3-070-751 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Preparing for the Pantomime, 1881. 'Rehearsing Valentine & Orson pantomime, Covent Garden Theatre: The Genii of the Shield and the Demon; The bewildered manager; The Fairy examining her stage trap; The Bear Leaping [and] Hugging; The Obstinate Horse; A noble Saracen and his mask; Drilling the Army (to be) of noble Saracens...It is altogether erroneous to suppose that there is the slightest fascination or allurement in the busy, throbbing life behind the scenes...Just let us come behind the scenes and see...an organised confusion. Those who are inexperienced in the mere business of the stage cannot conceive how order can be produced from all this chaos...But, although the confusion of this stage would appear inextricable to the mere layman, practice has made perfect, and everyone knows, more or less, what to do at the right moment...Without absolute discipline a pantomime would be impossible, and obedience is exacted, from the most popular performer down to the humblest scene-shifter...there is framed for the guidance of everybody, from the highest to the lowest, a cede of signals that must be obeyed by the popular artist who is paid a salary of forty pounds a week down to the humble supernumerary who comes on for a shilling a night'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.