The first theatre in America was opened at Williamsburg, Va., 5 Sept. 1752. Others followed at Annapolis, Md., and in Nassau street, New York, in 1753, Albany, 1769, Balti more, 1773, Charleston, S. C., 1774, New bern, N. C., 1778, and Boston, 1792. Modern theatres are comparatively small because it has been found that the voice cannot be dis tinctly heard without straining more than 90 feet in front of the speaker. Little change was made in theatrical architecture during the 19th century. In the latter half of the century sumptuous houses were erected on the Con tinent and in England and America, of which the most celebrated was the Paris Grand Opera. Notwithstanding the vast size of the building, the auditorium contains only 2,194 seats. By far the greater part of the building is occu pied by a vast number of rooms, halls, stair cases, shops, etc., appurtenances designed for the convenience and pleasure of the spectators and of those connected with the theatre. In magnificence and costliness the Paris Grand Opera was easily the first theatre of the 19th century. In the opening decades of the 20th century several monumental playhouses were erected in England, and in the United States; of these one of the most remarkable if not the most beautiful in design and appointments is the Century Theatre, New York. In this century also playhouses began to be constructed once more as isolated buildings in which ex terior design played a large part. The interior arrangements of modern American theatres are superior in comfort and convenience to those of Europe, although the latter are often lavishly decorated. In America, seating, heating, ventila tion, exits and fireproof construction receive the most careful attention. The largest theatre in America is the New York Hippodrome, which seats over 5,000 and is used for spectacu lar entertainments. The modern theatre con tains like its prototypes the two essentials of auditorium and the stage. To the auditorium are now appended corridors, foyers, lounging rooms, etc., also an outer lobby, vestibule and approaches. The auditorium is generally of the horseshoe type, but in many recent construc tions the rows of seats on the ground floor and balcony are kept straight. A special de velopment is the modern opera-house with as many as five balconies and a large number of boxes. In the modern playhouse there are few boxes; the ground floor has a steep pitch so that the spectators in each row may view the stage clearly over the heads of those in the row in front. The first balcony is more steeply pitched than the ground floor, and the second and succeeding balconies still more. Lavish decoration after the Italian and French models is giving way to straight lines and bare walls with a simple color scheme. The acoustic problem is one of the most serious with which the architect of theatres has to deal. The stage is now the most elaborate part of the theatre. The opening on the auditorium is from 25 to 35 or 40 feet wide and from 14 to 22 feet high. The stage is frequently twice the height of the proscenium so that all scenery ("drops," etc.) may be hung above the proscenium opening when not in use. The set-scene is now in very general use and to a great extent eliminates the necessity for a high stage. The set-scene is built so solidly and reproduces the condi tions of nature with such completeness as scarcely to make any demands on the imagina tive faculty of the spectators. If a room is
represented, the walls and ceiling are built with marvelous solidity, a chandelier hangs from the centre of the ceiling; the doors shut with an unmistakable bang; the windows open and close better than they sometimes do in actual life. In elaborate plays whole pieces of scenery are raised through large transverse openings in the stage by means of platforms called bridges. These work in and out of the well or cellar, a space under the stage nearly as deep as the proscenium opening is high. Above the stages are the flies, larger lateral gal leries, in which the scene-men ("fly-men))) work their ropes and pulleys. Higher still is the Grid-iron, an open line of strong beams from which various borders or drops are hung. Above this is the barrel-loft or rigging-loft, in which are the drums, pulleys or windlasses by which the curtains and clothes are worked. With the extensive use of elaborate scenes and the demand for rapid shifting there has been developed the revolving stage, which is a circular platform about 40 feet in diameter and revolving on a shaft embedded in concrete. This circular platform is capable of holding about four sets which can be brought before the audience by revolving the platform. The sliding stage is one of double width and which is moved laterally so that on the concealed half the following scene may be set up while the play proceeds on the exposed half.
Perhaps the greatest change in the modern as compared with the older theatres is in the lighting arrangement due to the introduction of electricity. The lights in the trough below are called footlights, those above border lights. There are sets of bulbs in white and in two or more colors. Dimmers are used to lower the intensity of the bulbs. All lights (except perhaps the spotlights) are now con trolled from a single switchboard at the side of the stage. Recently several open-air theatres have been constructed in America. Some of these are of the ancient type, as that at Berke ley, Cal., while others are of the so-called garden type in which the landscape architect plays a leading role. There is a good example of the garden type at Vassar College. Among recent innovations in theatrical structure are the little theatres, some of which seat only 100, and the portmanteau theatre, an approach to the medieval traveling theatre, but more artistic and better adapted to the present-day intimate form of drama.
Bibliography.— Haigh, A. E., 'The Attic Theatre) (3d ed., revised by A. W. Pickard, Oxford 1907) ; Barnett, L. D., (The Greek Drama' (London 1900) ; Smith, William, 'Dic tionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities' (3d ed., London 1891) ; Mau, A., 'Pompeii) (2d ed., New York 1902) ; Dorpfeld and Reisch,