STAGE EFFECTS.

Bruce Herald, Volume L, Issue 32, 30 April 1914, Page 4

STAGE EFFECTS.

OF YEARS AGO. When the modern theatrical scene entrepreneur desires to put upon the stage a scene of rustic charm, mellowed by a rosy sunset or softened by the rising moon, so complete and up to date are the means at hand that the effect can he .made perfect (states an English paper). But it was not always so. Thirty to dO years ago impressions of reality \Vhieh present-day audiences enjoy could only be obtained by a great stretch of the imagination. Primitive as were the stage settings in England at that time, they were, however, by no means so orucie as in the majority of the Irish theatres, when not even' gas' was used for lighting. Mr Wilfred Shine, au actor of ripe experience, recalls the time when paraffin lamps composed the footlights and candles in tin sconces .supplied the light iiv the wings. With such primitive JighU ing arrangements there was ever present an element of danger, as was shown one night in a small Irish theatre. It was a Saturday night, and a benefit performance. " A local amateur waa to recite. This amateur had a lady admirer, who was determined to do him honor by throwing him a wreath of laurel leaves. At the conclusion cf the recitation (when the vigorous applause of this sole admirer had subsided) sho threw the laurel wreath, but directed by a feminine band it failed to land at tiie feet of her beloved, but succeeded in knocking over ono of the paraffin lamps at the edge of the stage. Through the cracks in the stage ran the paraffin, and by some means became ignited, setting fire to the stage properties stored beneath. Water was poured over the ignited material, and for a fe'.v minutes excitement prevailed, but the real saving grace came when a portly Irish woman stood up, removed her woollen petticoat, and with more strength of arm and more unerring aim than had been shown by the iair lady homage-payer, threw it over the lighted paraphernalia. Another primitive stage trick was brought into operation when some horriblo deed was to be revealed to the duly horrified audience, by the light of a winking moon. This moon, always full (and which always rose suddenly;, was produced by holding a candle behind "a piece of linen covering a circular ( hole in tho canvas of the scenery. Not ( infrequently the moon was known to { boast an edge decidedly ragged. Tho first principle en which gas was introduced into the theatre was with tho single jet, when a man with taper on polo would walk before the curtain lighting the gas prior to the hegjnrnng of tho performance. Following this came the pilot light by which a whole ; length of jets was lighted from ignition given by a jet at the end. In order to get the different shade effects—as for , day, evening, sunset, or sunshine—long J sections, cither of vari-colored or ] sheetings, were raised before the lights 1 by a lever worked from the wings. , An incident which demonstrates the ] crudenesa of «imo" of the stage proper-

ties in those clays is related by Mr Shine. It was during the production of "East Lynne" in a small Irish theatre. The deathbed of little Willie had been improvised by placing a large door upon a chair at one end and a stool at the other, and covering it with a sheet. But the door was much smaller than either the stool or tho chair, with the result that when" Lady Isabella filing herself forward on the edge of the bed, | crying "My child, my child," this door i tilted forward, precipitating tho dying: little Willie (in this case a healthy Irish youngster with a terrible Irish brogue) ' upon the floor, where, with both Lady Isabelle and the dflor on top of him, he lay shrieking "Murder!" But electriciity has wrought the change, and from a single switchboard in the wings hundreds of lights are manipulated, and by a similar manipulation cf colors any effect can he obtained.