A MINIATURE THEATRE
A miniature theatre, equipped with curtain, flies, drops, wings, and
several good sets of scenery, is an unfailing source of interest and
amusement. It has long been popular in Paris even as a professional
form of entertainment. Fig. 1 gives the front elevation of a miniature
theatre; and Fig. 2, a side view, illustrates the location of the working
parts, and the manner of arranging the wings, drops, and flies.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
This theatre must be made of such a size that when it is placed at one
end of a room the audience will have a good view of the fore, middle, and
back ground. A good size for the stage is four feet wide and five feet
long over all, the front being slightly curved, as shown at B in Fig.
3. The proscenium should be four feet wide, three feet high, and with a
sight-opening three feet wide and thirty inches high.
The proscenium is made from three boards seven inches wide and
seven-eighths of an inch thick. The upper corners are bevelled and
mitred, so that the inner edges will be recessed, as shown in the plan
drawing Fig. 3 A A. The top-rails are caught at the front to the top of
the proscenium with screws, and are supported at the rear and middle by
uprights, the lower ends of which are let into the sides or edge of the
stage, and then made fast with glue and screws, as shown at C C C C in
Fig. 3. Cross-braces at the back and middle of the top are screwed to the
top-rails for strength. Bracket or brace pieces are caught at the rear of
the last rail and to the rear of the last uprights midway between stage
and top, and are made fast with glue and screws, as shown in Fig. 4.
These will hold the framework securely in position.
Gas, electric light, or candles may be used for the footlights. If gas
is employed a small pipe should run along under the front of the stage.
Over this pipe a tin cornice is arranged with holes made through it every
three inches. These holes should be just large enough to admit gas-jets
which project through it, as shown in Fig. 5. The supply of gas can be
controlled at one side by means of a key, so that the lights may be
lowered or turned up full. If candles are used they should be arranged on
a board, so that as they burn lower and lower the board can be raised. If
electric lights are available, they are the best of all, since the danger
of fire is reduced to a minimum. The small sockets, wire, and lamps used
for Christmas-trees can be employed, and will give very good results.
Scenery and Equipment
After the constructional work of the stage and frame is complete, it
will be necessary to make the scenery and equipment. It will be best to
have two curtains, the first a fancy one which can be painted on muslin
or a window-shade. Window-shades come printed with pictures on them,
and these can be strengthened with oil paints diluted or thinned with
benzine. A very pretty outer curtain can be made from a printed Japanese
silk panel, such as are for sale in the art and dry goods-stores. This
can be sewed on a plain piece of goods, and the upper end made fast to a
shade-roller, as shown in Fig. 9. The main curtain may be of denim, stout
muslin, or any suitable cloth or fabric. It is nailed to a round stick (a
curtain-pole is preferable), which is cut at the ends as shown in Fig. 6.
The draw-string is wound in this groove, and so the curtain is raised and
lowered. The shade-roller curtain is the outer one, and is attached to
the frame at the top, and just back of the proscenium, as shown at B in
Fig. 2. The main curtain is just inside the outer one, and is made fast
to a stick near the outer curtain-roller. When down, the roller rests on
the stage just back of the proscenium, as shown at C in Fig. 2. When the
curtain is rolled up to the top of the proscenium-opening, a few turns of
cord are taken about each end of the roller in the groove. The cords then
pass through screw-eyes to the back of the stage-frame, where they can
be held on a small cleat. Both cords pass through the same eyes, so that
the pair of strings may be operated by one hand. The drop-curtains at the
back of the stage are painted on window-shades, the rollers of which are
hung on blocks at the under side of the top-rails and close to the rear
uprights, as shown at A A A in Fig. 2.
[Illustration: DETAILS OF STAGE
FIG. 2. FIG. 3. FIG. 4. FIG. 5.]
The flies are strips of muslin painted to represent sky in out-door
scenes and ceilings in interior sets. The flies are tacked on a stick,
the ends of which project beyond the body part of the fly so that they
may rest on the top-rails of the stage-frame, as shown in Fig. 7. The fly
part drops down two or three inches below the upper framework, so as to
be visible to the spectators. The wings are of card-board or stiffened
muslin tacked on frames, the bottoms of which rest on the stage. The
upper part is held between the runners, or cross-rails, fastened to the
under side of the top-rails, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
The front and back of a wing is shown at Fig. 8. The front, A, is the
smooth side on which the tree or other feature can be painted. The back,
B, shows how the frame is made to support this piece of scenery. The
frame should be constructed of pine sticks three-quarters of an inch wide
and half an inch thick. Where they cross each other laps should be cut
out of each piece, so that one will lie flat in the lap of the other. The
surfaces of all the sticks being on one plane, the frame offers a flat
surface for the material to back against.
An independent piece of scenery, such as the house, tree, fence, and
bushes shown in Fig. 10, will have to be built upon a frame, and a foot
must be provided so that it will stand on the stage independent of any
top, bottom, or side braces. The manner of doing this is shown in Fig.
11, the two feet being “loaded” with pieces of lead at the ends of the
feet so that the house cannot topple forward. Very pretty scenes can be
made from card-board and of stiffened goods, such as crinoline, over
which the painting can be done. Books, magazines, and photographs can be
drawn on to offer suggestions for scenery and interiors, and the smart
boy, who has some idea of perspective, can design and make some most
attractive stage-settings for this miniature theatre.
The Puppets
The actors and actresses should be celluloid or _papier-maché_ dolls,
their feet being attached to thin strips of wood, which can lie flat on
the stage and be operated from the sides. When the stage is on a line
with the eyes of the audience, these thin strips will hardly be noticed.
Jointed dolls may be used for the actors who have occasion to sit during
the performance, but it is difficult to bring about the change of posture
without destroying the illusion. Trap doors and other pieces of stage
machinery may be added as found necessary, and there is no limit to the
ingenuity that may be exercised in equipping our miniature stage.
[Illustration: SCENERY SETS
FIG. 7. FIG. 8. FIG. 9. FIG. 10. FIG. 11.]
Of course the speaking parts are taken by boy and girl performers, who
stand on either side of the stage, and are concealed from the view of the
spectators by screens or curtains. The stage-manager and his assistant
stand still closer in, so as to manipulate the puppets. A curtain-bell
arranged under the stage, and rung by a knocker or electric apparatus,
adds to the realism.
This theatre is to be mounted on two horses, and it must so be screened
off that nothing is visible but the proscenium, fore-stage, and
footlights. This curtaining may be done with heavy muslin, or Canton
flannel of dark color, or any material through which light will not show.