The principles of modern theatre as we know it today were first set in place in the late 1800's when a movement known as "Stage Reform" originated in Austria with the (then) revolutionary aim of bringing realism to the Stage. The primary purpose of any production, it said, was to give a true and faithful rendering of the characters, locations and action of the play. Costumes and scenery should be rendered realistically, the cast should work together in harmony and their actions as well as their words should convey the action.
By the turn of the century this movement had spread across the continent of Europe and to the USA. Previously, the Stage had been a relatively unadorned platform on which the players performed. Henceforth it would become an imitation of the landscape or surroundings in which the piece was set. In future, a successful production would require not only dramatists, but painters, sculptors, joiners and costumiers to create the scenic art to which the theatre-going public were soon to become accustomed.
The newly built West End theatres of this period followed the trend toward realism by building smaller, more intimate, theatres with fan-shaped auditoria that were more suitable for the subtler, understated style of acting required by realism. The older type of deep, resonant, horseshoe-shaped theatres had made a brash, declamatory style of acting something of a necessity. It’s no accident that many of these surviving older theatres turned to Opera or brash melodrama.
The new theatres may have been designed for a less showy, less ostentatious style of acting, but refelecting the increasing wealth and social prestige of their patrons greater comfort and sumptiousness of decoration became essential features of theatre construction. The simple form benches of the nineteenth-century replaced by plush, individual backed and upholstered seats. The interiors of these buildings were commonly decorated with groups of statuary and gilded pillars, with beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging from decorated ceilings. Boxes for the rich were hung with colourful draperies, their fronts decorating with carved frescoes, often adorned with gold leaf. At the front of the house were found saloons, smoking rooms, and buffets for the added comfort of their patrons.
No expense was spared either in the provision of stage machinery or any modern technology that would make the show more impressive. - (top)
The trend towards realistic scenery presented theatre managers with a new set of problems in organising and presenting their productions. Since the setting for the action could change during the course of the play, the need arose to be able to rapidly replace one set of stage decorations for another. Furthermore, proper illumination mimicking natures conditions was considered equally essential. All of this led to the involvement of the sciences, most notably those of mechanics and hydraulics, to provide mechanisms a fulfil these requirements.
It must be said that Great Britain was one of the last European countries to be profoundly affected by the reform movement, so that the stars of my pages were among the pioneers of performing in these radically changed conditions. Among the leaders of the movement in Great Britain were the Actor-Managers Sir Henry Irving (Royal Lyceum Theatre) and Herbert Beerbohm Tree (Haymarket Theatre/His Majesty's Theatre). But if England was slow in adopting this new approach, it then took it wholly to heart and developed it to new heights climaxed by the 1902 refurbishment of the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) - equipped with the very latest electrically driven mechanical improvements for the movement of stage scenery. The Apollo Theatre was likewise re-equipped, but it's new machinery was imported from the continent and was driven entirely by manual labour.
The Covent Garden system (see below) was designed by the Architect Edwin Sachs and involved dividing the stagefloor into a few large sections which could then be moved with the aid of electrical power. It also employed the 'Brandt' system of counter-weighting for scenery suspended from above, electric lighting in four colours, and a flat stage as distinct from the earlier sloping stage.
In a time when steam power still predominated for motor power, it was not practicable for the needs of the Theatre and almost entirely absent in that context. Hydraulic power, the new wonder of electricity, counterweighting, and good old fashioned manual labour were the systems commonly employed. Hydraulic power soon proved to be expensive and of limited practical value. Manpower was slow and sometimes dangerous. But electrical power and counterweighting, the two systems employed at the Covent Garden, proved to be both relatively inexpensive and highly successful. Electrical power had the added advantage in comparison to hydraulic power of much greater reliability and lower maintenance costs. When an overhaul of the Covent Garden system was ordered after five years of operation the contractors could find no significant repairs to perform.
Around the World at this time, some interesting experiments in stage mechanisms were attempted with varying degrees of success. In the United States an attempt was made to contstruct a large lifting platform, with three levels or stages on which scenery could be arranged and then the whole construction raised or lowered to bring the appropriate stage into position. Meanwhile in Munich, Germany, a scheme of turn-tables was proposed with a similar purpose. - (top)
The purpose of stage scenery is to create an appearance which shall be a fitting and appropriate accompaniment to the action being performed on the stage. In other words it is used to create an illusion that enhances the reality of the performance.
Regarding the actual design and painting of the scenery, the English scene-painter soon came to be considered in advance of his Continental and American counterparts, and scenery from London Theatres began to be exported abroad. The position of the scene-painter was particularly a difficult one however, requiring artistic temperament and thorough knowledge of art, but tempering that with practicality and the need to perform essentially as a mechanic rather than a pure artist. - (top)
Numerous methods of illuminating the stage were experimented with until the the general method of lighting from the top with battens, from the side with wing-ladders, and from below with foot-lights (if skilfully handled) came to be recognised as producing the best results. The lighting at the Covent Garden was particularly admired, the problem the light coming too strongly from below, ie. from the foot-lights, being overcome by the careful regulation and colouring of the lights. - (top)
The stage was constructed as a series of six horizontal sections, each eight feet wide and running parallel with the curtain line from front to back, the whole being followed by a large back or rear stage. These were employed as follows:
Between the various sections of the stage, were long longitudinal flaps two feet wide. These could be easily opened to allow scenery to be passed through from below for transformation scenes and the like.
The UpperworksEach section of the stage was equipped with a pair of 'chariots'. These held 'wing' lights placed on 'wing ladders'. All of the electrical bridges controlling these could be worked from the mezzanine level and from ordinary switchboards, and could be raised or lowered at various speeds, without noise or vibration or noise, and take loads of up to two tons.
Above the stage level, each section then had its own series of lines to take cloths, borders, etc.; a batten, from which the electric battens were suspended; and also a large wooden lattice girder, from which heavy pieces of scenery could be hung. Each section also held a girder batten, a light batten, and on average about ten lines for ordinary battens. Besides these there was equipment for flying apparatus and the like, and in front were the necessary lines for tableaux curtains, act-drops and draperies.
Everything that was suspended from above could be worked at stage level, or at either of the gallery levels, and every scene was perfectly counter-weighted so that one man could easily handle it. No mechanical contrivance was required, and in practice quite a number of scenes could be rapidly changed in a very short time and with minimal effort.
Throughout the structure and mechanism steel was used extensively, with iron pulleys and wire cable; and inflammable materials were absolutely reduced to the flooring of the gridiron and galleries and the hardwood flooring of the stage and mezzanine. In other words, an absolute minimum of inflammable material replaced what was formerly almost a maximum; and with electric lighting also being installed, the risk of an outbreak of fire was greatly reduced making the Covent Garden probably the safest theatre of its day. - (top)
Author: Don Gillan, www.stagebeauty.net.
Primary Sources: Oxford Companion to the Theatre, 1st Ed. 1951; Oxford Interactive Encyclopaedia, (CD-ROM) 2002; Plus various other online and literary sources.
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