Fig. 1.
This theatre must be made of such a size that when it is placed at one end of a room the audience will have a good view of the fore, middle, and back ground. A good size for the stage is four feet wide and five feet long over all, the front being slightly curved, as shown at B in Fig. 3. The proscenium should be four feet wide, three feet high, and with a sight-opening three feet wide and thirty inches high.
The proscenium is made from three boards seven inches wide and seven-eighths of an inch thick. The upper corners are bevelled and mitred, so that the inner edges will be recessed, as shown in the plan drawing Fig. 3 A A. The top-rails are caught at the front to the top of the proscenium with screws, and are supported at the rear and middle by uprights, the lower ends of which are let into the sides or edge of the stage, and then made fast with glue and screws, as shown at C C C C in Fig. 3. Cross-braces at the back and middle of the top are screwed to the top-rails for strength. Bracket or brace pieces are caught at the rear of the last rail and to the rear of the last uprights midway between stage and top, and are made fast with glue and screws, as shown in Fig. 4. These will hold the framework securely in position.
Gas, electric light, or candles may be used for the footlights. If gas is employed a small pipe should run along under the front of the stage. Over this pipe a tin cornice is arranged with holes made through it every three inches. These holes should be just large enough to admit gas-jets which project through it, as shown in Fig. 5. The supply of gas can be controlled at one side by means of a key, so that the lights may be lowered or turned up full. If candles are used they should be arranged on a board, so that as they burn lower and lower the board can be raised. If electric lights are available, they are the best of all, since the danger of fire is reduced to a minimum. The small sockets, wire, and lamps used for Christmas-trees can be employed, and will give very good results.
Scenery and Equipment
After the constructional work of the stage and frame is complete, it will be necessary to make the scenery and equipment. It will be best to have two curtains, the first a fancy one which can be painted on muslin or a window-shade. Window-shades come printed with pictures on them, and these can be strengthened with oil paints diluted or thinned with benzine. A very pretty outer curtain can be made from a printed Japanese silk panel, such as are for sale in the art and dry goods-stores. This can be sewed on a plain piece of goods, and the upper end made fast to a shade-roller, as shown in Fig. 9. The main curtain may be of denim, stout muslin, or any suitable cloth or fabric. It is nailed to a round stick (a curtain-pole is preferable), which is cut at the ends as shown in Fig. 6. The draw-string is wound in this groove, and so the curtain is raised and lowered. The shade-roller curtain is the outer one, and is attached to the frame at the top, and just back of the proscenium, as shown at B in Fig. 2. The main curtain is just inside the outer one, and is made fast to a stick near the outer curtain-roller. When down, the roller rests on the stage just back of the proscenium, as shown at C in Fig. 2. When the curtain is rolled up to the top of the proscenium-opening, a few turns of cord are taken about each end of the roller in the groove. The cords then pass through screw-eyes to the back of the stage-frame, where they can be held on a small cleat. Both cords pass through the same eyes, so that the pair of strings may be operated by one hand. The drop-curtains at the back of the stage are painted on window-shades, the rollers of which are hung on blocks at the under side of the top-rails and close to the rear uprights, as shown at A A A in Fig. 2.
DETAILS OF STAGE