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 of the stage, even in out-of-door scenes, is an arras or hanging, through which at Paul's spectators can watch a play. At the Blackfriars, while the arras, even more clearly than in the public theatres, is of a decorative rather than a realistic kind, it can also be helped out by something in the nature of perspective. There is action 'above', and interior action, some of which is recessed or 'discovered'. It must be added, however, that these formulae, taken by themselves, do not go very far towards determining the real character of the staging. They make their first appearance, for the most part, with the interludes in which the Court influence is paramount, and are handed down as a tradition to the public and the private plays alike. They would hardly have been sufficient, without the Swan drawing and other collateral evidence, to disclose even such a general conception of the various uses and interplay, at the Globe and elsewhere, of main stage, alcove, and gallery, as we believe ourselves to have succeeded in adumbrating. And it is quite possible that at Paul's and the Blackfriars they may not—at any rate it must not be taken for granted without inquiry that they do—mean just the same things. Thus, to take the doors alone, we infer with the help of the Swan drawing, that in the public

standst well, thou lean'st against a poast', but this is obviously inadequate evidence for a heavens supported by posts at Paul's.]
 * [Footnote: is no indication that it descends. In Satiromastix, 2147, we get 'O thou