The regular dramas, such as
the Elizabethan public supported, could boast few attractions of this
kind. It was altogether without movable scenery, although possessed of
a balcony or upper stage, used to represent, now the walls of a city,
as in "King John," now the top of a tower, as in "Henry VI.", or
"Antony and Cleopatra," and now the window to an upper chamber. Mr.
Payne Collier notes that in one of the oldest historical plays extant,
"Selimus, Emperor of the Turks," published in 1594, there is a
remarkable stage direction demonstrating the complete absence of
scenery, by the appeal made to the simple good faith of the audience.
The hero is represented conveying the body of his father in a solemn
funeral procession to the Temple of Mahomet. The stage direction runs:
"Suppose the Temple of Mahomet"--a needless injunction, as Mr. Collier
remarks, if there had existed the means of exhibiting the edifice in
question to the eyes of the spectators. But the demands upon the
audience to abet the work of theatrical illusion, and with their
thoughts to piece out the imperfections of the dramatists, are
frequently to be met with in the old plays.
Pages:
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260