The Washington herald., 1916-05-14

complished last winter for Julius
Caesar" goes yet unfulfilled, al
though I did see R. D. Mclean in
the frst-nr. hit audience at the Be-
lasco last Wednesday evening,
which may signify that his assist
ance in the stock presentation of a
Shakespearean drama is now avail
able. 1t is also likely that the open
ing of a new dramatic year vii
bring us some OF the noteworthy
classic productions now stirring the
interest of New York.
The production of "The Tempest"
in the Elizabethan manner by the
Drama Society at the Century The
atcr in that city makes doubly in
teresting an account of the discov-
cries regarding the stage manage
ment of the poets time written by
Prof. Philip Shearman, professor Of
English at Oberlin College.
Writes Prof. Shearman:
Until recently comparatively little has
been known about the mechanical ar
rangement of the Elizabethan stages
Feuilleret, Lawrence and our own Wal
lace. of the University of Kansas have
made many important discoveries in this
field, but the greatest service for the
general reader was in all probability the
publication, not long since, by w. w.
Greg of a careful type facsimile of the
Henslowe, one of the leading theatrical
managers of Shakespeare's day Among
these documents is the famous contract
for the building of the Fortune Theater.
signed by Henslowe and one Peter
Streete, contractor. The Shakespearean
scholar Malone printed a portion Of this
years ago. but only a portion, and the
original remained inaccessible to all save
few specialists until Greg placed it at
the disposal of any one interested in
making a study of the details. AS the
contract states that the Fortune was ito
be cOntryved and fashioned like unto the
Stadge of the saide Plaie howse Called
the Globe, With convenient windowes
and lights glazed to the saide Tyreinge
howse And the sade frame Stadge and
SteareCases to be covered with lyle"
&C, and the Following pages include all
the specifications, even down to the num-
Der or 'Oaken paleS and pounds OF
lime and hair for the plastering of the
outer walls, we have sufficient data to
make possible the reconstruction. in es-
sentials, of a typical Elizabethan the
ater.
Including the houses at either side
(maGe from temporary drawings in the
Bodleian), the model rests on a five
foot base and is about twenty-eight
inches high. The material is stiff paper,
beaver board. and white pine free from
all knots. The Fortune was a square
theater, eighty feet on a side, and open
to the sky like the inn yards. The stage
extended out into the open court forty
feet and, following the custom of the
day, the larger part of the audience stood
during the performance around the three
sides of the platform. Acting took place
in the afternoon by natural light. Be-
yond the covering of the galleries. run
closure, there was no protection for au
dience and players. There was no pros
cenium arch and no drop curtain. both
essential characteristics of the picture
frame stage of today, adopted in Eng
land along with the systematic employ
ment of scenery, after 1862.
THE story Of the play was told rather
than realized. With the projected stage
putting the player literally in the midst
Of his public. acting to be effective had
to be rhetorical and vigorous. Those who
did not care to mingle with the ground
lnSs," as those who stood around the