Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants

by James H. Head

The Tableaux Vivants may be new to many of our readers, although they have been produced and have been quite popular in Europe, and to some extent in this country. For public or private entertainment, there is nothing which is so interesting and instructive as the tableau. The person most fitted to take charge of a tableau-company is one who is expert at drawing and painting: any one who can paint a fine picture can produce a good tableau.

The individual who makes all of the necessary arrangements for a series of tableaux is generally called the stage manager. His first work is to select a programme of tableaux; and in this list there should be a variety of designs, comprising the grave, the comic, and the beautiful. A manuscript should be used in which to write the names of the tableaux, directions for forming each, the names of the performers, the parts which they personate, the styles of the costumes, and the quantity and kind of scenery and furniture used in each design.

The following diagram will illustrate the manner in which the manuscript should be arranged:—

After the manuscript is completed, it will be necessary to select the company and assign the parts. The number of persons required in a first-class tableau-company is forty. It will be necessary to have that number to produce large pictures; fifteen or twenty-five persons will be sufficient for smaller representations. In forming the company, the following persons should be selected: six young ladies, of good form and features, varying in styles and sizes; six young gentlemen, of good figure, and of various heights; two small misses; two small lads; two gentlemen for stage assistants; one painter, one joiner, one lady's wardrobe attendant, one gentleman's wardrobe attendant, one curtain attendant, one announcer. If a large piece is to be performed, such as the Reception of Queen Victoria, it will be necessary to have fifteen or twenty young gentlemen, varying from four to five feet in height, to personate military and other figures. Each person should have written instructions in regard to the scenes in which they take a part, giving full descriptions of the costumes, position, expression, and character which they are to personate; after which they should meet in a large room, and go through a private rehearsal. It will be necessary, previously to appearing before the public, to have three rehearsals—two private ones, and one dress rehearsal on the stage. It will be well to have a few friends witness the dress rehearsal, which will give confidence to the performers, previous to their dêbut before a large audience. As soon as the company has been organized, and each performer has received his several programmes, it will be the duty of the stage manager to see that the various branches of the profession are progressing in unison with the rehearsals. Each tableau should be carefully examined, and a list of the machinery, scenery, wardrobe, and furniture of each piece noted down, and competent persons immediately set to work on their completion. The selection of appropriate music, the drafting and erecting of the stage, and many other minor matters, should all be completed, before the tableaux can be produced.

But before proceeding farther, we will give directions in reference to the size and formation of the stage. It should be strongly framed of joist, and covered with smooth boards, and placed at the end of the hall, at equal distances between the side walls. It should be twelve feet square, and six feet in height. The front of the stage should be made to represent a large picture frame; it can be easily made of boards ten inches wide, fastened together in a bevelled manner, and covered with buff cambric, ornamented with gold paper. Oval frames are frequently used, but they are not so easy to arrange and manage as a square frame. Cover the floor of the stage with a dark woollen carpet, drape the ceiling with light blue cambric, the background with black cambric; the sides should be arranged in the same style as the side scenes of a theatrical stage. Stout frames of wood, two feet wide, reaching to the ceiling, and covered with black cambric, should be placed on the extreme edge of the stage, in such a manner that lamps from the ante-rooms will throw a light upon the stage and not be seen by the audience. Make the drop-curtain of stout blue cambric; fasten a slim piece of wood at the top and the bottom; and, at intervals of one foot on both of the poles, fasten loops of thick leather, containing iron rings one inch in diameter, and between the bottom and top rings, at intervals of one foot, fasten small brass rings; these should be attached to the cambric on the inside of the curtain; then fasten the top pole to the inside of the top of the frame, and attach strong lines to the bottom rings; pass the cords through the brass rings and the iron rings at the top; then gather them together, and pass them through a ship's block fastened in the ante-room. As the lines will be quite likely to run off of the wheel, a piece of hard wood, with a circle at one end, fastened on the inside of the frame, will answer a better purpose for the cords to pass through. After passing them over the block, tie them together, and the curtain will be ready for use. When the ropes are drawn, the curtain will rise up in folds to the top of the frame. The floor of the stage should be built out on the front twelve inches, for the placing of a row of gas-burners with tin reflectors, painted black on the outside; this row of lights should be furnished with a stopcock, which can be placed in the gentleman's dressing-room. A row of strong lights should also be placed on each side of the stage, within three feet of the ceiling; these also should have reflectors and separate stopcocks, for the purpose of casting the proper lights and shades on the stage.

The Dressing-rooms are on each side, and beneath the stage. The floor of the stage should extend out on each side, making small rooms for the placing of the scenery, furniture, &c. A trap-door should be cut in the floor of each room, and flights of steps reaching down into the rooms below, which are used for dressing-rooms. A partition placed under the stage divides the ladies' from the gentlemen's room; these rooms are covered on the front with strong cloth, and decorated with flags.

A stage for tableaux in a private dwelling-house should be formed similarly to a hall stage, but so constructed that it can be put together in a few minutes. The platform should be fourteen feet square, made in three sections, so that it can be handled easily, and should rest on a frame of small joist, which can be mortised together at the corners; place the frame on four boxes, two feet square; at the corners of the platform mortise four square holes, in which insert pieces of joist which will reach to the ceiling; around the top fasten strips of board, by means of screws. Make the frame in three pieces, cover them with cambric, and fasten them to the front joist, and on the top board with long screws; arrange the curtain and scenery similar to the hall stage. The wardrobes and furniture can be furnished by the members of the company, and with a little ingenuity and taste, many suits can be gotten up with little expense. As the view of the tableaux is but momentary, the quality of the costumes will not be noticed.

For a single evening's entertainment, the following arrangement will suffice, providing there be a long entry or a large parlor, separated by folding doors. If the entry is used, let the performers form their tableaux at the lower end; and when all is ready, the audience can be called from the parlors to witness the scene. A parlor with folding doors is undoubtedly the best place, as the doors can be slowly opened, which will give a better effect to the scene. Cover the wall back of the tableaux with black shawls, place the lights on a table at one side of the picture, and hide them from the view of the audience by placing a screen of thick cloth in front of them.

In forming up a tableau, lights and shades should be studied; in fact, this is the main secret of producing effects, and by managing the lights about the stage correctly, you can throw parts of your picture in shadow, while other portions are light. Care should also be taken not to have too great a variety of colors in a picture. The showy costumes should be intermingled with those of modest appearance, and the lightest characters, as a general rule, should be placed in the background to relieve the dark ones; those in the background should be placed on platforms. If there are many figures in the piece, it will be necessary to have a number of forms, of various heights, placed in the background—in this manner all of the figures will be seen.