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HOW ‘TO BECOME AN ‘ACTOR, 8
““ Plats,” or scenes at the back, upon frames, to draw off
and on, will be found too difficult to use in drawing-
rooms, as they necessitate the use of grooves above for . .
them to slide in; therefore, I would suggest the use of
. drops "—that is, scenes working after the manner of the
‘curtain, and when drawn up, concealed behind the “ bor-
ders,” or straight rows of muslin, tacked horizontally
across the top, and forming the ceiling of the scene, when
completed.
In order that there shall be as little cost as possible in
furnishing the scenery, let one lad, who’ has a taste for
drawing, stretch the “drop” upon a‘bare ‘floor (drawn
tightly and tacked to the boards), and then, take a wood,
a garden, or a parlor, and with a piece of charcoal, copy
the trees, etc., upon the muslin, and then paint them in to
the best of his ability. The same plan should be followed
with the ‘ wings.”
Care should be taken, however, not to remove the paint-
ings from the floor until they are quite dry, and then
. stretch them over the frames and fasten securely,
One set of *‘ wings” should be braced firmly to the floor,
and when a change of. scene is required, the “drop” may
be drawn up and the other ‘‘ wings” slid in and rested ~
. against the braced ones. Lamps may be placed on each
side of the proscenium, and if footlights are desired, a
board may be put across before the curtain, with several
lamps placed so as to shine directly upon the stage, while
‘the board prevents them from glaring upon the audience.
The effect can be heightened by a board with a row of
candles in tin plates to catch the wax, behind each “ bor-
der,” so that they may shine down upon the actors; but.
this is both troublesome and dangerous, as the ceiling is
liable to be smutted, and a breath of air may blow the
dangling ‘‘ borders” into the flame and produce a disas-
“srous effect,
This done, the stage may be set as the play requires.
. Should the action require a storm, peas may be shaken
upon the head of a drum. to imitate the rain, a sheet of
zine will furnish thunder, and the effect of lightning may
be produced with no danger by filling an ordinary putty-
blower with licopodtum and blowing it into the flame of a