elaborate mechanism, as is shown by this clever use of the humble candle.

Three Fundamental Devices

The beginner in the art of stage lighting need not

be discouraged by any apparent complication of the

above scheme. A brief study of the lights mentioned or, better yet, careful observation in a well-equipped

theater, will show him that there are, after all, only three different lighting devices—except for the fixtures for incidental lighting-that are common on the modern stage.

1. Strip Light.-The first of these is the strip light: that is, lights arranged alongside of one another in a row, and furnished with a reflector. These strip lights are usually made in sections, by manufacturers making Little Theater equipment, and they may be of almost any length. Eight or ten feet is a satisfactory length. Strips of this sort can be used for footlights when they are properly placed along the front of the stage, or as border lights when they are suspended at the proper angle from above, or as proscenium-arch lights when they are fastened above or to one side of the proscenium arch. The strip light is the light used to illuminate a cyclorama. A special cyclorama reflector strip, which throws light in an even flood over the entire surface of a drop, is an exceedingly useful unit; but in its absence, an ordinary strip light on the floor throwing light upwards over the cyclorama, and another strip light overhead throwing light downward, will light it successfully.

2. Spotlight. The second device is the spotlight. It may be used to throw light from the edge of the proscenium, from the auditorium, or from the side of the stage when used on a standard. In fact, there is no use to which the spotlight does not adapt itself. It may be clamped to the grid or to the ceiling of the stage, and so usurp the place of the border; it may be placed along the front of the stage, where it becomes

a footlight; or it may be placed on the floor in a fireplace, where it becomes an incidental light.

3. Flood Light.-The flood light is the third and last variety-and, as has been said above, when the spotlight takes off its lens it is practically a flood, so perhaps another point should be added to the score of the spot!

The Value of Flexibility

If sufficient care and cleverness are shown by the dramatic organization, a very small equipment will produce amazing results. The secret is flexibility: each light may in its time play many parts. A good minimum equipment is two or three strips, one or two floods, and a half dozen small spotlights ("baby spots" is the delightful technical name). But these lights must not be permanently fastened anywhere. Instead of permanent border lights, which will be of value only occasionally, there will be two or three battens, or pieces of pipe, hanging from the grid parallel to the footlights. If these are on lines, as they should be, they may be lowered to the floor of the stage. A strip or two, or two or three spotlights, may be clamped to the batten, set at the proper angle, and hauled up to act as borders. When that need is over, the battens may be lowered, the lights taken off, and the battens hauled up against the grid until overhead lights are again necessary, when the same process may be repeated. Meanwhile, a spotlight just off a batten, where it has been doing service as a border, may be clamped up against the proscenium, or it may be put

out in the auditorium on the railing of a balcony, or it may be attached to a standard to throw light in through a stage window. Moreover, a flexible equipment of this sort is capable of growth. It may start at a single strip, and one or two spotlights. One or two more units may be added for the next performance, and so on, until a very respectable equipment is gradually assembled. The details of such a scheme must be left to each organization, as they depend upon the financial condition, the plays that are to be performed, the ability of the stage electricians, and many other elements of the situation.

Homemade Light Units

Substitute homemade units are by no means impossible, if the aid of a good electrician is available.

1. Homemade Strips.-A series of light sockets may be fastened to a piece of wood, three or four inches wide and the desired length. A piece of tin, eight or ten inches wide, and of the same length as the baseboard, may be bent and fastened into an excellent reflector. It should be left bright inside, and painted black on the outside. In such a strip, the bulbs should always be arranged as in the illustration, so that they throw the light from the side. They give more light in this position; there is a "dead" spot at the end of most bulbs. These homemade strips may serve as footlights, or border lights, or proscenium-arch lights.

2. Homemade Spots.-A tin cone or horn may be made for a spotlight. It had best be made around a single large bulb, mounted on a socket which has been