STEPHENSON'SiTHEATRE MACHINERY.
Mucti has been done by stage machinists to give effect to the meta. morphoses of pantomime and the scenic marvels of spectacle : a house
becomes a ruin in the twinkling of an eye-ghosts rise and mortals sink through the boards with magical celerity-a whole city slides down a chink in the floor, with a much ease as a letter drops into a post-box.
The machinery below ground at the Great Theatres-and at the Adel. phi, where the whole stage rises and sinks like the flying island of Laputa-is as complete as need be : butt above, the contrivances for
shifting the scenes are cumbrous and clumsy. The confusion behind the drop when a grand " tableau " is arranged, is prodigious : the num. her of scene-shifters hustling one another would form a very tolwable crowd in a pantomime.
These inconveniences are entirely obviated by the Patent Theatre Machinery, invented by Mr. MACDONALD STEPHENSON, Civil engineer, It is a complete apparatus for scene-shifting ; by which, with the aid of one.third the number of men, changes the most extensive are pro- duced instantaneously, with an ease and precision perfectly beautiful. By merely setting the machinery in motion, the " wings" simultune. ously present the proper bordering of grove or castle ; the "boarders' send down a sky or roof to match ; and the " drop " descends with the dis- tant view, without any noise or confusion, and in little more time than it has taken to read this sentence. With equal facility the breadth of the scene may be widened or narrowed, and the depth extended or dimi- nished. In short, the machinery (which is quite simple in its action) supplies a motive power applicable to all stage purposes. The in. provement that the adoption of this plan would produce in " stage effects," will be at once obvious to all who have been in the habit of attending the theatre on the first night of a spectiiele-and every new play partakes of this character now-a-days. Even at Covent Garden and the A delphi-the two houses where the scenic arrangements are the most complicated and the best worked-it scarcely ever happens that a first performance passes off without some untoward hitch in the scenery : a refractory arch refuses to meet its other half, and the laws of gravity are suspended for a while amid the laughter and hisses of the audience ; the sight of " a city divided against itself" is presented without any allegorical meaning; or the skirts of a wood are caught between the panels of a drawing-room. People are very impatient of such a contretemps-it destroys the scenic illusion so completely : even the Minors are expected to be perfect in these matters. A severe critic in the gallery of the Sorry Theatre, on the occurrence of some such unlucky accident, bawled out, " Ye don't come here for grammar, but you might join the scenes." This remark speaks volumes. The new machinery, by the way, dispenses with the use of scenes joined in the middle-" fiats" as they are technically termed; this is a great ad. vantage ; for besides the difficulty of getting them to unite, the jut* tion is disagreeably visible in a black line, with very dirty edges, cut- ting through the middle of a landscape, or dividing the pier-glass in a drawing-room.
The working model, that we saw set in motion at the office of the proprietors, (105, Upper Thames Street, close to London Bridge,) is adapted for a stage of time largest dimensions, with ten pair of" wings," for the scenist's fancy to soar withal : but the machinery is well suited to a small house; and it is, in fact, to be applied to Miss Ksi.i.v's pri- vate theatre, where economy of room is an object. In the model, Mr. STEPHENSON has introduced an idea of his own, that, judging from its effect on a small scale, appears to be a decided improvement: it consists in presenting a semicircular instead of a flat surface of canvas at the wings ; so that the framework of each wing, when fitted with the CallYaN, forms a circle, or cylinder, composed of parts of three dif- ferent scenes. III his plans, however, the wings are of a triangular foran-one face only being presented to the audience at a time. But the machinery is as readily applicable to the ordinary mode of sliding on the " wing" scenes, if preferred.
The apparatus is almost entirely of wrought and cast iron, or brass- affording additional security against fire ; and, when made, it can be fixed in a month, without interruption to the performances of the theatre : nor does it require any alteration of the existing scenery and decorations. The expense of the machinery will be repaid, it is calcu- lated, in three years, by the saving (about 70 per cent.) in wages alone. And in addition to the economy of stage.room and labour, and the advantages of celerity and precision in the changes of scenery, the
capabilities of the theatre for scenic effect are greatly increased, and the inconvenience attending the presence of a number of scene'
shifters on the stage during the perfortnance is obviated-the few men required (only two or three for a small stage) being only occupied for half an hour on the stage during the whole evening.
Though the immense improvement effected by the patent machinery is apparent at a glance to all who are familiar with stage-business, the testimony of an experienced practical man is too valuable a recom- mendation to be omitted. Mr. BEAZI.EY, the architect of eleven theatres, has expressed his unqualified approbation of it, and his inten- tion to adopt it when he shall have to erect a twelfth. Audiences as well as managers are interested in the success of the invention.
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