The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-20
BRITISH THEATRE PIT
And Those Responsible for It
Beautifully Roasted
BY CRITIC ALAN DALE
Device for Rubbing Poverty
in, at High Prices.

| Nv York, July 1s.-Alan Dale, the drs-
matte critic writing to tina Journa! from
London. says:
If you don't happen to own bank ac-
count, q social position" and other at
tributes Of mundane coziness, you will
find theater-going in London a trihe dis
graceful. You will realize the criminal
ity of poverty, and If your artistic sould
revels for an evening with Irving. Alex
ander or Tree. you will indulge it surrep-
titiously, furtively and reluctantly. Al
though we talk good deal about the ap-
| prevail of the pit and the censure Of
the gallery" the London manager pays
| precious little attention to his poorer pat
rons. He gives them a pen in which to
cattle themselves, and allows them room
in which to be comfortably stewed He
says to them virtually: You poor devils,
what do you want in theatres but bare
walls?" And then he turns his attention
to the bare backs and the bediamoned
chests that grace the stalls and the boxes
If there were no pathOs to the question,
it would be really funny to consider the
desperate efforts made by London man
ayers to cause their poorer patrons to
feel the pinch of poverty. The ''pit" is
that portion Of the orchestra which oc-
ours under the galleries. It is not so
alarmingly cheap. In nearly all the Lon
don theatres the pit costs half crown
(62 cents). None of the seats are reserv-
ed. You pay your money blindly, and
take your chance. AS all the gallery Is
propped up by pillars, you are extremely
likely. after you have paid your GO cents,
to find yourself hugging one pillar and di-
rectly behind another, in which case you
see nothing and are simply fooled for
your pains.
But 1t is the poverty Of the thing that
appals me. The London manager Is alb
solutely determined that you shan't feel
pleased with yourself. The pit entrance
is always apart from the other entrances.
You are made to stink down a side street
and Qf you really want to avoid a pill
lar) stand in line outside until the doors
open.s Reverse the pit seats! Never! Not
on your lifei 1t would I1ecessitate the
expense of extra employees. So you go to
the side street. and--if you are an enthu-
sisst--you wait in line The line moves
slowly on, when they have decided to open
the doors, and you go with 1t into pris-
on-like, stony, gloomy and ill-smelling
passage-very dark and cavernous and
unpreposessng. You are forced in front
of a window into which you throw your
half crown. In return you get brass
ticket lit is made Of brass because paste
board wears out you know, and that
would be ridiculously expensivel. Still
you are pushed on, until the pit in all its
darkness is before you. And a veritable
pit II is. In front Of you are the stalls,
brilliantly lighted. downily cushioned and
wonderfully decorated. You may yet be
ten yards from the stalls-you rarely are
but they might be another world. The
decorations of the house stop suddenly
short-like grandfather's clock-when
they get to the pit. Even the wall paper
ceases. 1t may be white and gold In the
stalls AS soon as It gets to the pit 1t be-
comes whitewash, with finger marks on
IT, The seats are plain wooden benches.
undivided into individual seats. and abso-
lutely uncushioned. There is nothing to
remind you that you are out for pleas
ure ana lndt you nave PdAu Ipi
pleasure. You might be the inmate of a
home for imbeciles, admitted under pro-
test-as though they were rather afraid
YOU might make an unpleasant exhibition
of yourself.
You see the people coming into the stalls
and seating themselves lelsurely In all
thir finery. II you have been brought
up to the horrid classification of the
thing, you watch them in reverence not
unmixed with awe. You say "Ah! nd
oh" as you see the beautiful costumes
as though they were fireworks and you
were looking at them being set off. II
you have not been brought up to 1t. you
can't help feeling a slight contempt for
this very evident appreciation OF the os
tentation Of rank and station" You re-
sent the idea of being rallied of from II
a. all. as though you were an absolutely
inferior sort Of creature. and 1t spoils
your amusement for the rest Of the even
ing.
Even thep rograms in the pit are diTe--
ent from those used in the stalls. The
barbarous idea of paying for programs
still exists in most of the London thatres
Although YOU have paid heavily for your
accommodation. the managers are deter
mined that IL you want TO know the
names Of the people in the cast you SHAH
pay more. In the stalls a stiff program
costs sixpence (12 cents. II there are two
OF you. and you each crave the luxury OF
a program. you pay your quarter. In the
pit the manager allows you to know the
names of the play and OF the actors for
twopence a cents. You are given-not
the stin program of the stalls. but al
cheap. fiimsy. damp sheet that again ac-
centuates the poverty OF your surround
ings- Pert maidens IN caps and aprons
sell the programs. Sometimes you can't
find these maidens ct has happened to me
when have ''pitted'' III, and then YOU go