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play was performed within a play, the balcony was made use of either for the auditory present or as a stage for the performance of the auxiliary play. Shakspeare himself furnishes an instance of either practice. Sly would act in the balcony to see the Taming of the Shrew, and the mockplay in Hamlet was certainly acted on the upper stage. The first regular theatres were nearly as destitute of outward decoration as their beggarly predecessors(the court-yards of inns) had been. The absence of such essential articles as theatrical furniture is a decided proof of the excessive deficiency of the first dramatic establishnments. The account books of Queen Elizabeth's«Master of the Revels» for 1571, and several subsequent years, clearly demonstrate the use of four varieties of scenery in almost every masque or play performed at court. 1) Temporary erections on the stage; 2) paintings on framed canvass; 3) mechanical contrivances; and 4) furniture and general properties.

A striking contrast was offered by the rich equipment of the royal stage and the destitute state of the other theatres.

Simple hangings of arras or tapestry was all the ornament the stage could boast of, and this, as it became decayed or torn, was clumsily repaired by the display of pictures over the defect parts. A plain curtain hung up in a corner, separated distant regions. A board on which was written the name of a country or a city, indicated the scenery, the change of which was proclaimed by the removal of one board and the substitution of another: a table with a pen and ink thrust in signified that the stage was to represent a counting house; if these were withdrawn, and two chairs put in their places, it was a tavern. It was not always thought necessary to clear the stage previous to putting up one of these most primitive expediences. When the theatres were entirely destitute of scenery, the protruded board indicated that the empty stage was to be considered a house, a city, a wood or any other place.— For a long time the theatres could not afford particular decorations for the different sceneries of a play; therefore it frequently happened that one painting had to represent the metropolis of different countries within a few hours. Special arrangements on the stage, necessary for the scene, were often made. Many of the ancient plays require for their perfor- mance the use of a somewhat complicated machinery, as for instance the entering of Ariel in Shakspeare's Tempest; the descending of Juno in the same play; the descending of Jupiter in Cymbeline; the rising ghost in Macbeth. They had also their contrivances to represent the chelh) and cheaven).

For the performance of masques and regular dramas at court, the dresses worn by the actors were remarkable for their elegance and splendour. Gold, silver, silk, satin, velvet, and feathers, in every variety of colour and combination, were wasted in adorning the actors. In spite of their great deficiencies, various circumstances contributed to enable the other- private theatres to emulate the Royal stage: the left off wardrobes of the noble and wealthy found here a welcome bargain for the theatres, and the dresses used at the performances at court were also taken possession of by them..

In order to announce to the public the entertainment prepared for them, the manager availed himself of the multiplicity of posts which formerly encumbered the streets of the metropolis: their conspicuousness being extremely favorable to the display of bills of the performance. The hour of performance varied at the different theatres from between one to three 0' clock in the afternoon.