The Stagery of Shakespeare. By R. Crompton Rhodes. (Birmingham :
Cornish. 4s. 6d.)—The word stagery is new to us, but it is undeniably useful, and if Mr. Crompton Rhodes has coined it he is, we think, justified, for in any discussion of what belongs to the action of a stage-play a single word to express this is almost a necessity ; and such is the theme of Mr. Rhodes's little book. It is a technical subject and, as such, its presentation must inevitably be somewhat dry, but with a little attention and good will, the reader will find much that is interesting and suggestive in Mr. Rhodes's theories, and even if they are not historically valid (which we are very far from asserting) they will be of considerable value to producers of Rilsabethan plays. Mr. Rhodes discusses very interestingly the stage-directions, explicit and implicit, in the original texts in quarto (authorized and unauthorized) and in folio, and on these and on the texts themselves he founds his theory of curtains. If we take the generally accepted idea of the Shakespearean triple stage, comprising the main stage, the after stage and the balcony, it is possible, assuming with Mr. Rhodes that the after stage was divided by curtains from the main stage, to present five distinct localities for changes of scene, namely : (1) The main stage—curtains closed ; (2) main stage and after stage— curtains open ; (3) main stage and balcony—curtains closed ;
(4) main stage, after stage and balcony—curtains open ; and
(5) balcony—curtains closed. Mr. Rhodes makes out a very good case in support of his theory, and for those interested in the question it would be an absorbing experiment to go through some of the plays and allocate the scenes in the light of his theory.
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