32 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
with flowers and leaves, which are painted in bright colors. 
The mantel is faced with the effect of gold-colored marble, 
and on its shelf there is a painted clock decorated with gar¬ 
lands, and two gold Ruskin vases. The lighting fixtures are 
baskets of flowers, and the shades dancing figures in black 
and white. The two garlanded wall console brackets, flank¬ 
ing the window, have each a light blue Ruskin vase, and the 
sashes of the window, which appear open in the photograph, 
were treated with gold Japanese silk gauze, while the over 
curtains were of violet and gold damask, and the valances of 
cream taffeta fringed with violet and decorated with gar¬ 
lands. The three bird cages are hung on tasseled cords and 
decorated with tassels below. In the center one, carrying out 
the suggestion of the act, we had placed a couple of real love 
birds, who remained pleasantly passive until the end of the 
dress rehearsal of the act, when a wild and noisy scene takes 
place on the stage, at which these two feathered creatures 
became inspired and quite drowned the voices of the cast, so 
that they had to be removed before the opening night, thus 
depriving us of the only note of green in the foreground, 
except the leaves of the roses in the black and white vase on 
the desk. 
For the wedding scene in Act Three, the set of Act One 
is repeated with the exception that the portieres are drawn 
back, showing a violet and gold altar in the hallway, flanked 
by two violet and gold floor candlesticks with their stems 
covered with velvet. An interesting factor in this set is that 
the author particularly states that there are no gas or electric 
outlets to be seen, so that the room would either have been 
lit by oil lamps or by candles. The latter means of illumina¬ 
tion was chosen, and the effect of real candlesticks was given 
to the wall brackets which were provided, but which do not 
appear in the photograph. 
In Act Four, the expression of a comfortable man’s room 
was attempted by means of blue chintz curtains and valances 
with rose flowers upon them, cream-colored net, two blue 
velvet chairs and one chintz wing chair, a tan carpet, a blue 
and tan striped wall paper effect, a long oak table, an Eng¬ 
lish fire seat and a small Jacobean table and side chair. The 
sporting prints, above the bookcase, were later hung upon 
the walls of the room, and the portrait of Miss George over 
the mantel, is one of the properties essential to the play. 
The Bandbox Theater 
If one passes from these fairly elaborate settings to the 
work of the Washington Square Players, at the Bandbox 
Theater, one enters, in a sense, into an entirely different type 
of activity, for the decorative ideal is not the same. Aside 
from the fact that the stage of the Bandbox is smaller than 
that of the average playhouse, and that the players could not 
have afforded the expensive productions shown above, there 
is a signal difference in the theory behind the contrast which 
exists; for the Washington Square Players are readers and 
followers of Reinhardt, Gordon Craig and the rest of the 
Europeans, who have influenced several American productions 
very strongly. It does not seem to me that the conventional 
American theater can, or should, at present turn away from 
the realistic reproduction of stage settings, but it is very proper 
indeed that a special organization, like the Washington Square 
Players, should do so. So we have the effect of extreme sim¬ 
plicity in all their interiors, the attractiveness of which de¬ 
pends more on simple color effects and upon a conscious avoid¬ 
ance of any attempt to produce actual rooms. 
In Mr. Goodman’s play, “Eugenically Speaking,” last year, 
there was absolutely nothing on the stage except the few 
things shown in this photograph : a queerly constructed mirror 
on a standard, which is one of the necessary properties, an 
armchair, a side chair in black, a kidney-shaped table and 
console table and a lamp. The color notes are provided by 
the pillow and lamp shade, the door and the frieze, which 
were given a design suggesting apples and leaves. This play 
was a sprightly comedy, and the setting, with its vivid color¬ 
ings, suggested that. 
In the more serious drama, “Saviors,” spots of equally 
bright color were provided, but in a more dignified fashion, 
there being curtains and a cushion and pillows on the day 
bed of vivid green, while one of the extra pillows was of 
lavender, and the lamp shade and perfume burner on the 
dressing-table, of bright orange. The walls and floors were 
grey. Little furnished as this room seems to be, it was really 
quite sufficient for the necessities of the play. 
A drawing-room of the sort found in old Washington Square houses was called for in “The New York Idea.” Seemly and conventional 
with just enough of a modern touch to carry out the modern spirit of the play, it made an excellent background for Miss Grace George 
