STAGE, THE (OF. estage, Fr. etage, stage, floor, loft, from Lat. stare, to stand; ultimately connected with Eng. stand). A term frequently employed to designate the profession of the actor. This will accordingly be discussed in the present article, with reference especially to the life and training of actors, past and present; while in the article THEATRE will be found details of the construction and management of theaties as they affect the audience. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century the actor was classified by English law with vagabonds. In the Middle Ages actors, like poets and musicians, were more or less upon a footing with the household serv ants of the great; in fact, often were the servants of the nobility. Until 1875 in great Eng lish houses it was not uncommon to see a silken cord placed somewhere in one of the draw ing rooms to separate the artists or performers at a formal soiree from the invited guests. If this was the feeling toward acknowledged artists, it can be readily believed that the strolling player from Shakespeare's time down to the beginning of the last century was looked upon as but one step above the tramp. Within the last fifty years the social status of the actor has vastly improved, because of the more universal interest taken in stage performances, the higher salaries paid to actors, and the better organiza tion of the theatrical business as a whole. For the first time in the history of England an actor, Sir Henry Irving, has been knighted for his ser vices to the stage. With the growth of importance of the theatrical business, the character of its management has changed. with a decided loss in some directions and a gain in others. The old time manager from Shakespeare's day to that of Sir Henry Irving in England, and of Lester Wallack in this country, was always an. actor and not a business man. Within the last twenty-five years the management, of most Allied can theatres has fallen into the hands of busi ness men, with a consequent loss in artistic quality and a gain in financial stability. The per manency of theatrical enterprises, and the fair certainty that contracts will be carried out, have made the profession less of a hazardous under taking than it formerly was. At the same time, the fact that theatrical contracts are seldom made but for one season, commonly of forty weeks, that few plays please the public for more than a year, and that there are always several thousand unemployed actors and actresses in the United States alone, renders the actor's life, for the rank and file at least, a more or less un certain one. Among the other disadvantages of
the stage as a profession may be mentioned the absence of home life, nine-tenths of the profession having to travel from town to town, and the loss of earning capacity after a certain age. The ad vantages of the profession are that it requires no capital, and that there is always a possibility of earning a much larger salary than the average man or woman can expect in other businesses or professions.
Within the last thirty years the num ber of theatres in this country has increased from hundreds to thousands, and according to trustworthy statistics there are now about 10, 000 stage performers in the United States, to which number must he added about as many more persons employed as musicians, scenic artists, stage hands, costumers, and theatrical employees, making an army of about 20,000 persons who look to the stage for support. The people on the stage are employed by 400 theatrical companies, with an average of twenty persons to each company, The Actors' Fund of America. the charitable or ganization of the dramatic profession in the United States, has a record of 17,000 persons employed in capacities entitling them to its recog nition. Pew plays are given in Germany and France for more than a few weeks at a time. In England and the United States the same play is performed as long as it attracts a playing audi ence, and most American companies are organized for one particular play, which is given through out the season. This system entails constant traveling, which is one of the hardships of the actor's life. Scores of companies play the 'one night stands.' as they are called, for month after month right through the season, traveling by day and acting at night. Miss Clara Morris, in her reminiscences, speaks of traveling all day without food to get to a town where she had to play the light-hearted daughter of a millionaire in the evening; she had to wear a low-necked dress upon a stage in Winnipeg, with Arctic blasts sweeping the stage; while a month later in Texas, with the thermometer at 100°, the part called for furs.