658 PLAYH 
playhoufes which were built before the breaking out of 
the civil wars in the time of Charles I. But many of our 
ancient dramatic pieces were performed in the yards of 
carriers inns ; in which, in the beginning of queen Eliza¬ 
beth’s reign, the comedians, who then firft united them- 
felves in companies, erefted an occafional ftage. The 
form of thefe temporary playhoufes fee ms to be preferved 
in our modern theatre. The galleries are in both ranged 
over each other on three tides of the building. The fmall 
rooms under the lowed: of thefe galleries anfwer to our 
prefent boxes; and it is obfervable that thefe, even in 
theatres which were built in a fubfequent period exprefsly 
for dramatic exhibitions, dill retained their old name, 
and are frequently called rooms by our ancient writers. 
The yard bears a fufficient refemblance to the pit; as at 
prefent in ufe. We may fuppofe the dage to have been 
raifed in this area, on the fourth fide, with its back to the 
gateway of the inn, at which the money for admiflion was 
taken. Hence, in the middle of the Globe, and probably 
of the other public theatres, in the time of Shakefpeare, 
there was an open yard or area, where the common people 
dood to fee the exhibition; from which circumdance 
they are called by Shakefpeare “groundlings,” and by 
Ben Jonfon “theunderdanding gentlemen of the ground.” 
In the ancient playhoufes there appears to have been a 
private box, of which it is not eafy to afcertain the fitua- 
tion. It feems to have been placed at the fide of the dage 
towards the rear, and to have been at a lower price: in 
this fome people fat, either from economy or Angularity. 
The galleries, or fcaffolds as they are fometimes called, 
and that part of the houfe which in private theatres was 
named the pit, feem to have been at the fame price; and 
probably in houfes of reputation, fuch as the Globe, and 
that in Blackfriars, the price of admiflion into thofe parts 
of the theatre was 6d. while in fome meaner playhoufes 
it was only 2d. in othersonly id. The price of admiflion 
into the beji rooms or boxes, was, in Shakefpeare’s time, 
is. though afterwards it appears to have riien to 2s. 6d. 
and the gallery to 6d. 
From feveral paflages in our old plays, we learn, that 
fpe&ators were admitted on the dage, and that the critics 
and wits of the time ufually fat there. Some were placed 
on the gound; others fat on dools, of which the price 
was either 6d. or is. according to the commodioufnefs of 
the fituation; and they were attended by pages who fur- 
niftied them with pipes and tobacco, which was fmoked 
here as well as in other parts of the houfe : yet it ftiould 
feem that perfons were fud’ered to fit on the dage only in 
the private playhoufes, fuch as Blackfriars, &c. where the 
audience was more feleft, and of a higher clafs; and that 
in the Globe and other public theatres no fuch licence 
was permitted. 
The dage was drewed with rufties, which, as we learn 
from Hentzner and Cains de Ephemera, was, in the time 
of Shakefpeare, the ufual covering of floors,in England. 
The curtain which hangs in front of the prefent dage, 
drawn up bylines and pulleys, though not a modern in¬ 
vention, for it was ufed by Inigo Jones in the mafques at 
court, was yet an apparatus to which the Ample mecha- 
nifm of our ancient theatres had not arrived, for in them 
the curtains opened in the middle, and were drawn back¬ 
wards and forwards on an iron rod. In fome playhoufes 
they were woollen, in others made of filk. Towards the 
rear of the dage there appears to have been a balcony, the 
platform of which was fome feet from the ground. This 
ferved for chambers or galleries, for'Juliet to hold dif- 
courfe with Romeo, and for Cleopatra to draw up Antony 
dying, See. That this was the condru&ion, is evinced, 
beyond doubt, from entries that are found in fome plays 
of rather a later date than Shakefpeare’s ; in which are 
feen the terms upper and lower, and dialogues pafs be¬ 
tween perfons danding fome on the one and fome on the 
other dage ; and this form it received from the earlied 
pieces produced on it, the Myderies; for the exhibition 
of which, the dage had yet another divifion ; the part 
OUSE. 
beyond the two we are fpeakingof, and riling higher dill; 
upon which appeared their Pater. Calestis, attended by 
Angels; patriarchs and glorified perfons upon that in 
the middle ; and mere men on the lowermod; and Hell 
(a mod neceflary member of thefe curious productions) 
was reprefented by a great gaping hole on the fide of that 
platform, that vomited fomething like flames; out of 
which their greatefl jokers, or Devils, afeended at times 
and mixed with the men; and into which they were com¬ 
monly driven in heaps at the drama’s conclufion s but 
this hell and the higher divifion vanilhed with the Myfle- 
ries; and the ftnge’s form, after that, was as above ; and fo 
it probably continued till the Refloration, the era of feenes 
and of ach'efles. 
A doubt has been entertained whether in our ancient 
theatres there were fide and other feenes. The quedion 
is involved in fo much obfeurity, that it is very difficult 
to form any decided opinion upon it. It is certain, that 
in the year 1605 Inigo Jones exhibited an entertainment 
at Oxford, in which moveable feenes were ufed; but he 
appears to have introduced feveral pieces of machinery in 
the mafques at court, with which undoubtedly the public 
theatres were unacquainted. A paffage which has been 
produced from one of the old comedies, proves, it mud 
be owned, that even thefe were furniflied with fome 
pieces of machinery, which were ufed when it was requifite 
to exhibit the defeent of fome god or faint; but from all 
the contemporary accounts, the mechanifm of our ancient 
dage feldom went beyond a painted chair or a trap-door, 
and that few, if any of them, had any moveable feenes. 
When King Henry VIII. is to be difeovered by the Dukes 
of Suffolk and Norfolk, reading in his ftudy, the fcenical 
direction in the fird folio, 1623, (which was printed appa¬ 
rently from playhoufe-copies,) is “The King draws the 
curtain, ( i. e. draws it open,) and fits reading penfively 
for, befuies the principal curtains that hung in the front of 
the dage, they ufed others as fubditutes for feenes. If a 
bed-chamber is to be exhibited, no change of feene is 
mentioned; but the property man is limply ordered to 
“ thrud forth a bed.” When the fable requires the Roman 
Capitol to be exhibited, we find two officers enter, “to 
lay cufhions, as it were in the Capitol,” &c. On the 
whole, it appears, that our ancient theatres, in general, 
were only furniflied with curtains, and a fingle feene cora- 
pofed of tapeftry, which were fometimes perhaps, orna¬ 
mented w'ith pictures; and fome paflages in our old 
dramas incline one to think, that when tragedies were 
performed the ftage was hung with black. 
As to the particular inftances wherein feenes were ufed, 
we fhall mention but one. The announcement of the 
Temple of Love, in 1654, performed at the theatre in- 
Blackfriars, fays, “ This mafque, for the invention, variety 
ifJ'cenes, apparitions, and richnefs of habits, was generally 
approved to be one of the moll magnificent that had been 
done in England.” 
It is probable that the ftage was formerly lighted by 
two large branches, of a form fimilar to thofe now hung 
in churches. They gave place in a fubfequent period to 
fmall circular wooden frames, furniflied with candles; 
eight of which were hung on the ftage, four at either fide, 
and thefe were wholly removed by Mr. Garrick, who, 
on his return from France, firft introduced the prefent 
commodious method of illuminating the ftage by lights 
not vifible to the audience. Many of the companies of 
players were formerly fo thin, that one perfon played two 
or three parts; and a battle on which the fate of an 
empire was fuppofed to depend was decided by half a 
dozen combatants. It appears to have been a common 
practice in their mock engagements to difeharge fmall 
ieces of ordnance on the ftage. Before the exhibition 
egan, three flourifhes or pieces of mufic were played, or, 
in the ancient language, there were three foundings. 
Mufic was likewife played between the a6b. The inftru- 
ments chiefly ufed were trumpets, cornets, and hautboys. 
The band, which did not confift of more than five or fix 
performers. 
