I should not deem it part of the purpose of this paper to mention scenic matters at all, were it not that, very often, a certain amount of scenery, like a certain amount of lighting equipment, “goes with the building”. The contract for the building and its rigging often specifies also a “garden”, “plain chamber number one”, and “fancy parlor number three”, or the like. Whether they are thrown in or not, without extra charge, they should be courteously but firmly refused. They stunt the timid imagination, and somehow, perhaps because they are “real” scenery, never get thrown away.
For the scenic equipment of the stage I can do nothing better than refer the reader to the permanent setting devised by Sam Hume for the Detroit Arts and Crafts Theatre, of which he was for two seasons the director. This setting consists of a certain number of interchangeable units, flats, door pieces, window pieces, arches, and pylons.[6] Its initial cost is low, far lower than that of several sets out of the scene painter’s catalogue, and its usefulness infinitely greater. In addition to this it has beauty.
[6] Mr. Sheldon Cheney in his The Art Theatre has fully described and illustrated this set, showing the multiple variations it is capable of.
It may be that the stage of the future is to be something quite different than that we now have. As a theatre of truth supplants the theatre of illusion, it may be found that the stage of to-day does not answer at all. The theatre is undoubtedly in a transitional period and artists are striving for new forms and new methods of presentation. What directions these tendencies may take it is not the purpose of this paper to forecast. Nor would it do to advise the adoption of a type of stage not yet tested or of widespread use. Where there is an experimental and creative attitude toward the theatre such types will be evolved without any such rudimentary manual as this. Where a manual is wanted, a stage should be built that can be used easily, by everybody who wishes to use it, and which will give readily, in return for effort spent upon it, a revenue of beauty. These pages will achieve enough if they go a little way toward eliminating the usual inept, difficult constructions that for these many years have cumbered the way of folks, young and old, who wish to entertain themselves in the theatre. More and more, they seek such entertainment at their own hands. More and more, their efforts are being fostered by educational bodies and organizations allied with the theatre. Such aid as this pamphlet may bring them is hopefully dedicated to their service.
A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
Martin Hammitzsch, Der Moderne Theaterbau (Teil I). Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1905. (This is perhaps the best book on the historical aspect, although only the first volume has so far appeared.)
Edwin O. Sachs and E. A. Woodward, Modern Opera Houses and Theatres. 3 volumes. London: B. T. Batsford. 1896-98.
(This monumental and very useful series is generally considered the standard descriptive and technical work, but is now somewhat out of date.)
Edwin O. Sachs, Stage Construction. London: B. T. Batsford, 1898.
(A supplement to the above.)