| Aldrich, T.B. | Pauline Pavlovna |
| Baring, M. | Diminutive Dramas |
| Butler, E.P. | The Revolt |
| Cannan, G. | Everybody's Husband |
| Dunsany, Lord | Tents of the Arabs |
| The Lost Silk Hat | |
| Fame and the Poet | |
| Fenn and Pryce. | 'Op-o-Me-Thumb |
| Gale, Z. | Neighbors |
| Gerstenberg, A. | Overtones |
| Gibson, W. W. | Plays in Collected Works |
| Gregory, Lady. | Spreading the News |
| The Workhouse Ward | |
| Coats, etc. | |
| Houghton, S. | The Dear Departed |
| Jones, H. A. | Her Tongue |
| Kreymborg, A. | Mannikin and Minnikin |
| Moeller, P. | Pokey |
| Quintero, J. and S.A. | A Sunny Morning |
| Rice, C. | The Immortal Lure |
| Stevens, T.W. | Ryland |
| Sudermann, H. | The Far-Away Princess |
| Tchekoff, A. | A Marriage Proposal |
| Torrence, R. | The Rider of Dreams |
| Walker, S. | Never-the-Less |
| Yeats, W.B. | Cathleen Ni Houlihan |
Producing Plays. Any class or organization which has followed the various forms of dramatics outlined thus far in this chapter will find it an easy matter to succeed in the production of a play before an audience.
The Play. The first thing to decide upon is the play itself. This choice should be made as far in advance of performance as is possible. Most of the work of producing a play is in adequate preparation. Up to this time audiences have been members of the class, or small groups with kindly dispositions and forbearing sympathies. A general audience is more critical. It will be led to like or dislike according to the degree its interest is aroused and held. It will be friendly, but more exacting. The suitability of the play for the audience must be regarded. A comedy by Shakespeare which delights and impresses both performers and audience is much more stimulating and educating than a Greek tragedy which bores them.
The Stage. The second determining factor is the stage. What is its size? What is its equipment? Some plays require large stages; others fit smaller ones better. A large stage may be made small, but it is impossible to stretch a small one.
Equipment for a school stage need not be elaborate. Artistic ingenuity will do more than reckless expenditure. The simplest devices can be made to produce the best effects. The lighting system should admit of easy modification. For example, it should be possible to place lights in various positions for different effects. It should be possible to get much illumination or little.
Scenery. No scenery should be built when the stage is first erected. If a regular scene painter furnishes the conventional exterior, interior, and woodland scenery, the stage equipment is almost ruined for all time. It is ridiculous that a lecturer, a musician, a school principal, and a student speaker, should appear before audiences in the same scenery representing a park or an elaborate drawing-room. The first furnishings for a stage should be a set of beautiful draped curtains. These can be used, not only for such undramatic purposes as those just listed, but for a great many plays as well.
No scenery should be provided until the first play is to be presented. Certain plays can be adequately acted before screens arranged differently and colored differently for changes. When scenery must be built it should be strongly built as professional scenery is. It should also be planned for future possible manipulation. Every director of school dramatics knows the delight of utilizing the same material over and over again. Here is one instance. An interior set, neutral in tones and with no marked characteristics of style and period, was built to serve in Acts I and V of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Hangings, furniture, costumes gave it the proper appearance. Later it was used in Ulysses. It has also housed Molière's Doctor in Spite of Himself (Le Medecin Malgré Lui) and The Wealthy Upstart (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme), Carrion and Aza's Zaragüeta, Sudermann's The Far-Away Princess, Houghton's The Dear Departed. The wooden frames on the rear side were painted black, the canvas panels tan, to serve in Twelfth Night for the drinking scene, Act II, scene 3. With Greek shields upon the walls it later pictured the first scene of The Comedy of Errors. With colorful border designs attached and oriental furniture it set a Chinese play.
A definite series of dimensions should be decided upon, and all scenery should be built in relation to units of these sizes. As a result of this, combinations otherwise impossible can be made. Beginners should avoid putting anything permanent upon a stage. The best stage is merely space upon which beautiful pictures may be produced. Beware of adopting much lauded "new features" such as cycloramas, horizonts, until you are assured you need them and can actually use them. In most cases it is wise to consult some one with experience.
In considering plays for presentation you will have to think of whether your performers and your stage will permit of convincing production. Remembering that suggestion is often better than realism, and knowing that beautiful curtains and colored screens are more delightful to gaze upon than cheap-looking canvas and paint, and knowing that action and costume produce telling effects, decide what the stage would have to do for the following scenes.
EXERCISES