose special characteristics have secured them a traditional garb. There is nothing binding about these traditions, and the director may break them at will, indeed he had better do so if they interfere with his conventional HEAD-DRESS scheme, but the pictures serve as hints and may therefore be of value. 86 SHAKESPEARE If he does not possess it already, the director or his costumier should acquire the ability to make up a costume from a picture* It is not nearly so difficult as it would seem, requiring really only familiarity with the two or three basic " cuts " for body garments* Skill in this direction will be facilitated by collecting and studying attractive pictures of dress. Modern pictures are best. Earlier illustrators, especially those of the wood-cut days, were singularly devoid of conscience in the matter of dress structure, and " fussed " their pictures atrociously to cone deficient knowledge of detail. The rule of modern costume designers, or working fc beauty of silhouette, is a fundamental one for the stage-dire ctoi Clean, straight figures should be his aim. If a figure shows uj badly it may be corrected by the addition of a cape with a clear fall to it. The substitution of a different cut of sleeve wiJ frequently make a world of improvement in a player with faulty or gawky gesture, It should always be borne in mind that a character is not complete picture in himself, but merely a spot of colour in larger picture. For this reason the colour of his costume am its decoration should be a component part of the general scheme, It is worth remembering that if a costume is not vivid enough it can be livened up by trimming it with its complementary colour. A white linen or cotton band or ruching should be tackec into the necks and cuffs of all garments of the better sort, tc keep grease paint off the costume. These bands should be detachable for the same reason. When sleeves are cut short, an undershirt of suitable colour should be provided to go with the costume, to clothe the arm to the wrist. This garment, which may be of cotton balbriggan, and dyed, affords the basis for a guimpe. Raising the waist-line of a costume will give its wearer an effect of increased stature, but in order to preserve the illusion he must not come too near to the other players. Padded fronts for fat men are so frequently used that it is best to discard the makeshift of cushions and make up a real FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 87 front* This may be easily done by removing the sleeves and collar of an old shirt, turning it about so that it fastens up the back, and quilting it heavily with cotton-wooL Similar distor- tions can be indicated in any other part of the body. Padding on the shoulders will give the actor the effect of being hunch- backed* Where it is necessary for a player to wear glasses on stage, those of the rimless variety can be rendered almost invisible by covering the gold parts with flesh-coloured court plaster. Where the part permits, he may put on black court plaster to simulate horn-rimmed spectacles. It is the merest vanity to put a single garment on a player more than the piece or the decorative scheme demands. The easiest crime in the arts is to overdo, and this tendency the director should curb in himself as well as in his staff. If there is in the corps of dressmakers an inveterate embellisher, she should be given kings and princes to do* Otherwise she will send Gratiano on looking as if Bassanio were his lackey. Costumes should be finished sufficiently far in advance of the performance that the actors will have time to get used to them. Players should look as if they lived in their clothes and not as if they had just dressed up for a masquerade. The director should not waste time trying to untie Gordian knots. He should cut them. If a helmet cannot be contrived well, the actor should go bareheaded. The great rule in stage- costuming is When in doubt Leave out. SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER VIII LIGHTING ONE of the results of the revolution in stage-craft in recent years has been a radical change in stage-lighting* The " painted stage " required a brilliant, evenly distributed light from below, above and both sides, in order to prevent the shadows of the actors falling on the perspective scenery* Shadows were often permissible in ah interior, but in an exterior, especially a land- scape, it was the height of absurdity to have the shadow of an actor thrown on the sky or on an object supposedly several miles away* Moreover, in those days shadow was painted in the scene, and a vagrant real shadow rather gave the fraud away, So for many years the actor shared with Peter Schlemihl the distinction of being shadowless* More recently directors have realised the value of shadows and very frequently strive for them* The new tendency has this beneficial effect upon the amateur, that it liberates him from the popular tradition of a harshly-lighted stage, and permits him to get soft, plastic effects, which are well within his means, In this chapter I do not propose to go into an extensive discussion of new methods* Complementary lighting, in which the stage tone is heightened by the use of a complementary hue in the auditorium, and Fortuny or indirect lighting, wherein the rays are diffused by being reflected on stage from coloured silk screens, are expensive and difficult* The director who is interested may get such details as are available from H. K. Moderwell's The Theatre, of To-day, or the earlier issues of The Mask (see Bibliography)* One of the new systems for general stage-lighting is so simple that an adaptation of it is quite within the range of FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 89 amateurs* In fact it is the least expensive system for the amateur to follow. Theatre-goers who saw Mr. Granville Barker's recent pro- ductions on the road in America, marvelled at the strange open-air quality of the lighting. It had a freshness and simplicity quite different from the sharp glare of footlights. The means by which it was produced could not have been simpler. A battery of arc lamps, hung under the balcony, over the heads of the audience, and carefully shielded with metal housings so that they would neither glare in the eyes of those who sat behind them, nor light up the backs of the heads of those who sat in front, produced the whole effect. The difference from ordinary lighting lay in the fact that the lamps threw long, horizontal rays instead of the almost vertical rays of foot and border lights. There are several ways in which an approximation of this effect may be gained. The first, and the one which most readily suggests itself, is an imitation in detail of the Barker arc lamps. These possess many advantages, the chief of which is the bril- liancy and white quality of the light they give. A self-feeding arc lamp which will not fizz or sputter is expensive, but if two or three of these are available, each should be fitted with a sheet-metal house which cuts off the rays from everything but the stage. The director will do well to remember that arc lamps can only be successfully used for stage purposes with a direct current. An alternating current, where the carbons are alter- nately positive and negative, prevents the formation of the light crater, essential to a steady arc. Unless the director have the services of an expert electrician, or be compelled to use arcs, he will do better to use incandescent lamps. Of these the new nitrogen-filled bulb gives the whitest and best illumination. Next in brilliancy is the tungsten filament lamp, and the last is the ordinary yellowish carbon filament lamp. The simplest device for securing an even distribution of light over the entire stage is to hang, over the heads of the 90 SHAKESPEARE audience, a row of incandescent lamps across the auditorium about one-fifth of the way back from the stage line, and house each lamp with one of the inexpensive hemispherical metal shades used for desk lights* If these are wanted in one colour may be controlled from one switch* If, however, F colour are required, they may be subdivided into three series, red, yellow and blue, each series controlled separately. A more generally useful method is to use " cluster " or " bunch " lamps, which can be purchased or made up by the CLUSTER ^^^ HOUSE. o HOUSE >>VITH METAL PROJECTION TO CONCEN- TRATE. LIGHT e ft . _^-^ sjj LLJSTE.R amateur stage craftsman* A " cluster " lamp (see Figure 37) consists of a shallow box of wood or metal (professionals use metal) about 20 x 15 x 8 in* Along the sides of this lamp sockets are wired, six on each side, with the bulbs pointing towards the centre. These twelve lamps in each box should be wired in four series, three red, three blue, three amber, and three white lamps, each colour controllable from a separate switch. These four switches, worked singly or in combination, will give any desired colour or quantity of light* In order to direct the light towards the stage and to prevent it from lighting up the ceiling, floor and side walls of the auditorium, pieces of tin may be fastened to the housing at top or sides as required. These pieces of tin should be painted with flat black in order to prevent them FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 91 reflecting light in unexpected directions . All that remains is to paint the inside of the lamp-house white, and the outside a colour that will harmonise with the hall. A battery of four of these twelve-lamp clusters, fitted with 6o-watt tungstens, will give a wide range of brilliant illumination . For dirn^j^ts bt^ps may be unscrewed before the play commences* ^j^Brdeffo secure greater diffusion of light it is well to run, inlffabbet in front of each cluster, a slide containing a diffusing gelatine. This gelatine, which is made specially for theatre work, is pressed in such a manner in manufacture as to break up the light-rays which pass through it, and is known as frosted gela- tine. It may be procured from any theatre electrician at a small price. If no theatre is right at hand, a letter addressed " Elec- trician " sent to any theatre will bring the gelatine. Theatrical electricians have hardwood frames in which to hold the gelatine. If these cannot be bought or borrowed they may be made very easily. They consist of two frames of the required size made of thin wood. A screw-nail in each side holds the frames together when the gelatine is in place. To give further protection to the gelatine, which cockles under heat, fine wires are run from side to side of the frames. In addition to the front lights it is frequently desirable to have side lights. These are clusters similar to those used in front, except that they may be wired continuously and all of white lamps. Colour effects are gained by means of coloured gelatine slides operated by hand. Coloured gelatines may also be secured from any stage electrician. They are commercially known as mediums, and come in sheets nineteen by twenty-one inches. A list of the available tints may be of service to the director. There are forty-four straight tints, as follows : white, frosted, straw, light lemon, medium lemon, frosted lemon, dark lemon, light amber, medium amber, dark amber, orange, light red, medium red, dark red, chocolate, rose pink, magenta, rose purple, dark purple, dark violet, light violet, light blue, medium blue, dark blue, green blue, light green, medium green, dark green, very dark green, blue green, frosted blue and frosted red. 92 SHAKESPEARE Another method of securing the horizontal light is by means of horn lamps. These, which present the appearance shown in Figure 38, may be made up very cheaply by any tinsmith. The horn lamp consists of a long, megaphone-shaped funnel firmly fastened to a tin-covered board. In the board is a socket into which the lamp is screwed. The lamp should be a 25o-watt nitrogen one. Six of these horns hung on nails along the front of a balcony will give a splendid light. Each lamp should point at the centre of the stage, and its light-yield should just cover the stage. If it does not, a mask may be inserted in the mouth of the horn. The inside of the horn should be painted a dull black for a distance of a foot back from the mouth to prevent light " kicking off " in all directions. This system possesses many advantages over that of the clusters. It is more sightly, and while the initial cost for lamps and wiring is more, it is easier to place each time it is used. It cannot be used so readily, however, for colour effects unless the lamps are controlled in series of colours. For out-of-door playing at night, any of the foregoing systems may be adapted to conditions if it is possible to get an electrical connection. If not, the producer will have to fall back on limelight. An inexpensive method is to com- mandeer the motors of two or three friends, post the cars on an eminence behind the audience and light the stage with headlights. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 93 It is possible in indoor playing to omit front light altogether and illuminate the stage by means of cluster lights placed at an angle in the wings. The rays may come from either side or both. Very beautiful effects can be secured by this method. Changes of colour can be secured by means of gelatine. If the director has inherited portable footlights from some previous venture, he should place them as far back from his players as possible, as described in the chapter on stage-setting. The more horizontal the ray the better. Better even than placing them on the floor is to hang them out in the audience, as in the case of cluster lamps. This may seem horrible to the seasoned professional, but it is at least the device used in art galleries, and if the back of the strip be painted an unobtrusive colour it will not bother the audience. There are many scenes from Shakespeare which may be lighted by natural means that is, by the instrumentality of the lights required in the play. The Gadshill scenes from Henry IV. use only natural light. The episodes in the tavern are played in candle-light, and the robbery scenes by lantern, with perhaps just a little diffused blue over the heads of the actors, for moon- light. The first rehearsal and the presentation of Pyramus and Thisbe may be played in candle-light the first with a couple of dips in saucer holders, the second with a brave display of candelabra arranged with true clownish ostentation. Similarly, Dogberry and Verges and their comrades play in natural light, lanterns at first, and then candles. From one point of view the whole question of lighting as applied to the playing of Shakespeare is one which need never arise. The plays were written to be played in the full light of day, and one is no worse off than Shakespeare was if he use the ordinary lights of the hall. Our advances in lighting are such, however, that it would be mere pedantry to neglect opportuni- ties for fine effects. Shakespeare would have used electricity if it had been available. A safe rule for the amateur is to err on the side of using too little light rather than too much. Low light covers a multitude 94 SHAKESPEARE of scenic and sartorial sins, as well as lending softness and mystery to the play. There are several preparations for colouring lamps, any of which may be procured from the nearest theatre electrician, who will also, for a small price, dip any bulbs brought to him. The making of lightning effects falls in the department of the electrician* They may be made by the use of chemicals or by the agency of electricity. The simplest electrical method is to connect a carbon and a file to the opposite poles of an electric circuit. If the carbon is fixed firmly and the handle of the file carefully insulated so that it may be handled, the file when rasped along the carbon will produce the effect. To guard against the escape of sparks it is well to perform the whole operation on a table over which a wire mesh is rigged tent-fashion. An even simpler, although less effective result, may be secured by flashing on and off a row of incandescent bulbs, either stained blue or covered with blue paper. An open fire may be secured in several ways. Incandescent bulbs placed in a fire-basket under broken red and white glass are suitable for small fireplaces. Lacking the broken glass a piece of chicken netting may be laid over the bulbs and dark red tissue paper pressed down over the wire. The tissue may then be gone over liberally with black paint to give a broken-up red and black surface. Flames may be simulated by breaking a hole in the tissue, fastening little ribbons of tissue to the mesh of the net- ting, and allowing an electric fan to play from below. In such case red bulbs should be used. A brazier may be lighted in the same manner as a fireplace, but with a single bulb. A piece of Japanese incense or punk laid on a metal saucer will give a trailing wreath of smoke. The covering tissue for a brazier may be of another colour than red if purely decorative effects are desired, and if a coloured bulb be allowed to throw its ray on the ascending smoke a striking effect is gained. For open camp-fire an irregular framework of several round two-inch sticks may be made and braced across with light wood. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 95 Chicken netting, fastened in a mound-like form and braced with an upright strut in the centre, forms the body for the fire. A red tissue covering and several sticks fastened on top of that make a fire which will give repeated service* For night interiors the amateur can make liberal use of candles with admirable results* The best variety is the non- drip stearic church candle^ with three holes running the entire length of the candle. These will not drop wax on costumes and furnishings. Where it is desirable to use very large candles, two feet or more in length, on floor stands, it is best to make most of the candle out of wood. A simple method is to purchase a box of night-lights, each in a little cardboard container. Secure curtain pole of the required length and diameter and wrap it with white paper, leaving an inch sticking up at the top to hold the night-light. In mediaeval processions these candles were sometimes carried in the hand without a candlestick. A safe torch for use in night scenes is that sold for proces- sions and parades. It may be made less crude in appearance by shaping a torch stick (see Figure 17), and making a hole in which the little lamp may be fastened. Better than torches for most purposes and much more decorative are lanterns carried on poles. A fourteen-inch lantern of pierced work, or a simple frame covered with tracing linen and decorated with coloured ink (see Figure 19), may be lighted with a candle in perfect safety. The staff may be borne by a man in a domino. Four of these placed at intervals around the stage gives an admirable background for a dance. Where an open light is objected to, a small electric bulb may be run from a battery contained in the lantern or carried by the bearer. These batteries can be secured at any electrical supply shop, and will last long enough for several performances. 96 SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER IX MAKE-UP FACIAL make-up deserves quite as careful consideration from the director as stage-setting, costuming or any other depart- ment connected with the production of a play. For the reason, however, that it is the last thing to be done before going on the stage, many amateurs postpone serious thought of make-up until a few minutes before the performance, and the result vexation and delay, as well as failure to produce the fine, cle; results which add so much to a production* The eyes of the spectators are almost always on the faces of the players* If the faces are smudgy, or under-painted or over-painted, the effe< will be to create a sense of irritation in the minds of the audienc which will rob the performance of half its value. Make-up is not a difficult art. The knowledge of it needec for three-fifths of the work an actor has to do can be acquire< in a couple of hours. For the remaining two-fifths more skill is necessary, and in some phases of make-up there is room for real genius. The best plan for the director of amateurs, as suggeste< in the chapter on organisation, is to teach his players how to dc their own " straight " make-up, and then, selecting some on< who shows promise as a make-up expert, put him in charge oi the whole department, with the special duty of inspecting the work of individual players and of performing the more difficult operations which the play requires. While the technique of the modern theatre is an excellent guide to the amateur, it is not to be followed blindly. The pr< fessional actor, working as he does under the high illuminatioi of hundreds of incandescent lamps, which light up his fa< from all angles, so that every natural difference of plane visible, would be featureless if he did not lay a strong make-up. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 97 The amateur, with his softer lighting, does not require the high colour and heavy marking of the professional stage * There is another reason why the professional actor cannot be imitated slavishly* Putting on the same make-up every night, he is liable to lose his sense of values and develop " make-up mania/' What was perfect at first ceases to satisfy him* It looks weak. Every few days he strengthens it, until at last his face is a veritable map of harsh, ill-blended colour. This is why chorus girls, for instance, persist in painting their cheeks flaming red, their noses sharp white and their eyelids blue, until they look like parrots* They have lost their sense of colour. The director will be foolish indeed to copy their style or to allow one of his people who may have had a slight stage experi- ence to introduce it to his dressing-rooms. On the other hand, he will be equally foolish to try and do without make-up. How- ever low his lighting, it will blanch the faces of his actors until they look like cadaverous masks, unless he use a moderate amount of pigment. There is a sound middle course for the amateur, which, if followed, will give distinction and beauty to this part of his productions at small expense of money and effort. It will be of service to give here a list of the materials used in make-up* Of course nobody ever uses them all, any more than he eats everything on a restaurant menu, but they are to be had when required. The first and largest section is made up of the " grease paints/' used for laying ground tones. They come in sticks about six inches long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter, ad are sold at a uniform price of twenty-five cents a stick. The numbers of the tints vary slightly with different makes, but the ones given below constitute virtually a standard, i Pink 7. Light Sun-burnt 2. Very Pale Juvenile 8. Dark Sunrburnt 3. Pale Juvenile 9, Sallow Young Men 4. Juvenile Hero Flesh 10. Flesh Middle Age 5. Juvenile Deeper Shade n. Sallow Old Men 6. Juvenile Robust 13. Robust Old Age jP' SHAKESPEARE 13. Olive 14. Gypsy 15. Othello Moor 1 6. Chinese 17. American Indian 1 8. Carmine 19. Negro 20. East Indian 21. Vermilion 22. White 23. Yellow 24. Brown 25. Black 26. Japanese The subtle distinctions, especially in the juvenile tones, arise out of the idiosyncrasies of actors. The amateur with two or three of the tints can, by blending, get any gradation he wishes. If he have a Very Pale Juvenile and Juvenile Robust, he can get any of the five juvenile tints* Pink is a useful standard colour for the ground tone for young women* It can be modified to any extent with rouge* Dark Sun-burnt is a valuable tint, as are Sallow Young Men, Middle Age and Sallow Old Age, with their slight parchment quality* Robust Old Age can be made from other tones, but if needed at all is worth having in a separate stick. For Shakespearean characters, so many of whom are Latins, Olive is a valuable ground tone which can be modified to secure pallor or ruddiness. The remaining colours are less frequently needed, except for blending purposes, where they are always valuable, especially the pure colours, Carmine, Vermilion, White, Yellow and Brown* The next group of " grease paints " comprises the " liners," which come in smaller sticks at fifteen cents a stick* They are as follows : 1. Pink 2. Flesh 3. Gray 4. Medium Gray 5. Dark Gray 6. Light Brown 7. Dark Brown 8. Light Blue 9. Medium Blue 10. Dark Blue ii Special Blue 12. Crimson 13. Dark Crimson 14. Vermilion 15. White 16. Yellow 17. Black 1 8 Carmine 19. Green 20. Blue-Green 21. Purple Here, also, any gradations may be secured by blending a few FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 99 of the chief tones, Black, White, Dark Blue, Dark Brown, Crimson, Yellow and Green* The next group of cosmetics is made up of the various powders used for taking the shine off the face after it has been made up with the stick colour* Sometimes the powder is mixed directly with cold cream and applied as a ground colour, but, except in expert hands, this is apt to be unsatisfactory. The powders are as follows : i. White 2. Light Pink 3 Dark Pink 4. Flesh 5, Brunette 6. Dark Brunette 7* Cream 15- 8. Juvenile Flesh 9. Healthy Old Age 10. Sun-burnt n. Sallow Old Age 12. Olive 13. Othello 14* Chinese Indian As before, only the outstanding tints are needed to meet all contingencies* A Flesh Tint, a Sun-burnt and an Olive are ample for a wide range of parts* Face powders cost twenty cents per four-ounce tin and thirty cents for a half-pound tin. In addition to the foregoing there are several materials which may be required* They are : Rouge, in dry cake form and applied with a rabbit's foot, for giving colour to cheeks* Lip Sticks, in red, pink, light pink and white* Mascaro, in dry cakes, black, light brown, brown and white* Mascaro is chiefly used for blocking out eyebrows and mustaches in order that they may be painted over, or in order that crSpe hair may be gummed .on and removed easily* The mascaro is moistened, and when rubbed on dries very quickly* It is easily removed with water* Light brown is the most generally serviceable tint* Mascaro may also be dissolved in water and used instead of grease paint for colouring arms, legs, and other exposed parts of the body* Its merit is that it washes off readily. ioo SHAKESPEARE Spirit Gum is used on all occasions where crpe hair has to be affixed to the face* It is made of gum arabic dissolved in rectified spirits, and can be compounded very easily* It is applied with a brush* Nose Putty is used for modelling noses, and costs twenty cents a tin* It may be used any number of times* Toupee Wax at the same price is preferred by some for nose modelling* Crepe Hair in black* iron grey, light grey, white, dark brown, medium brown, straw colour and red, is that material from which all false beards and mustaches are made* It comes in tightly plaited ropes by the yard* A quarter of a yard of any colour will serve for several beards* Email Noir or black enamel is used for blocking out teeth* If it is not available, black court plaster will do* Aluminium Powder, purchasable from any hardware merchant, is preferable to rice powders or talc for silvering the hair* Stumps, of leather, rolled into a thin cigar shape, are used for marking eyebrows and putting on heavy lines. Melting Pans, for melting and blending grease paints, may be made from tops of small cans with long wire handle. attached, or may be bought for ten cents each* Cold Cream for preparing the skin before making up, and foi removing paint, is essential* This is not the complexion cold cream of the ordinary drug trade, although that wil do. It is the much less expensive theatrical cold cream a fifty cents a pound* Some actors prefer Olive Oil, which is cheaper and more hygienic, as well as being easier to keep clean* Cheese Cloth for cleaning-up purposes* Towels should not be used for removing grease paint* Coarse cheese cloth has no equal as a paint remover, and it is cheap enough to be thrown away when one is done with it* The foregoing list is formidable in appearance only* A half- dosen sticks of paint, three or four liners, two boxes of powder, FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS a yard of assorted hair, a block of mascaro, a little spirit gum and a pound of cold cream will see an amateur company through a whole season if used economically* A stock should be secured and placed in the custody of the person who is to take charge of the make-up, with instructions to serve it out as needed and recover what is not used* Cut up into pieces, a stick will go a long way* The golden rule in all make-up is to find out by experiment and practice what one wants to do* and then do it with precision* To make a mistake and then seek to correct it without taking due pains* to try to paint out an error* to add new ideas at the last moment these are offences which almost invariably result in a mere dirty face* So much depends on the preliminary stages* and on the care with which each detail is performed, that we will do best to start at the very beginning* The actor puts on all his garments except the upper ones, which might hamper his movements, or get soiled* He then puts a piece of white goods over his shoulders, or, better still, a jacket made out of an old shirt* His mirror should have one or two bulbs beside it, placed in such a manner that his face is fully lighted, as it will be on the stage* The first step in rubbing up is to rub the skin lightly with cold cream or olive oil* The cream or oil should be wiped off until all shine is removed, and the face thoroughly powdered* When the surplus powder is removed with a cloth, the skin presents a fine, clean texture for the ground tone* This maybe applied directly with the stick, or, better still, worked in the palm of the left hand and applied with the fingers* In case two colours are to be blended, the left hand may be used as a palette* The heat of the hand will melt the paint* With stick or fingers, lay a thin, even ground tint, taking care that the tone is uniform throughout* Spottiness must be avoided like the plague* The ground should go on the neck, up into the roots of the hair (unless a wig is worn), behind and under the ears, on the ears, and wherever the skin is to be exposed* As soon as the ground is laidjt should be liberally powdered with a talc of the same SHAKESPEARE colour, and the surplus powder brushed off. It is well to powder after each operation in make-up, especially where a second colour is to be laid over parts of the first colour* In this way a firm surface is secured for the second process* Up to this point the steps described are the same for all characters, no matter what the tint used. The general modifications are as follows : Young Women. Take a fine stump, and load the point with lining colour black for brunettes, brown or blue-grey for blondes and carefully pencil in the eyebrows, starting the line well away from the bridge of the nose. Then, with the stump or with a toothpick, loaded with the colour, run a fine line along each upper eyelid, as near as possible to the lash. The line should be continued a quarter of an inch beyond the outer end of the eye. Then, holding the eye open and the lower eyelid steady it requires practice to avoid twitching run a fine line at the roots of the lashes. Now with the little finger, or with a piece of cheese cloth over the end of a stump, blur the eyelash lines ever so slightly so that they will not be too sharp, especially the upper eyelid line, where the lining-colour may be blended a little upon the lid, particularly towards the outer end of the eye. Do not lay a heavy coat of blue on each lid as chorus girls do. The rouge for cheek colouring is laid with a rabbit's foot or a brush. It should be brushed lightly on the cheeks, starting under the eyes and working along the cheek- bones up to the temples. This patch of colour on each side of the face should not come below the level of the base of the nose, and should blend delicately into the ground tone. Colour too low down looks hectic. Texture and life are given to the rougeing if the red parts are alternately powdered and rouged until the desired effect is secured. Care must be taken to make the rouge spots symmetrical. Pencilling the lips requires dis- cretion. The absurd pouting, baby mouth of the chorus girl should be avoided. If the person will say the vowel " u," as in 44 rub," with the lips well forward, and then apply a lip-stick to the parts which show, she will secure a satisfactory result. The FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 103 Cupid's bow of the upper lip may be accentuated ever so slightly, A touch of carmine at the inner end of each eye, just above the tear-duct, will give brilliancy and depth. If the chin is inclined to recede, it may be touched slightly with rouge. So also, if the neck is thin, it should be brought up with a few touches of the rabbit's foot. More powder evenly put on, and the surplus removed, completes the make-up. Beading eye- lashes with heated lining-colour is another chorus-girl trick which the amateur should avoid, Young Men. The lining of eyebrows and eyelashes is the same as for young women, except that the eyebrows may be firmer and longer. The rouge, or whatever red pigment is used, should be carried right down the cheek and on the neck, working well forward along the jaw, A sallow tint blended into the ground tone gives a good quality to the make-up, Elderly Women. They are chiefly differentiated from young women by having silvered hair, little or no cheek or lip colour, and a few lines in the face. The principal lines which need accentuating are the slight hollows under the eyes, and the de- pression running away from the nose* They may also have a suspicion of crow's feet. Unless a woman is to be shown in contrast to her daughter or some other younger women, as in the case of Lady Capulet and Juliet, it is best not to lay stress on her age, but merely to suggest it by silvering her hair and reducing her colour. Audiences will forgive too much comeli- ness in a woman. The method of laying lines will be discussed below under the head of " lining/' Elderly Men. The chief variation from the make-up for young men consists in the sallower ground tone, the pouches under the eyes, the lines from the nose, the crow's feet, the paler and thinner lips, and in a certain ruggedness of eyebrow, which may be produced by doing the brows with blue-grey and working them in the wrong way in order to bristle up the hair. For amateurs, the best means of indicating the various ages in men is to use beards ranging from the natural line of hair around the mouth, through Vandykes, forked beards, 104 SHAKESPEARE grilled spade-beards and grey beards to flowing white ones* These will be discussed later in the chapter* Lining. The principle underlying all modifications of the face by means of make-up is that any part painted in a lighter tone than the prevailing ground stands out in relief, while any- thing painted a darker tone than the ground appears correspond- ingly depressed* Every dark groove has its corresponding light ridge, and conversely every ridge has its groove* The make-up man has, therefore, a two-fold consideration : first, to make the depression in dark tone, and second, to model the light ridges on each side of it* Let us take in turn the commonest facial signs of advancing age and indicate the method of depict- ing each* The first lines appear about the mouth, and of these the most important is the pair of heavy grooves running from the side of the nose, around past the ends of the mouth* It will be observed that this* groove is made by the overlapping of the bulge of the cheek muscle* On the mouth side there is no embankment, as it were* The light tone, therefore, should be laid with the finger just along the edge of the overhanging cheek, to make it stand out in strong relief* This light strip is blended back into the general cheek tone* The line itself is then laid in, in dark grey, black, brown or blue, according to the complexion of the person* Dark grey or blue-grey is best for old men* This line should be about an eighth of an inch wide, and should be blurred ever so slightly on the mouth side* Now, take a clean toothpick and run it down the centre of the black line to make the actual point of the fold in the flesh* This line, it will be observed, does not run as far as the chin. Just below the mouth it sweeps back and joins a line which runs up from the chin and dies away in the cheek on a level with the base of the nose* The next step is to put in this line in the same way as before, remembering, however, that it has two ridges flanking it instead of one* In effect, the lower ridge of the cheek is made by a strap-like muscle running down from the side of the nose* In elderly persons this strap is well marked, and should be made to stand out in relief* Just behind this muscle FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 105 is a triangular space, bounded by the muscle, the jaw-bone and the cheek-bone. This space sinks with old age, and may be indicated by means of a grey triangular patch, well blended at the edges. When this area is marked, the jaw-bone and cheek- bone should be brought up by means of the light tint* The next outstanding qualities of an ageing face are the pouches under the eyes. It will be noticed that the lower eyelid, near the lash, is puffy and may be done in a light tone. Below this again is a groove, starting near the tear-duct and sweeping round to near the end of the eye. This must be marked in a dark tone. Still further down is the crescent-shaped pouch usually identified with kidney trouble. Its upper margin is the groove just re- ferred to ; its lower margin a definite line whose lowest point is an inch below the eyelid. The pouch should be indicated by a very light tone, and the line should be well marked in dark. Now come the crow's feet. These are easily found by screwing the face up side wise. The alternate lines and ridges must be treated in dark and light respectively. Here, as before, it is best to put in the light tone first. If the dark go first it will be smudged. All dark lines should be scored with the clean tooth- pick to give the actual crease. The first important mark on the forehead is the sharp vertical line running up from one of the eyebrows, usually the right one. Sometimes there are two of these. Forehead lines are difficult to put in without smudging, and should be used sparingly. The first ones come down and end between the brows, the remainder run right across, with a slight dip at the centre. The foregoing are the salient features in middle age and early old age. It will be seen that so far the ridges have been supported by muscles. In extreme old age the muscles cease to support the ridges, and the high parts of the face are the bones, which must be treated as high lights, while the depressions between them are marked in dark tones. The chin stands out prominently, and also the ridge of the jaw-bone, while the skin over the teeth falls away. A slight depression at the temples is also characteristic of old age. The foregoing are general outlines for ageing the face. From 106 SHAKESPEARE all of them the amateur must select only those which are needed* It is better to suggest old age than to paint it realistically* Where beards are used* only the lines of the upper face are required, and if the beard is convincing* these need only be suggested* Beards. The laying of beards may be made a fine art* There are two general methods of work, both of which are used as occasion demands* The first may be designated the " long hair " method* The crepe hair. should be stretched out without breaking it, cut into the lengths desired and moistened some time in advance of use. When the hair is dry it will be found that the crinkles have disappeared* The hair should be taken in small bundles and combed out* The first step in making up the beard is to gum a thin fringe to the throat from ear to ear* Then a circular bunch should be affixed to the point of the chin* Following this, a tuft should be put on the lower lip. Next come the long fringes which cover the cheek from mouth to ear* These fringes should run well up to the cheek-bone. Last are the strands fastened at each side of the upper lip and flowing down past the mouth into the beard. The strands may now be gathered together in the hand and brushed and clipped into the desired shape* This is the beard for Lear or Shylock, and it cannot be made in any other way* The second method is easier and of wider use to the amateur* It produces what we may call the " matted " beard* In this case there is no need to moisten the hair* The rope of crepe hair is unravelled a short distance and shredded out with a comb into a fine fluff* This is worked and patted with the hands into the shape desired and gummed on like a mat, so that, instead of standing out, the hair trails along the face* The shape and sise of the mats vary with the need* For the bushy, spade-shaped beard, six mats are necessary* The first goes under the chin, fitting up to the throat and projecting forward like an apron a couple of inches* The second and third are shaped like a leg of mutton, the narrow end of which goes up to the hair beside the ear, and the broad part covers the cheek and jaw-bone as far as the mouth, extending two or three FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 107 inches below the jaw, where it meets the apron piece. The fourth piece goes on the chin from lip to the level of the other pieces. The fifth and sixth are the mustaches. If the beard be at all heavy it should be caught together with needle and thread and then trimmed to the desired shape. If it is necessary to part this beard in the centre, the chin piece should go on in halves, A vandyke beard is best made up in the hand like a bird's nest and then clapped on the chin. The straps of short hair up to the ears can be put on afterwards. An effective beard for a young man is made of a wisp of hair which runs along the upper lip, down past the mouth, along the jaw-bone to the centre and then up in a single tongue to the lip, A shred of hair, carried back along the jaw-bone for an inch at each side adds to the appearance of the beard. There is a wide range of scrawny small beards which the director can use with excellent effect. These should be the subject of experiment, and a scrap- book of beards should be kept for reference. Stubble may be indicated by means of a blue liner, or better, by means of chopped hair gummed on. There are three golden precepts for the maker of beards. They are : first, be sure the hair is not lumpy, but even, through- out ; second, use the least possible amount of hair, and avoid mattress effects ; third, allow the alcohol to evaporate from the face before applying the hair to the gummed area, Nose-modelling. This is a nice operation, and should only be essayed under strict necessity. The medium is nose putty or toupee wax, and the modelling should be done with the little wooden tool employed by clay-modellers. The putty is first worked up in the hand and then pressed on the nose in the desired shape. It must be put in place before the cold cream, or it will slip off. The shaping of the nose must be very deli- cately done, and melted pigment painted on with a camel's hair brush, A good nose can be used again and again with care, but making and handling it are tedious operations. There remain to be considered a few devices of special use in make-up. io8 SHAKESPEARE Aluminium powder should be used for silver or grey hair* Rice powder and talc are gritty and unpleasant afterwards* Greyness in hair first appears over the temples, then in a feathery touch or two across the front* Apply the metallic powder with a brush the very last thing before going on stage* Bushy eyebrows may be made of crepe hair, but applying a lining-stick the wrong way of the hair is better for low-lighted stages* A spot of black at the inner end of the eye gives the effect of cross-eyes* A vertical line half an inch across the centre of both eyelids gives the effect of stupidity. A snub nose may be simulated by painting a well-blended triangle of dark colour under the tip of the nose. The mouth is capable of many quaint effects. Pencilling the upper lip at the ends and carrying the line of the mouth up slightly produces a clownish effect which is sometimes valuable. Toothlessness, entire or partial, may be imitated by covering as many of the teeth as desired with black enamel or ordinary court plaster. Wigs should be used only where they are absolutely neces- sary. They are costly things and difficult to manage. For old men it is sometimes sufficient to sew crepe hair underneath the back and side of the cap. If wigs are used they should be care- fully brushed and the elastic at the back renewed or adjusted to suit the wearer. They should always be firmly gummed into place at the ears and forehead. Great care must be taken to paint bald wigs exactly the colour of the face, or to cover the join, especially at the sides. Hair which shows at the sides of the forehead must be painted out. The method of removing the make-up is important. Upper garments should be taken off, and the make-up shawl or jacket put on. The first thing off is the wig. If there is a beard, it should be removed carefully, moustache first, then the lower parts, so that they may be used again. Then rub the face with cold cream or olive oil, working it in lightly with the fingers. Take a piece of clean cheese-cloth, and folding it over the hand, FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 109 wipe the paint off with long, firm sweeps, presenting a clean portion of the cloth to the face each time. If the face is rubbed to remove the paint, it may come out in blotches. With a liberal application of grease, every vestige of the paint will come off very easily. When all has been removed, the face should be washed with soap and water, and a little talc applied. Where a number of girls are to be made up, and the director does not wish to go to the trouble of using grease paint, fairly satisfactory results can be secured by using dry pearl powder for the ground, rouge for the high colour and an eyebrow pencil for the eyes. It will wash off easily. The director will find it well to curb the vagaries of his players in the use of make-up. Youngsters should be taught early that red noses, black eyes and missing teeth are not nearly so funny as they think they are. Success in make-up comes of close and constant study of the human face. It lies within the scope of the amateur to secure the most beautiful results, far outdoing even the professional, who is only too apt in his garishly-lighted theatre to produce mechanical and lifeless effects. If the amateur will aim at clean colour and good beards he cannot go far astray. no SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER X MUSIC A SKILFUL director will make extensive use of music* For many reasons into which we need not enter here, music has been more widely developed than any other of the arts* The director of plays will find ready to his hand far more musicians than actors and stage craftsmen* Of these he should avail himself as much as possible, not only because they bring another art to bear upon dramatic presentation, but because fine music will evoke a ready interest among persons not educated to fine drama* The uses of music in connection with Shakespeare presenta- tion are manifold* The plays themselves abound in exquisite lyrics upon which generations of composers have lavished their finest art* A great part of the charm of the comedies lingers in the songs* All the gaiety and laughter in Much Ado is caught up and enshrined in " Sigh no more/' just as " O, mistress mine, where are you roaming?" is the distillation of the fragrance of Twelfth Night. These lyrics in the plays should be rendered with all the artistry which the director can put into them, but in addition to the songs there exist many choral settings of passages in the spoken text, which, with the aid of a few trained singers, can be used before, after and in the intervals of the play to give charm and wealth of atmosphere to the pro- duction* For some of the plays also, incidental music has been written, notably that of Mendelssohn for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and of German for Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing. In the chapter on organisation some of the opportunities of the musical director have been suggested* It is the purpose of this chapter to give as complete a list as possible of Shakespeare FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS in music and to offer some hints regarding the use of musical effects . The following catalogue of music has been divided into three sections. The first includes those passages in the plays which have to be sung in presentation* Sometimes these are complete songs for which several composers have provided settings. Sometimes, on the other hand, they are merely frag- ments of songs current in Shakespeare's day. In the latter case the original melody is sometimes available* The second section contains choral settings of passages in the spoken text. The third is made up of instrumental overtures and incidental music to the plays. The publication of music for Shakespeare is badly organised. There is no cpmplete collection in print, and while some of the songs have numerous settings, many have none at all. The great bulk of the available settings are published by the English house of Novello & Co. ; many may be had from G. Schirmer, while for others it is necessary to go to such books as Edward Naylor's Shakespeare and Music (see Bibliography). In the subjoined list the symbol (N.) means that the music is published by Novello & Co. ; the sign (S.) that it is in Schirmer 's list ; and the word (Naylor) that recourse must be had to the work mentioned above. In other cases the source will be given in full after the name of the song. Any music dealer can secure the music or books indicated. If it is necessary to order direct from a metropolitan house, any item listed may be had in England from Novello & Co., London ; in the United States from the H. W. Gray Company, 2 West Forty-fifth Street, who are the American agents for Novello & Co. ; and in Canada from the Nordheimer Co., of Toronto* PART I. SONGS IN THE PLAYS ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Come, thou monarch of the vine. Chorus by H. R. Bishop, three parts, mixed voices (N.). ii2 SHAKESPEARE AS YOU LIKE IT- Blow, blow, thou winter wind. Song by Dr, T. A. Arne, mezzo-soprano (N.), Song by ]. Serjeant (S.). Chorus by Dr T* A* Arne, arranged by H* R. Shelley, three parts, women's voices (S.). Chorus by H. W* Parker, four parts, men's voices (S*)* Chorus by R. J* S, Stevens, four parts, mixed voices (N.) It was a lover and his lass. Song by Dudley Buck, alto or bari- tone (S,). Song by K F, Harker, high or low (S.) Song by H. H. Huss, high or low (S) Song by Thomas Morley this is the earliest setting soprano or tenor (N,). The foregoing arranged for S*A.TB. by Sir Frederick Bridge (N,)* Chorus for mixed voices by G, A. Macfarren (N.) Chorus by C. Wood, mixed voices (N,) Duet by Edward German, S. and C* (N.). Chorus by A* P, Alderson, women's voices, S,S,S.A* (S,) Chorus by Sir Joseph Barnby, four parts, mixed voices (N.) Chorus by E, S, Engleberg, four parts, men's voices (S.)* Chorus by S. A Gibson, a cappella, T,TJ3ar,BJ3,, men's voices (S) Chorus by F, F, Harker, two parts, women's voices (S*) Chorus by JL Hudson, two parts, women's voices (S,)* Chorus by Edith Lang, three parts, women's voices (S,) Chorus by Remeau-Heale, two parts, women's voices (S,) Chorus by R, J S. Stevens, for quintet or chorus, mixed voices (N,), The foregoing also arranged for S,A.B, or S*S,A. (N.) O sweet Oliver. Sung to the tune of " The Hunt is up " (Naylor). Under the greenwood tree. Song by Dr. T* A* Arne, soprano (N*) The foregoing solo by Arne, arranged by Bishop for men's voices, AT*T*B. the A* is for male alto or counter-tenor, so much used in England, but the setting can be transposed for regular male quartet (N.) Chorus by Dr. Arne, arranged by H. R. Shelley, three parts, women's voices (S.). Chorus by H* Heale, two parts, women's voices (S.). Chorus by C Holey, two parts, women's voices (N.). Chorus by A* Richards, two parts, women's voices (N.) Chorus by C Wood, two parts, women's voices (N) Chorus by G* A* Macfarren, mixed voices FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 113 (N.) Chorus by A. W* Ogilvy, mixed voices (N.)* Chorus by J* Shaw, mixed voices (N*). Chorus by H* W. Wareing, mixed voices (N.) Chorus by Marie Wurm, four parts, women's voices (N,) Wedding is great Juno's crown. Chorus by Berthold Tours, four parts, mixed voices (N*) The same, three parts, women's voices (N.). What shall he have that killed the deer ? Solo by C, E. Lowe (N.)* Round for men probably the original setting by Hilton (Rimbault's Rounds, Canons and Catches of England). Chorus by H* R. Bishop, four parts, mixed voices (S,) Chorus by C E. Lowe (ISL), CYMBELINE Fear no more the heat o* the sun. Song by H. W. Cardew (N,) Chorus by G, A, Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N.) (Of course the text of the play specifically says that this is recited.) Hark, hark, the lark. Song by Harvey Loomis, medium (S.). Song by Franz Schubert, soprano, mezzo-soprano or alto (S.). Chorus by Franz Schubert, four parts, mixed voices (S.) The same, two parts, women's voices (S.) Chorus by B. Cooke, four parts, mixed voices (N.) The same for four parts, women's voices (N.). Chorus by F* Kiicken, four parts, mixed voices (N,). Chorus by G. A. Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N.) Chorus by E. H* Thome, three parts, women's voices (N.) HAMLET How should I your true love know i This and the four other parts of Ophelia's song have sixteenth-century settings, which are given in Naylor* Chorus by H. Balfour Gardiner, three parts, women's voices (N.)* In youth when I did love, did love. This is usually sung tune- lessly, according to the fancy of the player. Old air in English Melodies (J. M, Dent & Sons). ii4 SHAKESPEARE HENRY V. Knocks come and go. This is another of the songs usually rendered at the discretion of the comedian* HENRY VIIL Orpheus with his lute. Song by Sir Arthur Sullivan, soprano or tenor (S.). Song by Edward German (N,) Chorus by G* A, Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N.)* Chorus by Edward German, three parts, women's voices (N)* Chorus by J* L. Hatton, two parts, women's voices (N,) KING LEAR He that has and a little tiny wit. This is a stanza from When that I was and a little tiny boy, from Twelfth Night (qv) Come o'er the brook. Chorus by Sir Henry R. Bishop, four parts, mixed voices (N,) LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST When daisies pied. Song by Dr* T, A* Arne, medium or low, (N.) Chorus by G. A. Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N,). Chorus by J. Miiller, four parts, mixed voices (N.). When icicles hang by the wall. Song by Dn Arne (N,) Song by C. H, H. Parry (N.). Chorus by E. Duncan, four parts, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by G, A, Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N,) Chorus by W, W, Brooks, four parts, mixed voices (N.) Chorus by Liza Lehmann, four parts, mixed voices (N,)* Thou canst not hit it. Original melody of fragment (Naylor). MEASURE FOR MEASURE Take, O take those lips away. Song by ]. Wilson this is the earliest known setting in Bridge's collection of songs (N*) Song by Frederick Ayers, low (S.). Song by John Beach, medium (S.) Song by Frank La Forge, high or low (S.). Chorus by Max Vogrich, a cappella, four parts, mixed voices (S.). Chorus by FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 115 G. A* Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N), Chorus by S. Reay, four parts, mixed voices (N.). MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE Tell me where is fancy bred. Song by Homer N. Bartlett, low (S.). Song by S* Bellinger, high or medium (S.). Chorus by J. Stevenson, two parts, women's voices (S.)* Duet, with chorus ad lib., by B* Liitgen (N.). Chorus by A. M* Bartholomew, four parts, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by R. Knight, four parts, mixed voices (N.)* Chorus by G. A, Macfarren, four parts, mixed voices (N.) Chorus by C, Pinsuti, four parts, mixed voices (N). MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, THE To shallow rivers, to whose falls. The sixteenth-century melody to Sir Hugh's song is given in Naylor. MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, A The ousel cock so black of hue. Bottom roars this tunelessly and raucously. You spotted snakes. Chorus by Mendelssohn, four parts, women's voices (N.). Chorus by G* A. Macfarren, four parts, women's voices (N.) Chorus by R. J. S. Stevens, four parts, mixed voices (N.). The same, three parts, mixed voices (N*)* The same, three parts, women's voices (N.). Chorus by B* Liitgen, two parts, women's voices (N*)* Chorus by Georg Handel, two parts, women's voices (S.). Chorus by H. Heale, two parts, women's voices (S*) Through the house give glimmering light. Chorus by H* H. A. Beach, four parts, women's voices (S.) Chorus by F. Mendels- sohn, three parts, women's voices (N,) MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Sigh no more. Chorus by Henry Hudson, two parts, women's voices (S.) Chorus by R. ]. S. Stevens, five parts, mixed voices, (N.). The same, three parts, mixed voices (N.)* The same, three parts, women's voices (N.) Same, solo, high and low, in Fifty Shakespeare Songs (Oliver Ditson Company). n6 SHAKESPEARE OTHELLO- And let me the canakin clink. Chorus by J* B, McEwen, mixed voices (N,) The poor soul sat sighing (O, willow, willow)* Song by Pelham Humphrey in Bridge's collection (N,). Song by C H. H. Parry (R). Original tune ("The Willow Song") in Fifty Shakespeare Songs (Oliver Ditson Company)* ROMEO AND JULIET- Where griping grief. Song by Richard Edwards (1577) (Naylor). TAMING OF THE SHREW, THE- Jack boy, ho boy. Original setting (Naylor). TEMPEST, THE- Come unto these yellow sands. Song by ]. Banister, earliest known version (N.)* Song by Purcell in a collection of twelve songs (N*) The foregoing, soprano solo and mixed chorus (N.)* The same, soprano solo and three-part women's chorus (N.). Soprano solo and chorus by Sir Arthur Sullivan (N.) * Song by Frederic Ayers, medium (S.). Song by Frank La Forge, high (S.). Chorus by H, H, A. Beach, four parts, women's voices (S.) Chorus by Wm* Lester, a cappella t four parts, men's voices (S.). Flout 'em and scout 'em. Catch for three voices by Purcell (Caulfield's Collection of Shakespeare Vocal Music). Full fathom five. Song by ]. Banister (1630), in Bridge's collection (N.). Song by R. Johnson, in Bridge's collection (N*) Song by Purcell in a collection of twelve songs (N.). The foregoing, soprano solo and mixed chorus (N.). The same, soprano solo and three-part women's chorus (N.). Song by Frederic Ayers, medium (S.), Song by Noble A, Hardee, medium (S.). Chorus by John Ireland, two parts, women's voices (N.) Chorus by C, Wood, mixed voices (N,) FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 117 Honour, riches, marriage-blessing. Duet, soprano and alto, by Sir Arthur Sullivan (N,), Chorus by W. Shield, two parts, women's voices (S,). No more dams I'll make for fish. Crooned tunelessly, Where the bee sucks. Song by Pelham Humphrey (1647-74) in a book of eleven songs (N,). Song by Robert Johnson the earliest version in Bridge's collection (N,), Song by Frederic Ayers, medium (S,). Song by Sir Arthur Sullivan (N,), Song by Dr. Arne, mezzo-soprano (N,), The foregoing in two parts, women's voices (N,), Duet by H, W, Schartan, women's voices (N.). The master, the swabber, the boatswain and L Earliest known setting occurs in Naylor, (Note. A selection of unison and part songs from The Tempest, edited by R, Dunstan, is published by Novello & Co, for use in schools,) TWELFTH NIGHT Come away, come away, Death. Song by H, Drayton (N,), Song with chorus for mixed voices by Dr, Arne (N.), Trio for women's voices, by ]. Harrison (N,), Chorus by Johannes Brahms, three parts, women's voices (N,), Chorus by G, A, Macfarren, five parts, mixed voices (N.). O mistress mine. Original setting in Bridge's collection (N,), Song by Herbert Fryer, high or medium (S,), Song by Healey Willan, medium (S,), Song by H, Drayton (N.). Song by F, E, Gladstone (N,), Song by C, H, H, Parry in set of five (N,), Song by A, A, Needham (N*), Chorus by William Lester, a cappella, four parts, men's voices (S,), Chorus by G, A. Mac- farren, mixed voices (N,); Song by T. Morley in book of eleven songs (N.), The foregoing, arranged by Sir Frederick Bridge for chorus of mixed voices (N,), Chorus by H, MacCunn, mixed voices (N,), Chorus by S, P, Waddington, for mixed voices (N.). Three merry men be we. Original setting (Naylor). There dwelt a man in Babylon (Tilly vally, lady). Original setting (Naylor), n8 SHAKESPEARE Farewell, dear heart, since I must needs be gone. Original setting (Naylor). Hey, Robin, jolly Robin. Original setting (Naylor). When that I was and a little tiny boy. Chorus by H. W. Wareing, men's voices (N.). J. Vernon (eighteenth - century setting) in Fifty Shakespeare Songs (Oliver Ditson Company). TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA Who is Sylvia i Song by Franz Schubert, soprano, mezzo- soprano or alto (S.). The foregoing arranged for mixed chorus (N.). The same for three-part women's chorus (S). The same for two-part women's chorus (S.). Chorus by G. A. Macfarren, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by Edward German, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by Walter Macfarren, a cappella, four parts, men's voices (N.). WINTER'S TALE, THE Jog on the footpath way. Originally sung to Hanskin (Naylor). Chorus by C. A* Macirone, mixed voices (S.). Lawn as white as driven snow. Traditional melody edited by R. Chanter (N.). Also in Fifty Shakespeare Songs. When daffodils begin to peer. Chorus by H. W. Wareing, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by D. Redman, two parts, women's voices (N.). Will you buy any tape ? Chorus by C. A. Macirone, mixed voices (S.). Chorus by C. L. Williams, mixed voices (S.). The foregoing, four parts, men's voices (S.), In the foregoing list where it is desired to have a single person sing a song, and only a choral version is available, it will be necessary to extract the melody. In many cases several choral settings have been given for songs which in presentation are strictly solos. The reason for listing the choruses is that the director may want a setting for several voices for use as inter- lude music in the same or some other play. The following list will further serve this need. It is made up of musical settings of spoken passages. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 119 PART IL PASSAGES IN THE TEXT HENRY IV,, FIRST PART She bids you upon the wanton rushes lay you down. Chorus by L* J. Rogers, four parts, mixed voices (S.) HENRY IV., SECOND PART O sleep, O gentle sleep. Chorus by H. Leslie, four parts, mixed voices (S) LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST- // she be made of white and red. Chorus by William Lester, four parts, men's voices (S,). Chorus by Ethelbert Nevin, four parts, mixed voices (S.)* So sweet a kiss. Chorus by G, Sampson, mixed voices (N.) MERCHANT OF VENICE, THE How sweet the moonlight sleeps. Chorus by ]. G. Calcott, three parts, mixed voices (N.), The foregoing, three parts, women's voices (N), Chorus by D, E, Evans, four parts, mixed voices (N,) Chorus by H Leslie, mixed voices (N) Chorus by C. Wood, mixed voices (N), Chorus by E, Faning, eight parts, mixed voices (N.) Let me play the fool. Chorus by H, Leslie, four parts, mixed voices (N.). The foregoing, six parts, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by C, Pinsuti, four parts, men's voices (N,)* MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, A / know a bank. Chorus by C, E, Horn, two parts, women's voices (N.). Chorus by Liza Lehmann, four parts, mixed voices (N,) O happy fair. Chorus by W* Shield, three parts, mixed voices (N.)* The foregoing, three parts, women's voices (N.). The same as a glee (N,), Through the forest. Chorus by ]. B* Gattie, unison (S.) Over hill t over dale. Chorus by E, Bunnett, mixed voices (N*). Chorus by ]. L, Hatton, mixed voices (N.). Chorus by 120 SHAKESPEARE A. P* Attwater, two parts, women's voices (N,) Chorus by H. H* A* Beach, four parts, women's voices (S*) Chorus by C. H. Lloyd, two parts (N.). Chorus by R Dunstan, unison (N*)* Trip away. Song and three-part women's chorus by C. E, Horn (N.)* Chorus by C. E, Horn, three parts, women's voices (N,) (Note. A selection of vocal pieces that can be incorporated with Mendelssohn's music to A Midsummer Night's Dream is published by Novello & Co, It is edited by R. Dunstan*) PASSIONATE PILGRIM, THE Come, live with me. Song by C* Minetti, mezzo-soprano (S.)* Chorus by E. W* Hamilton, mixed voices (S), The original melody is that used by Sir Hugh for "To shallow rivers " in Merry Wives. See ante. Crabbed age and youth. Chorus by R. J, S, Stevens, mixed voices (N.). The same, men's voices (N*)* Good night, good rest. Chorus by H, R, Bishop, mixed voices (N*) Chorus by Walter Macfarren, mixed voices (N.) SONNETS As it fell upon a day. Chorus by the Earl of Mornington, mixed voices (N.) Chorus by S, Reay, mixed voices (N,) No longer mourn for me. Chorus by C. Holland, mixed voices (S*). Shall I compare thee. Chorus by J. H. Parry, mixed voices (S.) TAMING OF THE SHREW, THE * O/ whatever it be. Chorus by H, Goetz, mixed voices (S.) Should he upbraid. Song by H, R. Bishop, mezzo-soprano (N*), TEMPEST, THE If music be the food. Chorus by G. Benson, mixed voices (S.). She never told her love. Song by Josef Haydn, medium (N,) VENUS AND ADONIS Bid me discourse. Song by H. R* Bishop, soprano (N*) FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 121 PART IIL INCIDENTAL Music The director will also find the following list of piano music of value : King Lear. Overture by Hector Berlioz, solo, or four hands* Overture by Mili Balakirew, four hands (S,) Falstaff. Two interludes by Sir Edward German (Morris Dance, Shepherds* Dance and Torch Dance), solo or four hands (N*) Intermezzo by Edward German, solo or four hands (N*) Romeo and Juliet. Selection of themes by Edward German, solo (N.). Pastorale, Pavane, Nocturne by Edward German, solo or four hands (N.) Ouverture-fantaisie by Peter Tschaikov- sky, solo or four hands (S.) Selection by Charles Gounod, solo (S.). Midsummer Night's Dream, A. Overture by Felix Men- delssohn, solo or four hands (N.) Scherzo, Elfenmarsch, Lied mit Chor, Intermezzo, Notturno, Hochzeitmarsch, Marcia Funebre, Riipeltanz, Finale, by Felix Mendelssohn, for four hands (N*) Intermezzo, solo, or four hands ; Notturno, solo or four hands, Wedding March, solo or four hands, by Felix Mendelssohn (N.) Merry Wives of Windsor, The. Overture by Otto Nicolai, solo or four hands (N.) Macbeth. Tondichtung by Richard Strauss, solo or four hands. Royal Gaelic March, Introduction to Banquet Scene, by Edgar S. Kelley, solo or four hands (S.). Othello. Overture by Gioacchino Rossini, solo or four hands. Selection from the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, piano solo (SO- Much Ado About Nothing. Selection of themes by Edward German, solo or four hands (N.) Bourree and Gigue by Edward German, solo or four hands (N.) Tempest, The. Ouverture-fantaisie by Peter Tschaikovsky, solo or four hands (S.) Concert overture, " Prospero," by F. Corder, piano solo or four hands (N.). 123 SHAKESPEARE Hamlet. Ouverture-fantaisie by Peter Tschaikovsky, solo or four hands (S*)* " Hamlet and Ophelia " by Edward Macdowell, four hands (S*)* Orchestra scores for all of the foregoing are available if desired, either in parts or in conductor's score* From the latter a capable musical director should be able to make an arrange- ment for any number of strings and piano* One other department of music for Shakespearean presenta- tions remains to be mentioned, and for this the director may be referred to Mr* Naylor's priceless little volume* I refer to the tuckets, flourishes and fanfares for trumpets which are needed from time to time in the plays* Mr* Naylor prints a collection of these, as well as some specimens of drum rhythms which will be of great service* The piano is too modern in its tone and associations to suit the taste of many directors who seek an Elizabethan atmosphere* In such case a piano with a zither attachment is not difficult to secure* Failing this, the zither effect may be obtained by laying hard tissue-paper over the strings and under the hammers, or better still, by making a long bar with thin, hard leather tabs, each of which intervenes between string and hammer and vibrates when struck* With the zither attachment, a pianist with a delicate touch can reproduce the quality of a harp with such fidelity as to deceive experts* If he have the services of string and wind musicians, the director has a wide range of quaint effects at his disposal. Liberal use should be made of pizzicato for strings, especially for dance music* The wood- winds, clarinet, oboe, cor anglais and bassoon are jewels beyond price to the director, but they are not so easily come by as strings* It should be the business of the musical director to build up by degrees a library of song settings, incidental music and frag- ments of melodies which can be used incidentally or for dances. In so far as possible, too well-known music, unless, as in the case of Mendelssohn's music, where it is associated traditionally with FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 123 the play, should be tabu. Familiar themes will do more to ruin the atmosphere of a dramatic production by arousing other associations than any other distraction* Their place should be taken by little-known airs, preferably in unusual arrangements. The orthodox accompaniment and harmony are undesirable for dramatic cue music, especially music for comic scenes, which should abound in solo passages, capricious changes of octave and rich, boisterous nonsense. It may seem ungracious to the performers to ask it, but it is best for the musicians to be concealed from the view of the audience. Music should steal in behind the scene, instead of cutting the scene off from the auditor. 124 SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER XI THE " MATINEE LYRIQUE " WHILE it is inevitable that in a book of this sort the bulk of the space should be devoted to the technique of stage production, its field would not be covered unless it dealt with other tl strictly dramatic methods of presentation* Drama for the pi fessional is an end in itself. It is his art and his vocation. Witl the amateur it should be less an end and more a means to the appreciation of what is fine in literature. Therefore, while the professional is concerned almost exclusively with the drama, presented in the traditional way, the amateur may wit] profit widen his field, both in material and method* No bett< device for this exists than that which is being developed ii France under the name of the matinee lyrique. It is almost un- known on this continent, but its manifold uses and its extreme plasticity make it worthy of wide adoption, especially in school and colleges. The matinee lyrique is the application to literature of tl method of the oratorio, and it bears the same relation to drai as the oratorio does to opera. The nearest English parallel t< the matinee lyrique is the " reading circle," which is achieving wide popularity in England. The phrase " reading circle/' however, carries with it the idea of a study group, so I have preferred to use the French designation in spite of the fact that it would seem to limit the field to the reading of lyrical poetry. In the present chapter I wish to deal with the various fori which the matinee lyrique may take, the method of preparing programme and the detail of delivery. The distinctive quality of the matinee lyrique consists in the fact that there is in it neither stage movement nor stage business, The participants all remain on stage throughout and rei FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 135 seated while reading* They enter together and take their seats according to a quite informal arrangement on a shallow stage draped and furnished in such a manner as to suggest a room. There may be a table with a reading-lamp on it, three or four comfortable chairs, one or two settees, a piano, and perhaps for extra light a couple of candelabra judiciously placed* If the programme has been printed and distributed beforehand, there is no occasion for introduction or explanation* A reader, seated, and with his book on his lap for reference, should his memory fail him, starts to read let us say, a poem* Presently, when a second voice occurs in the text of the poem, he stops and another reads the passage for second voice* Perhaps the poem contains a dialogue for other voices, a shout, laughter, a dispute, inton- ing, a song. Other voices take it up, and when they have finished the reader resumes* At the end there is an interval, and another reader begins with a new number this time a simple lyric requiring only one voice* When he has finished there is another interval and the third number begins* Perhaps it is a poem whose atmosphere will be enriched by a musical obbligato* A faint, delicate prelude from the muted strings of violin or 'cello floats in, seemingly from nowhere, and, with the melody for background, the reader begins* Possibly he reads alone through- out : possibly he needs other voices* When the voice stops, the music goes on for .a few measures and dies away* There is another pause, and a fourth reader starts* Perhaps he has been silent until now, or perhaps he has come in as an added voice on previous readings* When he has finished, a singer rises from her seat and goes over to the piano, where she sings a fifth number, and having done so, sits down. This, let us say, con- cludes the first half of the programme. There is an interval of two or three minutes while the readers dispose themselves in slightly different arrangement for the next half. Suppose the latter be taken up with a scene from one of the Shakespeare plays. The programme in the hands of the audience tells who the characters are and who the readers* Still sitting t one of the readers, in a few words, tells the context of the scene which is ia6 SHAKESPEARE to be read, and the performers begin, giving full vocal expres- sion but without movement. Their gesture is the merest sug- gestion of stage business. The scene may be a serious one, or it may be the broadest of comedy. There is no effort to speak from memory, except that the readers are familiar enough with the text to follow it without keeping their eyes glued to the books. When the scene is concluded, the performance is at an end. All rise, and standing at their chairs, bow slightly and leave the stage in twos and threes, as simply as if they were walking out of a room. Nothing could be simpler and nothing could be more digni- fied. Nothing could be so perfectly plastic. Every type of litera- ture from a Hilaire Belloc nonsense-rhyme to a Platonic dialogue comes within the scope of a matinee lyrique, and by its agency public expression can be given to literature which cannot be presented in any other way. All of the ordinary pitfalls which beset tyro readers are avoided. They do not have to stand alone on stage ; they do not stand at all. There is no problem of what to do with hands and feet ; there is no dread of forgetting, and the difficulties of suiting voice to movement do not exist, because there is no movement. Best of all, from the view-point of the director, the matinee lyrique can be prepared in a few days and without the slightest expense. It affords an admirable training ground for readers, and is a stepping-stone to more extended dramatic work. Nor is its value limited to beginners, For a dramatic corps, giving as many performances as lie within its powers, the matinee may be an adjunct of great value both to readers and audience. The perfect aplomb permitted the readers by the peculiar style of this type of performance, as well as the opportunity for variety and interest in the numbers, makes it of unfailing interest to an audience. Our modern forms of entertainment offer far too few vehicles for the public reading of literature, an art which is being reborn with the renewed interest in poetry and printed drama. The construction of the programme is a fine art upon which the director may lavish all his skilL There are many lines along FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 127 which programming may proceed* The director may, for a single programme, choose to present an entire play, or an abridgment of one* This is especially to be commended in a school or college where a play has been prescribed for study. Admirable hints for the presentation of such a programme are to be found in Mr, A, P, Graves* introductions to the volumes in " The Shakespeare Reading Circle " series (Dent), It is for the director to decide whether he will follow the English scheme for seating the readers, or adopt a less formal one. If an entire play be too long, the director may take acts or scenes from it and thus extend it over several matinees, supplementing the dramatic section of the programme with more purely lyrical readings. He may, if it best suits his purpose, confine a single programme to one author ; he may include a school of authors, or he may devote a programme to a period in literature. He may gather from various sources a group of poems, bound together by a common theme spring, summer, autumn, winter, the seasons, nature, child-life, romance, immortality, patriotism, war, music, painting, the love of books, or the wist- ful retrospects like Villon's Ballade of Dead Ladies in the exquisite Rossetti translation. He may take any one of the score of subjects from Shakespeare heroines, fathers, children, lovers, philosophy of life, heroism, rural England, wild life, fairies, clowns and so on without end. Whether the programme treat of a single theme or a variety of themes, the aim should be to make it a harmonious, unified whole, which will leave a vivid impression with an audience. The separation of the voices in a play presents no difficulties. When it comes to dividing up a lyric for two or more voices or providing a musical background, certain problems arise which can best be dealt with by means of examples. For greater clarity I shall take one of Browning's best known dramatic lyrics. A Toccata of Galuppi's is an excellent poem for a matinee lyrique. The poem, which is a trifle intricate for a listener when read by a single voice, gains marvellously when divided. If there is no note in the printed programme, the reader should ia8 SHAKESPEARE preface the poem with a statement that it represents the reflec- tions of the poet as he listens to a stately old piece of music by the Italian musician and composer, Baldassare Galuppi, When the preface is ended, the person at the piano may begin very softly to play the extant toccata from which Browning probably derived the idea for his poem* The piano background may be very gentle and unobtrusive, a mere suggestion* It is preferable that the audience should be conscious of the pulsation of the music, rather than that they should hear the full detail. After a few bars have been played, the reader begins : Reader. Oh, Galuppi, Baldassare, this is very sad to find ! I can hardly misconceive you ; that would prove me deaf and blind ; But although I take your meaning, 'tis with such a heavy mind. Here you come with your old music, and here's all the good it brings. What, they lived once thus in Venice, where the merchants were the kings, Where St. Mark's is, where the Doges used to wed the sea with rings t Ay, because the sea's the street there, and 'tis arched by . * . what you call . , * Shylock's bridge with houses on it, where they kept the carnival : I was never out of England it's as if I saw it all. Did young people take their pleasure when the sea was warm in May < Balls and masks begun at midnight, burning ever to midday, When they made up fresh adventures for the morrow, do you say 4 Was a lady such a lady, cheeks so round and lips so red, On her neck the small face buoyant, like a bell-flower on its bed, O'er the breast's superb abundance, where a man might base his head < Well, and it was graceful of them they'd break talk off and afford She to bite her mask's black velvet he, to finger on his sword, While you sat and played Toccatas, stately at the clavichord. What t Those lesser thirds so plaintive, sixths diminished, sigh on sigh, Told them something 1 Those suspensions, those solutions A man. " Must we die t " Reader. Those commiserating sevenths A woman. " Life might last ! we can but try ! ' ' A man. ** Were you happy t " A woman. " Yes," A man. " And are you still as happy t " A woman. ** Yes, and you t " A man. 4t Then more kisses ! " A woman. " Did / stop them, when a million seemed so few t " FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 129 Reader. Hark, the dominant's persistence till it must be answered to ! (The ending of the music should be timed to coincide with the next line.) So, an octave struck the answer. Oh, they praised you, I dare say I A third man. " Brave Galuppi ! that was music ! " A fourth. " Good alike at grave and gay ! " A second woman. " I can always leave off talking when I hear a master play ! " Reader. Then they left you for their pleasure : till in due time, one by one, Some with lives that came to nothing, some with deeds as well undone, Death stepped tacitly and took them where they never see the sun. But when I sit down to reason, think to take my stand nor swerve While I triumph o'er a secret wrung from nature's close reserve, In you come with your cold music till I creep through every nerve, Yes, you, like a ghostly cricket, creaking where a house was burned : (The music resumes and the voice of the next speaker falls sympathetic- ally into its rhythm.) A fifth man. " Dust and ashes, dead and done with, Venice spent what Venice earned. The soul, doubtless, is immortal where a soul can be discerned. 44 Yours for instance : you know physics, something of geology, Mathematics are your pastime ; souls shall rise in their degree ; Butterflies may dread extinction you'll not die, it cannot be i 44 As for Venice and her people, merely born to bloom and drop, Here on earth they bore their fruitage, mirth and folly were the crop : What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop t 44 Dust and ashes ! " Reader. So you creak it, and I want the heart to scold. Dear dead women, with such hair, too what's become of all that gold Used to hang and brush their bosoms t I feel chilly and grown old. (The music runs on for a few measures t or to the end of the passage, and dies away.) Keats's La Belle Dame Sans Merci is another poem which lends itself to a division of the voices. Skilful readers can put a world of witchery and enchantment to the ballad if they make the most of the subtle rhythms* First voice. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering i* The sedge is withered from the lake, And no birds sing. ijo SHAKESPEARE what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, So haggard and so woe-begone { The squirrel's granary is full, And the harvest's done* 1 see a lily on thy brow With anguish moist and fever dew, And on thy cheeks a fading rose Fast withereth too. Second voice. I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful a faery's child ; Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild, I made a garland for her head, And bracelets too, and fragrant zone ; She looked at me as she did love, And made sweet moan. I set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long. For sidelong would she bend, and sing A faery's song. She found me roots of relish sweet, And honey wild, and manna dew, And sure in language strange she said Woman's voice. " I love thee true." Second voice. She took me to her elfin grot, And there she wept and sighed full sore, And there I shut her wild, wild eyes With kisses four. And there she lulled me asleep. And there I dreamed Ah I woe betide The latest dream I ever dreamed On the cold hill's side. Several men. Second voice. I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all ; They cried 44 La Belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee in thrall ! " I saw their starved lips in the gloom, With horrid warning gaped wide And I awoke and found me here, On the cold hill's side. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 131 And this is why I sojourn here, Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is withered from the lake, And no birds sing. Judgment must be used in the division of a poem* A short speech containing within it the words " he said " cannot be rendered effectively if the " he said " has to pass back to the reader. Nor can it be said satisfactorily by the person reciting the quoted passage* The director should avoid fantastic and unnecessary division, and make it a rule only to distribute a poem among several voices when the change in vocal timbre is needed to make the passage more easily intelligible to the audience. No effort should be made to render it apparent which per- former is reading. It is not essential that the audience should know. It is sufficient for them, listening to A Toccata, for instance, if the lovers be side by side and some distance from the reader ; if the applauding voices come from various parts of the stage, and if the voice which expresses Galuppi's philo- sophy be near the piano. The poem must be considered as an artistic unit, however much divided. The tossing of words to and fro should not obscure the metre of a line. The passage : " Were you happy t Yes. And are you still as happy t Yes. And you i " must possess the same cadence and tempo as if the reader delivered it. Another striking method of presenting a poem is to have several persons read in unison. This is especially suited to poems with a choric quality, such as Professor Gilbert Murray's translations from the Greek dramatists, or the songs inter- spersed in such a work as Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon. Reading in unison requires considerable practice. The readers should be drilled to agree perfectly in intonation and inflection. If it is done well the effect is powerful, but unless it can be well done it should not be attempted. A word with regard to setting the stage. If a complete arras is not available, one or two tapestry-like hangings should be affixed i 3 2 SHAKESPEARE at the back to " loft " the design* They may be used as screens for entrances or simply as decoration* The chairs used should be comfortable something approximating the tall William and Mary chair is best* A heavily cushioned easy-chair, into which the body sinks deeply, is hard to read from* The settees should be of similar design to the chairs* The table lamp* used for decoration as well as light* should be of generous design and proportion ; a candelabrum will do, and other candelabra may be placed on bookcases, high stands, or brackets on the wall* The director should have as many as possible of the readers facing the audience squarely, avoiding, however, a stiff, artificial effect* It is best, where an upright piano is used, to place it three-quarters away from the audience, where it will screen the player, or to place it off the stage altogether* He cannot very well play in an easy-chair, and most piano seats will not permit him to give the appearance of comfort* If he rise from a chair and go to the piano just before a number in which he is needed, he will attract too great attention to the piano* It is best to keep String or wind instruments off stage altogether* The music used in the matinee lyrique should possess a subjective quality, which is impossible if the player be too much in evidence. The readers are under no necessity to sit rigid throughout the performance* They should seek easy positions at the begin- ning, and assume as complete repose as possible* Quick, fidgety movements should be avoided* If movement be necessary, it should be slow and deliberate* The director must school his readers to avoid a general shifting of position at the end of each number* Unoccupied persons should watch the reader not stare at him, but display something of the interest which is expected of the audience* If there be some readers whose legs are too short to permit their feet to touch the ground, and such a thing is not uncommon even with grown-up women, footstools should be provided* Nothing looks more absurd than to see a small person perched on a high chair, trying to look comfortable. If any of the chairs have no arms, they should be placed near a table or FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 133 at the end of a settee, so that the occupants may have at least one arm-rest* The lighting, while enough to permit the readers to see clearly, should be low* There is no necessity to let the audiences see every detail of the faces of the readers* The voices should come out of the group, and not too obviously from persons well known to the audience. In the case of grown-ups, the costumes should be suited to the hour of the day afternoon or evening ; in the case of younger readers, dark suits for the boys and 44 party " frocks for the girls, A printed programme is a great advantage. If the cost of actual printing be too great, the programme can be run off on some sort of multigraph machine, at small expense. The pro- gramme should contain, for each number, the name of the author, the title of the selection and the names of the readers in the order of their participation. If a note be necessary it should be printed below in narrow measure : BROWNING, ROBERT. A TOCCATA OF GALUPPI'S MR. YONGE, MR. DOWLING, Miss NEVILLE, MR. BATHURST, MR. MUNRO, Miss WITHROW, MR. MAJOR. Miss HARBORD at the piano, (The poet, listening to a toccata by Baldassare Galuppi, an almost forgotten Venetian composer, conjures up the Venice of Galuppi's day, with all its beauty and folly. Did these careless pleasure-seekers ever realise that their gaiety would perish in a day, and that the memory of the grave musician who ministered to them would be the only living thing after a few hundred years f* Galuppi had survived in his music, but what had become of those others ?) If a printed programme is not practicable, each reader may make his own announcement, where one is needed. Failing this, there may be a choragus who will make any necessary announcements regarding the poem. The names of the readers should go by default. The choragus should not (in the case of a school) be a teacher. It is far better for no teacher to appear on 134 SHAKESPEARE stage at all. Such a thing is bound to give the reading corps the appearance of a troupe of trained animals. A matinee lyrique programme should not be long, never more than an hour and a half, and preferably not more than an hour. For this reason it is best suited to the late afternoon. It gains greatly by being given from four to five, when the gray twilight coming in at the window gives away gradually to the warm lights of the stage. This hour is for most persons a " loose end " of the day, and they are better able to appreciate fine literature before dinner than after it. Since there is no problem of expense, there need be no problem of revenue. Admittance to such performances may be by invitation, or upon payment of a small fee for a course of five or six, occurring periodically throughout the season, or given weekly in such a season as Lent. The sise of the audience depends almost entirely upon the skill of the director and his readers, the former for his programme and the latter for their ability to render it. Popular opinion to the contrary notwith- standing, there is no instinctive hatred in the human breast for all poetry, but only for stupid poetry. It is true that bad methods of teaching have left deep marks, upon most of us, but fine, vivid poetry, intelligently and sympathetically read, will soon build up its own audience. If the first efforts prove successful, the director will do well to issue a programme of a season's work, choosing with as great catholicity as possible, and making it a part of his duty to give a hearing to the newer poets. In the fall of the year many people make plans for a useful winter, and a comprehensive syllabus, issued then, will gain adherents who would never be drawn later in the season by a notice of an isolated performance. Not only will the corps gain, by this means, a steady audience, but it will commit itself to certain obligations. It is only in the effort to live up to obligations that we get anything done in this world. " Promise and fulfil " is the law of growth. Let me conclude with a word of warning. Do not allow the matinee lyrique to degenerate into an old-style concert. Maintain FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 135 its dignity and distinction. Forbid encores and abolish applause during the performance if you can* Give a little less than people want rather than a little more. Establish your vehicle of expres- sion and keep to it. Adapt the matinee lyrique to your special needs, use it wisely and with patience, and it will repay you amply as a means of making the finest literature a living thing both for readers and auditors. 136 SHAKESPEARE CHAPTER XII BIBLIOGRAPHY JUST as soon as a person turns from the study of Shakespeare as pure literature to the consideration of the dramas with refer- ence to presentation, a new world opens up for him* Abstrac- tions become realities, and hitherto dry details take on life* With the change of point of view comes the need for a new type of commentary. At present this department is woefully inad- equate. One may, by burrowing, unearth a mass of information regarding the Shakespearean productions of the older actors, and something of their playing traditions, but Shakespeare in terms of the newer art is an all but untouched field, Mr, Craig, Mr, Poel, Mr, Figgis and one or two others have contributed essays, and a search through magazine indices will reveal a few isolated articles. Of antiquarian and historical books on the Elizabethan stage there are many, but the two or three listed below are comprehensive and will meet all the needs of the producer, In the following critical bibliography, I have endeavoured to list a few volumes which will bear on the subject from various sides. Some of them have to do with the theory and method of the new theatre, some have to do with the Shakespearean method, and others are valuable handbooks on music, dress, voice and make-up. The list might be expanded to twice its present size, but without any substantial gain to the director, BOOKS ON THE NEW ART OF THE THEATRE On the Art of the Theatre, by Edward Gordon Craig (8vo, pp, xix-296, illus, William Heinemann, London, 1912), Made up chiefly of articles published in " The Mask/' FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 137 and in the little dialogue " The Art of the Theatre/' These essays, while not " practical " in the usual sense of the word, are the most fertile and suggestive essays of modern times on the subject of the theatre, and most of the new work is traceable to their influence* Towards a New Theatre, by Edward Gordon Craig (410, pp* xvi- * 90* J* M* Dent & Sons, London, 1913)* This magnificent volume is composed entirely of Craig's designs for scenery, each with descriptive letterpress* The Theatre of To-day, by Hiram Kelly Moderwell (8vo, pp-^22, illus* John Lane, New York, 1915)* Mr, Moderwell's is the most complete and concise, as well as being the most readable, of all the books on the modern trend in the theatre. He has combined rare journalistic ability with keen discriminative sense. He gives the fullest extant description of methods of work in Europe* The New Spirit in Drama and Art, by Huntly Carter (large 8vo, pp* x-2yo, illus* Mitchell Kennerley, New York, 1913). Mr* Carter has described with great spirit and insight the work which is being done in drama and painting in the European centres* The volume is handsomely illustrated* The New Movement in the Theatre, by Sheldon Cheney (8vo, pp* 303, illus* Mitchell Kennerley, New York, 1914)* Eleven essays on the new work, with special reference to America* The Dramatic Festival, by Anne A* T* Craig (8vo, pp* xxviii- 363* G* P* Putnam's Sons, New York, 1912)* A discussion of the place of the festival in preparatory education* BOOKS ON ELIZABETHAN STAGECRAFT A Book for Shakespeare Plays and Pageants, by Orie Latham Hatcher (8vo, pp* x-339, illus* E. P* Button, New York, A compendious collection of " Elizabethan and Shake- 138 SHAKESPEARE spearean detail for producers, stage managers, actors, artists and students/' Dr. Hatcher's tendency is in the direction of historical pageant rather than the dramatic presentation of the plays, . Shakespeare in the Theatre, by William Poel (8vo, pp. vii-247* Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1913). Mr. Poel, founder and director of the Elizabethan Stage Society in London, has written a series of four essays on " The Stage of Shakespeare " ; ' The Plays of Shake- speare " ; " Some Stage Versions " ; and " The National Theatre/' in which the director of Shakespearean drama will find many valuable hints. Shakespeare; A Study, by Darrell Figgis (8vo, pp. 345, illus. J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1915)* In addition to a critical study of Shakespeare as a literary artist, Mr. Figgis has given a reconstruction of the Eliza- bethan stage and the original method of presenting the plays. Shakespeare's Theatre, by Ashley H. Thorndike, Ph.D., LL.D. (8vo, pp. ix-472, illus. Macmillan, New York, 1916). This is an admirable and comprehensive study of the Elizabethan theatre, with valuable chapters reconstructing the detail of production in Shakespeare's theatre. BOOKS ON DRESS English Costume, by Dion Clayton Calthrop (in four volumes, 8vo, profusely illustrated. Adam & Charles Black, London, Only the first two volumes on Early and Middle English dress are of use to the Shakespearean director, the last two dealing with Stuart and Georgian costume. Mr. Calthrop is an enthusiast on costume, and has produced a work which is almost indispensable to the producer of costume drama. FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 139 British Costume, by J, R, Planche (8vo, illus, George Bell, London), A Bonn Library volume and a standard on the subject, Dress Design, by Talbot Hughes (sm, 410, pp, 362, illus, Mac- millan, New York), An extremely handy volume, written from the point of view of the dressmaker and artist* Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs, by Constance D'Arcy Mackay (8vo, pp. viii-258. Henry Holt & Co,, New York, 1915). Miss Mackay attacks a wide field, perhaps wider than the results would justify, but she has put together a great deal of useful information, Greek Dress, by Ethel B, Abrahams, M.A, (8vo, pp, xvi-134, illus, John Murray, London, 1908). Contains a thorough description of Greek costume on both its mechanical and archaeological sides, VOICE, Music, MAKE-UP, ETC, The Art of Speaking, by Ernest Pert wee (8vo, pp, 70, illus, E, P, Button & Co,, New York, 1907), An excellent and inexpensive manual on breathing, articulation, recitation and gesture, Shakespeare and Music, by Edward W, Naylor (i2mo, pp, xl- 225* J, M, Dent & Sons, 1896), Mr, Naylor goes into the musical allusions throughout the plays, and in an appendix gives the melodies for a number of songs and dances, and also trumpet calls, other- wise hard to obtain, The Art of Theatrical Make-up, by Cavendish Morton (4to, pp. x-i37, illus, with photos, Adam & Charles Black, London, 1909), Mr, Morton has produced less a handbook than an exploitation of his own skill. Two small chapters exhaust the general instructions. The rest is taken up with pictures^ ' 140 SHAKESPEARE of Mr* Morton in some interesting characterisations and a few words on the detail of each* MAGAZINES The Mask (published quarterly at the Arena Goldoni, Florence)* The Mask is chiefly devoted to the exposition of Mr* Edward Gordon Craig's theories regarding the theatre* The Drama (published quarterly at Chicago)* Within the few years of its existence The Drama has published some notable articles on the theory of producing, including some excellent ones on the Elizabethan method of presenting Shakespeare* The Theatre Arts Magazine. Edited by Sheldon Cheney and published quarterly in Detroit, Mich* The first number of this magazine was issued in 1917, and it has developed into the most important periodical devoted to the new stagecraft* BOOKS ON COMMUNITY PLAYING Practical Stage Directing for Amateurs, by Emerson Taylor* Mr* Taylor's little book, as its name would indicate, is devoted chiefly to the problems of the stage director in the management of players, conduct of rehearsals, etc* It is an admirable essay, and will repay study a thousandfold* The Amateur Actor's Companion, by Violet M* Methley (8vo, pp* 1 80, illus* Mills & Boon, London, 1915). This is a " private theatricals " book which might have been written sixty years ago, so far as methods and ideals are concerned* One can scarcely conceive of its being written in 191 5* FOR COMMUNITY PLAYERS 141 BOOKS ON DANCING AND DANCE Music The Guild of Play Series, by Mrs* G. T. Kimmins, with dances arranged by M. H. Woolnoth (four parts of about sixty- four pages each, profusely illustrated. J. Curwen, London, 1907), These books constitute one of the leading guides to the staging of pageant and festival dance* The first two parts deal specifically with festival and dance, the third with national dances, and the fourth is devoted to dances for quite little children, Songs from the Plays of William Shakespeare, with Dances, as sung and danced by the Bermondsey Guild of Play, with inciden- tal music, written and compiled by Mrs. G. T. Kimmins (small 4to, half cloth, pp. 117, illus. Novello, London). An extension of the work described in the preceding item. The Country Dance Book, described by Cecil J. Sharp and George Butterworth (in four parts, 8vo, wrappers, about eighty pages each. Novello, London, 1916). These four books, dealing especially with the folk dances of England, have been prepared by the most distinguished exponent of the dance revival, and contain in all about one hundred and twenty dances described in a simple notation. The music for the dances is contained in the succeeding yitem. Country Dance Tunes, collected from traditional sources and arranged with pianoforte accompaniment (eight sets. Novello, London). These eight sets of tunes are issued in connection with the four parts of The Country Dance Book. The dances in Part I. of the latter are to the tunes in Sets I. and II. of Country Dance Tunes ; the dances in Part II. to the tunes in Sets III. and IV. ; the dances in Part III. to the tunes in Sets V. and VI. ; and the dances in Part IV. to the tunes in Sets VII. and VIII. 142 SHAKESPEARE In addition to the foregoing, Novello & Co* publish an extensive series of books on dances, dance music, folk-songs and singing games, which will be of great service to the director of Shakespeare plays* A series of country dances, with music and dance notation, is now issued in separate leaflet form, and may be had for sixpence in England or ten cents in America* A catalogue of the dance publications may be had upon request* >CTCH WORTH ENGLAND 14 TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. LD 21A-50m-ll '62 (D3279slO)476B .General Library University of California Berkeley UNIVERS1TY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY