The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1903-11-12
sTAGE nlscIPkINE.
discourse by Horace Wyndkars, 81.
James hcater, Il


+ STths Skrtnh: IT may5pDssIbIy
come as news to t~hpse&Who only Wit
ness a NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
audltoFtum to learn fhatadisctpline isi
enforced almost as strictlysons The stage
salIsisElIn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
e big London fheaters has q code
of rules and regulations. under which
sit US sconducted, andrigid adherence to
this is insisted upon from every one
sconcerned@principa 10 call boy alike.
Speaking generally, the regulations are
gabout@tWenty in Some man
ayers, however, draWnp So lengthy a.
list that they8fnd 1T necessary to
body &itSin 81 small handbook.
NJ Ar1lcng thesrules commonsto all thea
tiers observation-disclosures following.
Ta(I The hair of the zee be
lshaven IL required 81 the ~exigencies Of
The play represented; q sAn engage
meTts to be regarded as exclusive, and
no artist shall appear at any other
theater or hall without the consent In
writing of the Iaahager or his repre-
setnative.' CD All artists engaged are
to play any part or parts for which
they may be cast, and to aunderstudy
the atheater being closed through riot,
fre.Npublic calamity, royal demise,
epidemic or Illness of principal, no sal
airy shail@be claimed during such clos
Ing AT the foot of the contract is an
intimation that ssany breach OF the
esseeSSTisiss11a equation subject
the person who infringes to immediate
dismissal at the option of the manage
nlenr."
AS q matter OF fact, however, such
option isonly Exercised inextrene cases.
The usualsmethod adopted for enforcing
compliance with the theaters rules is a
muchsmilder one. 1t consists in levy
ing q graduated scale of fines for every
infringement brought to light. Such
tines are deducted from h offenders
weekly salary, and may be anything
from s~ixpencesto a guinea. very or
binary to impose Is half a crown,
for the breach Of discipline it meets
Wlth--that of talking behind the scenes
more often encountered than is any
other. Late attendance at rehearsal (if
exceeding the limit allowed for "varia-
ton of Watches,') means mourning a
similar penalty.
n of the grayest offenses OF which
an actor or actress may be guilty is
that of addressing the audience from
the stage during the course#of a per-
Torrance. In some theaters the only
recognized punishment for this is in
staIlt dismissal, a note to his effect
being inserted in the contract. Inter
polatiag into the dialogue words or
business" not previously sanctioned
by the management is also held to be
particularly heinous.
An exception, however, is usually
made where musical comedy is CON
cerned, for in entertainments of this
nature$the practice of ga ggg,n4gg,n is
more or less freely adopted. Libret-
fists, indeed, have much reason to be
thankful that this is the case, since
the success of their work is often
largely due to the ann inswhich the
comedians build up their parts for
themselves.
The Individual in whom is vested the
responsibility for maintaining due or
der behind the scenes is the stagem man
ager. Consequently everybody makes
it his business to cultivate pleasant re-
%lations with him from the outset. AS
may be imagined, his position is a deli
cate one, calling for the Gsssp!ay Of a
good deal of tact, sine in the execu-
ton of his Office he is sometimes re-
CURED to drop on" a personal friend.
Should he show favorltism discipline is
bound to suffer. with the result that he
himself Is called to account No one
however seems to know exactly how
this is brought about, for imagination
pales before the idea Of a stage man
ager reporting himself for neglect of
duty. 3