The Washington times., 1912-02-02
Julia Murdock Tells of Scenic Wonders
Maude Adams Presents in Rostand Pay

When Miss Maude Adams, on next
Monday night at the National Theater,
presents ''Chantecler." Rostandps barn
yard play. which created such furore
when II was first produced in Paris,
Washington audiences will be given an
opportunity to see some of the most re-
marka5le scenic effects that ever have
been attempted on the American stage.
more than 100000 was spent in making
men and women over into birds and
beasts, before even the curtain went
,sp,,s up on !. the FIRST production of Chan
Almost everybody knows the scene of
this play IL laid in the barnyard, and
the persons on the stage represent the
fowls always found In the barnyards,
following out their little destinies be-
dog kennel. In such surroundings
Chantecler stands the typical .egoist-
young. ardent, inexperienced : who
imagines the world cannot progress
confidence. he falls in. love with a
charmer, who. by catering to his van
ity, establishes her domination over
him until she leads him to betray MS
cherished secret. his faith that his call
alone brings each mornings sun to the
world. ..I -sl ',-t-
Arranging Proper Proportion.
To produce the illusion of the barn
yard with it's Inhabitants. two diff
culties confronted Miss Adams and
her munager--size and durability. In
iogue, Miss Adams tells her audi
ence that the stage folk are small,
and comparatively Insignificant. and
that human beings must view the scene
Cali z~1n IvS
sbsn e. woras tRat MEANS shat .he
scenery must be scaled to at least
eight times the natural size In order
to dwarf the human actors to the pro-
IN the first act, for Instance. the great
farm cart towers forty feet into the
dome dor &c Of a fair. sized building; the
tase. With a dog Kennel FOR its shed;
the bird cage would make q cozy
trysting place: the handle of the rake
Is as tall and thick as medium
Second to this matter of size came
that other equally important question
which resulted entirely from Miss
Adams pnswerving ,N desire TO- hold
the scenes give the fantastic effect
with the. human actors. but they must
remain fresh and new until the cur
fore with the aid Of John w. Alex
ander, president of the National Acad
emy Of Design. Miss Adams has per-
fected collapsible stage scenery.
the method OF producing plays. This
scenery Is a vast departure from the
old manner Of painting on one over
| loaded drop house and foliage in
tn,aafo the foreground, sgsItun, a Landscape in the
of sky.
Device of Scenery Gives
Wonderful Perspectives.
The new device consists of a success.
sion of gauze drops, upon which are
stenciled solid bits Of cloth. painted to
represent only the objects ut one given
distfpce from the audience. The rest
people in front can actually look
through them. one after the other,
| past the drop that contains to
objects. past the drop that holds the
more more intimate landscape, past the drop
mately to the huge blue cyclorama at
| at the back. which forms the sky.
Ii f9s gauze,y Of course. not being In
visible. gives most adequately the misty
made even more vivid by the placing OF
lights behind, as we'll as before the
drops. With this scenery, but nearer
the footlights, go properties of canvas
with thin, wooden coverings that fold
and refold. until a tree which towers
fifty feet into the air can collapse like
gigantic hoopsktrt and be packed In
an ordinary theatricar trunk. A wheel
barrow Of proportions the size of a
room. to keep 1t in scale of a common
| barnyard fowl, can vanish into what
appears to be stack of boards. but
which in reality Is so light that 1t car
be lifted by a child, while a dog.