The conditions under which music and dancing licences are granted vary according to the area in which the premises to be licensed are situate. The London County Council deals with all licensing within the administrative county of London. Premises situate within the administrative county of Middlesex are gov erned by the Music and Dancing Licences (Middlesex) Act, 1894; and certain portions of the home counties (Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertford, Kent, etc.), are now governed by the Home Counties (Music and Dancing) Licensing Act, 1926. Outside these areas, either part IV. of the Public Health Act, 1890, applies, or the licensing of music and dancing is provided for by local acts. In London, Middlesex and the home counties, licences are granted by the county councils, and elsewhere by the licensing justices, to such persons as they think fit, for any specified period up to one year. Except in the case of licences granted by the London County Council, it is made a condition of every licence that an inscription must be affixed to licensed premises stating that they are licensed pursuant to the act of parliament, and that such premises may only be kept open during specified hours. A licence which is granted only for music does not authorize public dancing and vice versa (Brown v. Nugent, 1872, L.R. 7, Q.B. 588).
Neither a theatre licence nor a music and dancing licence is required in the case of an army or navy recreation room which is managed or conducted under the authority of a secretary of State or the Admiralty. A theatre licence does not dispense with the necessity of holding a licence for music or dancing, and vice versa. Licensing authorities have a discretion to refuse a theatre or music and dancing licence or to grant it only subject to such conditions as they think fit to impose; but they must act reasonably (Reg. v. West Riding County Council, 1896, 2 Q.B. 386).
iner of plays to assist him. The stage censorship, thus constituted, was continued by the Theatres Act, Stage plays produced anywhere in Great Britain are now under the absolute control of the lord chamberlain of His Majesty's household. Under the Theatres Act, 1843, the lord chamberlain is empowered :—(a) to license every new stage play or any new addition to an old stage play or to an old prologue or epilogue which is intended to be produced and acted for hire in any theatre in Great Britain (s. 12) ; (b) to control all stage plays, whether new or old, by forbidding them to be acted or presented if he is of opinion that it is fitting for the preservation of good manners, decorum, or of the public peace to do so (s. The lord chamberlain's "Regulations for the Submission of Stage Plays" set out the procedure to be observed in applying for a licence to perform a stage play, and the fees to be paid for the licences required. (See also Theatres Act, s. 13.) A licence is only required if the performance is to be given "for hire" in a theatre; and a performance is only deemed to be given "for hire" if any money or other consideration is taken, directly or indirectly, for admission to the performance, or if it takes place in any house, room, etc., in which distilled or fermented excisable liquor is sok; (s. 16). The lord chamberlain's regulations lay down some of the grounds on which the lord chamberlain may intervene to prohibit the performance or refuse a licence. As to penalties, see Theatres Act, s. 15, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act, 1925 (s. 43) Days and Times of Performances.—The Sunday Observance Act, 1781, prohibits the opening on Sundays of any premises for public entertainment or amusement, to which the public are ad mitted by the payment of money or by tickets sold for money. The Act does not apply to religious meetings, or to any entertainment to which persons are admitted without payment. Licences fre quently contain a condition that performances shall not take place on certain specified days, and sec. 8 of the Theatres Act, 1843, empowers the lord chamberlain to order any patent theatre or theatres licensed by him to be closed on such public occasions.
Theatres under the jurisdiction of the lord chamberlain are not under any restrictions as to the hours for performances ; but other licensing authorities may make rules regulating the times during which the theatres within their jurisdiction may be opened (s. 9 of Theatres Act, 1843). Premises licensed for music and dancing, etc., may only be opened for those purposes between noon and midnight ; but the Licensing Statutes provide for these hours being extended on special occasions if permission is first obtained from the licensing authority.