THE PIT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 8122, 19 March 1887, Page 2

THE PIT.

(Pall Mail Gazette.) The other day our plebiscite (fecide& that the Lyceum pit was the beat pit in London, though the Savoy,* as we said in making the announcement, ran. Mr Irving’s theatre very close. There can be little doubt that many of the voters who dedared for Mr Carte were influenced, in. their judgment by the fact that at the Savoy a queue is invariably formed, as hr Paris or America. If it is possible fair** queue at a Paris theatre why not at a London theatre? "Pits, and how to get 'to them," is a subject that is interesting to hundreds of thousands of people, so wedespatched a representative to ask HrIrving his opinion of " tails." Mr Irving: speaks with double weight, from the fact that not long ago he did try a reform in the pit, and was compelled by a storm of; criticism to abandon his project, which was certainly made in the best interests of the cheap playgoer. THH PUBLIC HAS THE PIT IN ITS OWN HANDS. "Yes," said Mr Irving, "my experimentcost me A3OOO, and from more than onepoint of view I was not sorry that it fcdled.Had it been successful it would hava madea small revolution in the theatrical World, as even daring the six weeks that the pit seats were bookable -, we found that thedresa circle and stalls people had begun to avail themselves of the 'privilege of a booked seat at a cheap rate. I believe .the ladies drove up in their broughams to the pit doors. Under the present system they would go to the higher priced seats. Then, from an artistic point of view, the booked pit did not applaud, and the applause of the pit is most inspiring, for, as I have saidbefore, the pit is the backbone of the theatre. Well, so much for any attempted reform. You urge upon me what you are pleased to call the orgies at my pit door, and the obstruction which the waiting crowd causes to the street traffic, and you ask me whether I should he willing to adopt the ‘tail’ system. Certainly, but you cannot form a tail without space. I have naturally thought muchabout these things, bat even if the Lard Chamberlain were to inaugurate compulsory queues, how could we do it? :Why,. the line might sometimes wind down tothe Embankment, and only the police coold enforce it. The queue is undoubtedly the best for the manager, as he can getmore people into the pit." " But if the system, works in Paris, why hot in London ?” t asked Mr Irving—a question answerpdhy the fact that the queue originated inthe days of the French Revolution, when they were made to buy their bread en queue, and have got accustomed to ut. “That is thereal secret,” he said, ‘f Suppose you have sufficient room, which implies that your pitdoor does not open on. to the., street, yon most educate the public. They have the pit in their own,hands." , THE PIT ,HAS. arANT CUEIOBITIEB. ... " A pit has many curiosities,” Mr Irving went on. " Nbw. it is a remarkable thing that although we have to turn money at our morning, performances -the taking* are lees than in.the evening. The wojnen, who avail themselves largely of the mutinies, take up more room than the men. who form the chief portion of the evening audience. For some yeara we have had »- mechanical ticket distributor. The* manin Oharge receives the money,,and the.machine handaoverthe ticket. 'We are thus able to keep a check upon the receipts. The over-takings ace, of course, j made up of the odd'sixpences which people! pay in the scramble. On ‘first nights the scene is, I think I may admit it, a remarkable one. Pittites have come as early as eight in the morning, bringing campstools and luncheon baskets with them, and waiting until the doors open. Those areenthusiasts. I cannot help thinking that John Bull likes a'scrimmage. There is this same crush if a popular man is announced to preach. But look at any English crowd, whether it is a * first night ’ or Lord Mayor’s Day. Why, ! even the- women' would be disappointed if, when they got home, they couldn’t say, ‘Oh, dear! lookat my bonnet strings;’ or, ‘Bless me, if I wasn’t half killed at that Lyceum pit!’ ’*

MB IRVING’S IDEAL THKATEE. i " If you were building an ideal theatre,. Mr Irving, as some people say you will one day, would you retain the pitf’V "Certainly ; and I would have a queue if there was ground enough. What would be my ideal theatre P Well, that is a large question. I would build it more after the amphitheatre pattern, avoiding the ' well' shape; that is, I would not take it upbeyond the Lyceum upper circle; theuL would extend the widtn of the circles. Where they now have four or five rows they should have ten. Bat lam not prepared to elaborate. The Lyceum is anything bub a perfect theatre. Why, ill» only last year that I raised the stage roof,, so that we can take our * cloths' right up, instead of having to roll them, a processwhich is most damaging to them, as I need' scarcely say.” f FIRES IK THEATRE A

" The pit is popularly supposed to be A dangerous part of tbe house in case of fireDo yon ever fear a fire in tbe Lyceum ? " We can empty the whole house in three minutes, and surely that is quick enoughs Of course the subject of fires in the theatres* crops up occasionally, but the best answer to the panic-mongers is surely the fact, that there has not been a single life lost by fire in a London theatre daring the present-, century. It is panic that kills, not fire. I remember that for some time after the destruction of the Eing Theatre we used to have applications for outside seats. What should Ido in case a fire broke out ? Go on acting, and play them out. If the actors run, the audience will,-yon maybe sureI believe it was Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane who said at a Eoyal Commission some yearsago 'that the carpenter’s cap generally puta out a fire in a theatre.’ We have some 400 men behind the curtain for Faust —all steady, orderly, well-trained men,, who mnst of necessity be skilful as well aasiber men, or they could not do their work. Such a thing as drunkenness ia unknownin a decent theatre.” MB IBVINO’S FUTURE WORK.

One naturally asks Mr Irving about hie future productions, though, the familiar boards " house full" will bo seen outside tbe Lyceum doors for many a night. But one asks, and I am allowed to say that, after the run of Faust, Mr Irving will goto the Provinces for a short time before his trip to America. “ The public still demands Faust, and it is 'a manager’s as well as his interest to let a successful play alone. Is Faust the most expensive play I ever produced P Certainly not.”,. “To return to the pit for one moment,, could not a turnstile lie used ?” “ The Lord Chamberlain will not aUow it.”

" la it true that a pit holds more people than there is sitting-accommodation for?” " Yea; but they are always told at the Lyceum that there ia standing room only ;, they may go in and look and have their money back if they choose.”