THE THEATRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 150, 28 June 1939, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

SHAKESPEARE'S DAY.

MODEL AT UNIVERSITY.

AUDIENCE CLOSE TO ACTORS

(By X.B?P.)

The "theatre" of Elizabethan days was constructed very differently from the theatree we know to-day. Some of the differences can be appreciated bv study of the photograph on this page. It is that of a model of an Elizabethan theatre, constructed by Mr. S. M. Williams, fro<n the only extant drawing of an Elizabethan playhouse. The model is for use in the department of English for lectures given by Professor W. A. Sewell.

The model is approximately three feet in diameter and octagonal in shape. A rectangular platform which projects into the auditorium forms the stage. At the back of the stage is a building with' two doors, above which is a balconv.j Projecting from this is the so-called "heavens" supported by two columns. The roof over this forms a protection from the weather, and at the same] time acts as a sounding board. Surmounting this roof is the "pent-house," from which a flag was raised when the theatre was occupied by a troupe of players, and a bugle announced the opening of the play" Xo scenerv was used and no attempt at realism made. The parts were played entirelv by males, the women's parts being taken by boys.

The theatre :n Shakespeare's time was no doubt influenced by the courtyards and inns, where improvised stages'were erected, as well as in the halls of noblemen's houses, where plays were given. The seated spectators occupied the* galleries of the theatres, while those who stood on the ground around the stage (in the same way as the standing audience to-day at the promenade concerts in London) were called "groundlings." The gallery over the stage was occupied the lords and nobles.

The most famous of these theatres were the "Globe," the "Swan" and the "Fortune," built on the banks of the Thames outside the city limits. Owing to the fact that the entire structure was built of wood, wattle and daub, it is not! surprising that there are no longer any such theatres in existence.

Shakespeare constructed his plays with a definite dramatic action in order to jproduce the effect required for the theme. jA greater continuity was achieved on this- type of stage because the action was unhindered by waits during the changes of heavy scenery, and the proximity of the audience to the actors gave to the action a significance, and to the audience a unity seldom felt in the contemporary theatre, where the action is confined within a picture frame.

A recent detective novel, "Hamlpt Revenge," by Michael Innes, combines a description of a theatre of this kind, and a murder. The interest of the story is in the reality given to the stage setting, which becomes the scene of a very modern murder. Mr. Williams tells of an incident in the Madder Market Theatn», in Norwich, which is an excellent example of sustained atmosphere produced on the Elizabethan stage. During the performance of the last act in "Hamlet" a sword accidentally fell into the audience, causing someone to call out, "Don't touch it, it is poisoned."