CHAPTER VII

ON PRODUCING WITHOUT A THEATER

It was uniMost plays

Play production by no means depends upon a "theater" in the modern sense. In fact, this theater is a late development in the world of drama. versally used only after 1650, or so. antedating this were written for a stage without a proscenium arch. They are well adapted, therefore, to be played without a theater in the modern sense. The plays of the Greeks and Romans, and those of the Elizabethans, are in this classification; so perhaps the greatest drama that has yet been created was created for production without a theater. It may be surmised then that producing without a theater is a fascinating process, in which there is room for all possible inventiveness.

A. USING A PLATFORM WITHOUT A CURTAIN

Where a platform is available, even though there is no proscenium arch and no curtain, the problem is not altogether unlike that of performing in the usual theater. The fact that it is impossible to hide the platform from the vision of the audience makes it necessary to find some other device for the changing of scenery, or for the disclosing and the hiding of characters who

might normally be found on the stage as the curtains are opened or as they are closed. There are a number of possibilities.

Using a Single Scene

In the first place, it is possible to choose a play that can be played without a change of scene of any sort. The platform can be prepared for the play before the audience enters, and no attempt need be made to hide the scene at any time. The method used by Rinehardt in "The Miracle" as produced at the Century Theater, New York City, may be aimed at. In that noteworthy performance, the entire theater was transformed into a cathedral. As one entered, he saw its Gothic arches and pillars, and its altar surrounded by a huge grill. Occasionally monks, or church attendants, crossed in front of the altar. Finally an old verger tottered out and lighted the candles. The music of the organ commenced. The characters began to enter and the play started. The time that the audience had waited in the auditorium had enabled them to orient themselves in the proper atmosphere much better than would have been possible had the medieval cathedral suddenly been disclosed by the opening of the curtain.

A play of this sort must be directed so that the characters move off the stage naturally at the end of scenes, which can never be "cut off" by the curtain. The stopping of the action in an exciting situation by the curtain is, at its best, an unnatural theatrical convention, anyway; so that perhaps the inability to do this is not a very great handicap. The Elizabethan drama

'tists were not able to do so, therefore their plays are especially suitable for a curtainless platform. The platform can be arranged to approximate an Elizabethan stage. Chinese plays may be made very interesting played in this manner. In fact, almost any play, even a modern realistic one, may be played successfully on a curtainless platform if it is directed with that sort of performance in mind, and if sufficient ingenuity is spent in adapting the platform.

"Curtain" Substitutes

It is possible, indeed, to perform plays that demand "curtain" situations. Darkness may be used instead of a curtain. When the play is ready to begin, a bell or some signal may be sounded, the lights may be turned off for a few seconds during which the characters enter and take their positions on the stage. The lights may then be turned up, and the play begins with the characters on the stage. The same device may be used at the end. With the "curtain line," the lights may be turned out, the characters disappear, and when the lights come on again the empty stage announces intermission or the end of the play. There is no need to do even this, however. It is surprising how soon an audience accepts any convention. At the end of a scene, however dramatic the ending, the actors may hold the position for a moment, and then very frankly and obviously drop out of character and walk off. Of course, these devices are more adapted to student performances before fellow students, than to public performances, for which it is better to adapt a play to the

curtainless situation by using a suitable one-scene piece, as suggested above.

"Dramatic Scene-shifting"

Sometimes, however, even for public performances, it is amusing to change the scenes openly, somewhat as may have been done in the Elizabethan theater. This may be called “dramatic scene-shifting." That is, the sceneshifters are in character, too, as well as the actors of the play. In a Shakespearean play, Elizabethan pages may do the work; in a Molière play, seventeenth century French servants. Sometimes lines may be invented for a head sceneshifter of some sort. An example will illustrate this possibility. In a performance of MacKaye's "A Thousand Years Ago," done without a front curtain, the scenes were set by a force of half a dozen Chinese coolies, under the direction of a Chinese Property Man. All the sceneshifters were in costume and make-up. The performance was given in front of a beautiful gray cyclorama, and the scenes were changed by the moving of several small platforms, the use of brilliant Chinese screens and vases, the necessary furniture, and above all by the changing of the lights. The audience, on coming into the auditorium, saw at one end only the great gray cyclorama, or curtain, which hung straight down with a hidden slit in the center. When the play was about to start a gong was sounded, the lights went out, and a spotlight played on the center of the curtain. The Property Man bounded through, and with outspread arms called for silence. Then he spoke:

Sh-h-h! Silence, lords and ladies, if you please,
That you may hear our play with greater ease.
And, friends, I beg you, do not take it ill
I called you "lords and ladies"; if you will
You may be clowns, or peasants, or-let's say-
You're-palace walls! only you're in our play!
For you must aid by every subtle means
Imagination knows to change the scenes.
With my assistance, if you truly try,
You'll find your parts are easy. Who am I?
See, lady, below the other names, there! see!
The Master of the Properties, that's me.
And though I'm at the bottom of the page,
My part's important, for I set the stage.
And then-I guess I might as well confess-
That I'm the Prologue—that is, more or less.
I come to take you with me far away
From all this modern world to old Cathay,
For that's the place we're going to have our play.
(Takes scroll from belt, unrolls it, and looks for
directions.)

"Outside of Pekin Gate, the city wall. . . ."

(Looks around for something to serve as wall.) This curtain here will do, but strong and tall

You must imagine it, as with a frown

Its crenelled towers watch o'er the sleeping town; For here there dwells in power, and pomp, and state,

The Emperor of China. (Consults scroll.) Now, "a gate."

(With aid of other property men, he loops up cur-
tains, making an opening for the gate.)

There, that will do, I think. Lastly, "a row
Of severed heads!"

(Property men raise "severed heads" above the top
of curtain.)

(Shuddering pleasantly) Like evil plants they grow!