“Friday, May 20th, 1670. Four o’clock in the afternoon, and the performance about to begin. Stand at the back of the pit, now, and look at it. It will be a gala afternoon, since today most of the court attend the play. Nowhere will you get a better view of so many of these people gathered together, with an edge of wax-light on their faces; and you will see representatives from half London too. Grandee and Grandee’s Lady in the side boxes; in the pit, Fop and Trollop and even respectable young Ma...n of Affairs, with wife (Mr. Pepys of the Navy Office is a good example); Sedate Citizen in the middle gallery; Unnameable Public in the top gallery. Never expect, as you enter, to see anything like our modern theatre of 1815. There’ll be no drop curtain, as you observe; no floats or footlights to shine on it; such things have not yet been invented. Merely a raised platform of a stage, with double doors at the back and a smaller door flanking them on either side; above the stage, on ropes so that they may be raised or lowered, two chandeliers with crowns of candles.MoreLessRead More Read Less
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