Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/230

* THEATRE. 186 THEATRE. tights, apparently often of gay colors, a short tunic and cloak, a phallus, and comic mask; the costume of tlie chorus varied with its character, and the poets aUowed free seope to the iuuigin.a- tion, as in the Birds and Clouds of Aristophanes. In the new coniedj- the dress was modified and more nearly approached that of dailj' life, from which the characters were taken. At the same time there was introduced a typical series of masks, so designed that the mask at once indi- cated the character. At Eonie the drama, like the theatre, was largely borrowed from the Cjreek, Init it was not a state performance liy citizens, at least in its developed form. The actors were troupes (greges) of freedmen or slaves, and the plays were in general adapted from the Greek, espe- cially in tragedy, though the prwtextw, in which the liero wore the toga prcetexta and not the Greek costume, were an attempt to treat na- tional subjects in the Greek tragic style. In the comedy were distinguished the palVata, based on the Greek new comedy in which the Greek cloak (pallium) was worn, and the togata, treating of native life and character, and appro- priately costumed. The plays were produced at public games, and also at the games or shows given on special occasions by private individuals. The magistrate or giver of t!ie games paid the leader of a troupe {dominus gregis) . who owned plays and produced them. The theatre thus never entered into or reproduced the national life in Rome as in Greece, and in later times the favorite Koman shows were the Mimes and AttellancF. both of which seem to have been nuirked by buffoonerv and indecency. MEDi.i:vAL AND JIoDERS. During the Middle Ages theatrical performances consisted almost wholly of religious or semi-religious allegories, known as Hysterics and Miracle Plays, which were given in churches, convents, or castle halls and without any elaborate staging. When per- formed out of doors at fairs, a rude booth of boards sufficed. No seats were provided for the spectators. In 1548 the Paris Confraternity of the Trinity built a theatre which was licensed to perform "profane pieces of a lawful and hon- est character." There were no seats or scenery. Until the end of the sixteenth century theatrical ■ performances were given in England by bands of strolling players who had no permanent theatres, but performed chiefly at fairs and in the court- yards of inns, the most honored guests watching the performance from the second or third story windows and balconies, an arrangement that may have suggested the difl'erent tiers of balconies In the modern theatre. The first permanent play- house in London was the theatre built by James Burbage about 1.570. The Globe Theatre, built in 1598. also by Burbage, in which Shakespeare's plays were produced, was an hexagonal wooden structure partly open at the top. In the central court, or pit, the people stood, while the gentry sat in galleries running around three sides of the building, and a number of wits and gallants sat upon the stage, which was concealed between the acts by a curtain running upon an iron rod. Shakespeare had no scenery beyond hangings .and curtain.s, a placard inscribed "This is a Forest," or "This is a Prison," sufficing. Movable scenery first made its appearance about IfioO. Perform- ances were given in the afternoon, except upon special occasions, when candles were used and kept snuffed by men who were duly applauded for their dexterity in keeping the lights properly tiinuned. The first French theatres were modeled after those of Italy, where theatres were built about l(i80 in Florence and Vicenza. The first ballets performed under Louis XIV. were organ- ized by Italians, who introduced movable scen- ery, footlights, and sidelights. For Italian bal- lets introduced into France in 1680, scenery painted in proper perspective was first used, and women were admitted among the dancers, the female parts having been taken before that by boys. In 1759 the chief Paris theatres abolished the privilege of the gallants to sit upon the st.oge, and tlie London theatres followed their example. In Paris the custom had been so abused that the actors in popular plays had no room ; in a play l^y Favart at the Tlieatre Frangais in 1740. such was the crowd that there was only room on the stage for one actor to appear at a time. About 1660 women first appeared upon the English stage, where their parts had until then been played by boys or young men. In 1700 scenery began to be painted upon different flats running upon grooves in the stage, France leading the way in stage decoration, with such famous artists as Watteau and Boucher as scene painters. Dur- ing the nineteenth centurj' the pit, which formerly contained no seats and was used by the common people and by lackeys waiting for their masters, changed its name and character. Both in Europe and America the former pit, now known as the orchestra, is filled with .seats which are, with a few exceptions, the most expensive in the theatre, while the cheapest places are now in the top galleries. According to Dunlap the first American theatre was built in Williamsburg, Va., in 1752 by the English actor William Hallam, who brought a company from England and was for years the chief spirit in theatrical enterprises in the New World. The first play produced was The Her- chant of Venice. About the same time a brick theatre, with seats for about 600 persons, is said to have been built in Annapolis. The first New York theatre was opened by Hallam in Septem- ber, 175.'!. in Nassau Street, upon the site of an old Dutch church. Plays were given three times a week. At the end of the season Hallam moved to Philadelphia, where in April, 1754, he fitted up a building near Pine Street and gave dramatic performances. An actor named Douglass built a theatre in 1754 near Old Slip, in New York, which he called the Histrionic Academy, opening with Jane Shore, and five years later he was also the proprietor of a Philadelphia house. In 1759 Newport had its theatre and in the following year one was built in Perth Amboy, then the capital of the Province of New .Jersey: the same company played engagements in New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Perth Amboy. In 1757 another theatre was built in John Street, New York. In 1773 Charleston and Boston had their own theatres, and by the end of the century there were others in Albany. Baltimore, and Rich- mond. The modern theatre consists, roughly speaking, of two parts, the auditorium and the stage. The first consists of suitable entrances, lobbies, re- ception rooms, staircases, and means of approach to the auditoriiun proper, which is commonly of seniicii-cular or horseshoe form, the floor sloping down to the stage. According to the size of the