To make the plays successful, select a house which has two parlors,
connected by large folding doors or an arch ; one parlor being for the
audience and one for the stage. All the furniture and carpets should
be taken from the latter room. A rough staging should be built
(boards can easily be hired), and by boring a hole in the floor a gas
pipe can be run along the front of the staging with a sufficient number
of burners. Tin shades, painted green — as they render the light softer
and more agreeable to the eye — are an addition, for they keep the light
from the audience and throw it directly on the actors. A large floor
cloth can be nailed on the stage for a carpet. A drop curtain, so
arranged as to be rolled up quickly and easily by means of a cord pul-
ley at one side of the stage, where the prompter sits, just out of sight
of the' audience, is necessary. Scenery for the sides and back parts of
the stage can be roughly painted on cloth ; it answers every purpose
of canvas by being stretched when wet over light wooden frames
MAKE-UP AND WARDROBE. 5-9
(made so as to be easily moved). When dry it represents a smooth,
hard surface.
With old finery and a little ingenuity the accessories can be easily
supplied. Rocks can be made by throwing plain gray shawls over
ottomans, tables, etc., and rain may be imitated by dropping peas in a
tin pan, thunder by rattling sheet-iron, lightning by means of a tin
tube, larger at one end than the other and filled with powdered resin.
The smaller end of the tube should be open, the other end so managed
that the resin may sift through. Shake the tube over a lamp, or blow
the resin through a plain tube into the flame of a lamp, and you will
have a good imitation of lightning. I would advise you to practice on
this outside if you want to make a success of it without burning
yourselves.
Dissolve crystals of nitrate of copper in spirits of wine, light the
solution and it will burn with a beautiful emerald green flame. Pieces
of sponge soaked in this spirit, lighted and suspended by fine wires
over the stage of theatres produce the lambent green flames now so
common in incantation scenes. Strips of flannel saturated with it and
wrapped around pieces of copper will form the swords and fire-forks
brandished by the demons in such scenes. Devices like the above are
very simple and add much to the general effect.
MAKE-UP AND WARDROBE.
To give the required expressions to the faces a box of good water
colors, some fine chalk powder, a camel's hair pencil and rouge saucers
are wanted. To make frowns, scowls or comical expressions, such as
a broad grin, smirk or simper, stand before a mirror and assume the
desired expression ; then trace the wrinkles produced with a fine brush
of the brown tint; this will fix the required expression of the face.
Rouge is best applied with the finger. Burnt cork is excellent for dark-
ening eyebrows and making mustaches, also for representing leanness,
which can be done by applying a faint tinge just under the eyes, on
the sides of the cheeks and under the lower lip. A strong mark, run-
ning from the corner of the nose down towards the corner of the
mouth on each side marks age or emaciation.
Page 52
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To make the plays successful, select a house which has two parlors, connected by large folding doors or an arch ; one parlor being for the audience and one for the stage. All the furniture and carpets should be taken from the latter room. A rough staging should be built (boards can easily be hired), and by boring a hole in the floor a gas pipe can be run along the front of the staging with a sufficient number of burners. Tin shades, painted green — as they render the light softer and more agreeable to the eye — are an addition, for they keep the light from the audience and throw it directly on the actors. A large floor cloth can be nailed on the stage for a carpet. A drop curtain, so arranged as to be rolled up quickly and easily by means of a cord pulley at one side of the stage, where the prompter sits, just out of sight of the audience, is necessary. Scenery for the sides and back parts of the stage can be roughly painted on cloth ; it answers every purpose of canvas by being stretched when wet over light wooden frames
MAKE-UP AND WARDROBE. 59
(made so as to be easily moved). When dry it represents a smooth, hard surface.
With old finery and a little ingenuity the accessories can be easily supplied. Rocks can be made by throwing plain gray shawls over ottomans, tables, etc., and rain may be imitated by dropping peas in a tin pan, thunder by rattling sheet-iron, lightning by means of a tin tube, larger at one end than the other and filled with powdered resin. The smaller end of the tube should be open, the other end so managed that the resin may sift through. Shake the tube over a lamp, or blow the resin through a plain tube into the flame of a lamp, and you will have a good imitation of lightning. I would advise you to practice on this outside if you want to make a success of it without burning yourselves.
Dissolve crystals of nitrate of copper in spirits of wine, light the solution and it will burn with a beautiful emerald green flame. Pieces of sponge soaked in this spirit, lighted and suspended by fine wires over the stage of theatres produce the lambent green flames now so common in incantation scenes. Strips of flannel saturated with it and wrapped around pieces of copper will form the swords and fire-forks brandished by the demons in such scenes. Devices like the above are very simple and add much to the general effect.
MAKE-UP AND WARDROBE.
To give the required expressions to the faces a box of good water colors, some fine chalk powder, a camel's hair pencil and rouge saucers are wanted. To make frowns, scowls or comical expressions, such as a broad grin, smirk or simper, stand before a mirror and assume the desired expression ; then trace the wrinkles produced with a fine brush of the brown tint; this will fix the required expression of the face. Rouge is best applied with the finger. Burnt cork is excellent for darkening eyebrows and making mustaches, also for representing leanness, which can be done by applying a faint tinge just under the eyes, on the sides of the cheeks and under the lower lip. A strong mark, running from the corner of the nose down towards the corner of the mouth on each side marks age or emaciation.