sae
`ay
`
`te
`
`ht
`
`oe
`
`
`
`hi,
`
`si
`
`FEBRUARY 15, 1936)
`
`‘ Social Stoedies Section.
`
`The Evolution of
`“theModernTheatre Ticket
`
`
`
`19.
`
`
`
`‘
`
`F all the problems which have
`beset
`the managers of thea-
`tres in the past four hundred
`years, nonce has been more
`pressing thanthe question of how, best
`to admit persons desirous of seeing
`a play. The possibility of
`rushing
`into a theatre two minutes before the
`rising of the cnrtain, and, by virtue |
`fa ticket‘parchased two weeks be-
`ivee, taking possession of anaisle seat
`in the: front row of the second balcony,
`was a_ possibility unknown to play-
`goers before the end of the nineteenth
`century. To savor fully this luxury
`which we now take for granted, it
`is
`necessary to revisualize the impatient
`waitings which our
`forefathers en-
`dured before the appearance of =
`numbered ticket.
`In Shakespeare’s day there were
`no tickets
`at’ all...
`An. Elizabethan
`J gentleman paid~u general. admission
`fee at
`the door, another
`fee to the
`attendant inside for the ‘privilege ‘of
`standing with the groundlings, and a
`4third. fee ‘to another: attendant..if she
`
`“Nitished, to sit in style. A century later,
`‘there were still no printed tickets, but
`a step in that direction had. been taken
`‘thy the introduction of the token sys-
`tem. A Restoration beau. paid’ his
`money for the pit or gallery at
`the
`“door to the doorkeeper. He received
`in return a metal check labelled: pit
`or gallery, depending upon the: part
`of the house. to which he had paid his
`fee. These tokens were collected by
`the -attendants inside.. They served
`merely to indicate the possessor’s right
`.to“enter a specific part of thehouse.
`Theydid not guarantee a seat, The
`admission fee to the boxes was still
`collected by the box-keeper between
`the acts just as in-the days of.
`the
`inn-yard theatre when a: box was
`passed among the.
`guests of the inn who-
`viewed.
`the perform-
`ance from the upper
`windows. or. balconies.
`This obviously allowed
`a considerable latitude
`of eredit, both to the
`box-keeper and to the
`occupants of the boxes,
`~“and all due and undue
`advantage was.
`taken
`of it. As a result, by
`the end -of theseven-
`“teenth century, metal
`checks were already
`
`beginning to be issued
`
`for the boxes also. The purpose of
`these metal.
`tokens was ‘to maintain
`a “check” upon .the money takers,
`whose
`sleight-of-hand performances
`with theatrical. reccipts were famous.
`Such metal checks as those ‘in the
`Restoration theatres were.used for
`. tickets almost.exclusively; until, the last
`quarter of
`the. eighteenth century.
`Printed tickets appeared early in the
`eighteenth century: but only upon spe-
`cial occasions.
`They were. introduced °'
`by actors and actresses whoin solicit-
`ing “the Favour of
`the Town”
`for
`their
`benefit nights,
`found paper
`tickets more: convenient
`than: heavy
`inetal tokens to enclose with their let-.
`ters requesting patronage. Theonly
`advantage to the playgoer which these
`tickets afforded was the possibility of
`purchasing them in advance. But un-
`til
`the end of the century even this
`advantage was
`confined to~ benefit
`nights,
`for on ordinary play nights
`the playgoer merely paid his money
`at the door, and received a metal check
`which was collected by an attendant
`inside.
`.There were no
`printed, numbered. tickets
`-procurable
`in «advance,
`and there was no limit to
`the: number of “admis-
`sions” sold upon any: one
`night. Asa result, on
`popular play nights, few
`people sat. The members
`of
`the
`audience were
`packed in. as tightly as
`the proverbial
`sardines
`and frequently “overflow-
`ed from every Part. of
`the House”
`_with much.
`‘disappointment
`to those
`unable to gain admittance.
`
`.
`
`By
`La Tourette Stockwell
`
`The procuring of a seat, therefore,
`in an eighteenth century playhouse, as
`in the Elizabethan and Restoration
`theatres, was largely a matter of first
`come,first served, and possession was
`ten points of the law.
`To be assured
`of a seat,
`it was eee to go to
`the ‘theatre several hours in advance
`of the scheduled hour of performance,
`choose one, and then sit. Ladies and
`gentlemen of quality sent servants to
`keep places for them and hence such
`notices as the following appear ap-
`pended to the theatrical advertise-
`ments of
`the day: “The Ladies are
`requested to send their Servants by
`four to keep places and it is hoped.
`they will come,carly to prevent Dis-
`order.”
`‘This keeping of places was:
`permitted in.
`the boxes only, byt on
`‘nights when an overflow was expected,
`the first few rows of the pit usually
`were .railed , in: with. the, boxes, and...
`servants -were allowed to keep places
`there also...
`In the pit and gallery, no
`person was allowed to’keep a place
`for anyoneelse, so that many a citizen
`and apprentice found it necessary to
`neglect his work in order
`to, arrive
`at the playhouse early enough to get
`a goodseat.
`“The length of time which the audi-
`ence had to wait because of this sys-
`tem of admission, varied considerably. »
`The scheduled hour of performance,
`in the carly 1700’s, was six o'clock.
`By the end of the century,
`it was
`sometimes as late as eight, but usually
`seems to have been seven or seven
`But
`the scheduled hour fre-.
`thirty.
`quently was much earlier
`than the
`actual -hour at which the performance’
`began. There were many vicissitudes
`which prevented the curtain from. ris-
`ing at
`the appointed time, and the
`newspapers from one end of the cen-
`tury to the other are filled with com-
`plaints’ at
`these delays. Generally
`speaking, however, the average mem-
`ber of an eighteenth century audience
`had a-wait of anywhere from two to
`four hours. Naturally this wait was
`not characterized by a stony silence.
`The interval was
`spent
`in eating,
`drinking, cork-popping, chatting, flirt-
`ing, arguing, fighting, and rioting, and.
`it was not until the unwieldy method
`of admission which necessitated. these
`waits was remedied, that anything re-
`
`‘
`
`TN-1023
`
`1
`
`TN-1023
`
`

`

`20538
`
`\
`
`Social Studies Section
`
`SCHOLASTIC :,
`
`|
`
`of places “which had. been falcons he
`
`‘sembling’ peace and propriety de-
`
`performance,\however, ‘the. door-
`
`Ile
`scended upon the English theatre.
`keepers still had the authority to col-
`(Concluded from page 8)
`During the Restoration and_ ecigh-
`lect: money and issue tickets. It was
`tcenth century, a lady who expected
`be you? I'll git the ile now right enough
`not until"the last quarter of the nine-
`—jest a little while longer, Annie—then
`to be present at the performance of.
`teenth century that their duties be-
`* Came
`we'll turn hom’ard. I can’t turn back now,
`a play, sent a servant to the theatre
`restricted.
`to
`the
`taking-. of
`you see that, don’t ye? I’ve got
`to git
`to inform the box-keeper of her in-
`tickets. By that time the functions of
`the ile.
`(Jn sudden terror.) Answer me!
`tentions and to request that he keep
`(She keeps*on playing the organ, but
`the pit and gallery offices had become
`makes no reply. The Maru’s face “pears
`a-certain number of places for her.
`merged with ‘that of the box office and
`again through the skylight.)
`the modern box office had come in
`The number of places desired was
`Mare: All ready, sir.
`duly noted in the box-keeper’s book
`(Kenny turns his back on his wife and’
`to being.
`:
`and since he knew approximately how.
`strides to the doorway, where he stands for
`By the turn of the nineteenth cen-
`a moment and looks back at her in anguish,
`many persons each bench in the boxes
`tury,
`then, playgoers could purchase
`
`fighting to control his feelings.)
`could hold, and knew also the number
`tickets in advance for a specific night.
`Mart:
`Comin’, sir?
`and be sure of having a place to sit,
`Kerenry (his face suddenly grown, hard
`could send—the
`with determination): Aye.
`servant back with
`(He turns abruptly and goes out. Mrs.
`Kerenny does not appear to notice his de-
`a message as to
`parture. Ler whole attention seems cen-
`thelady’s chances
`tered in the organ. She. sits with half-
`closed eyes, her body swaying alittle fron
`for that evening.
`side to side to the rhythm of the hymn:
`For popular
`ITer fingers move faster and faster and
`plays,
`these res-
`she is playing wildly and discordantly as.
`ervations might
`the curtain falls.)
`be made
`some
`days in advance
`but
`they meant
`little more than
`an
`indication
`that the lady and
`her
`friends
`ex-
`pected to occupy
`a certain amount
`
`
`
`Federal Theatre
`(Concluded from page 18)
`and visionary schemes, others are hard-
`boiled and realistic. But most of
`them,
`though they may grumble at official “red
`tape” and complain over the unwieldiness
`of Governmental machinery,
`see
`in the
`project what Mrs. Flanagan saw and still)
`‘of sitting space
`sees.
`in it,
`the first
`recognition in t
`upon that occa-
`country that the theatre can be someth
`sion. There was
`more than an outworn and dated mes.
`no money trans-
`of private enterprise. They see it sud,
`
`the
`to.
`tip.
`action except perhaps a_
`but no particular seat was guaranteed
`denly. vested with public interest;“mport=
`ance and significance, not only as a cul-
`of
`choice
`box-keeper..
`The
`actual
`and it wasstill,mecessary to go to the
`tural force but as a social
`institution. If
`theatre early, if one were to be sure of
`seats, although depending to some ex-
`this principle’ can be established and de-
`tent upon the position of the lady in
`a good one. By the middle of
`the
`veloped,
`then there is some hope for the~
`the box-keeper’s estimation, depended
`century, however,
`it was possible to
`future of the theatre.
`in a greater degree upon the physical
`secure particular seats in advance by ~
`These people who have dedicated their
`prowess of the servants who were sent ,
`the payment. of a booking charge-to
`‘lives to the theatre, who have been without
`o “keep places.”
`‘the box-keeper and shortly thereafter
`work, who have suffered because of that
`Toward the_end of the eighteenth
`numbered tickets
`corresponding to
`dedication, have had, almost without ex-.~!
`century, “to prevent the many Disap-
`numbered seats began to come into
`ception, a vague dream of using their
`skill, knowledge and enthusiasm in the
`general use for the boxes and dress
`pointments of the Public and the
`creation of a truly American Theatre,
`heavy Losses sustained by the Man-
`circle. By the end of
`the century,
`artistically honest, economically
`sound,
`agers, by Boxes and Places being
`they were also being issued for the
`This dream is now”
`politically unfettered.
`given up on the very Day of Perform-
`galleries, and our modern system of
`being tested by the urgency of unemploy-:
`ance,” ‘the
`system was adopted of
`admission had become firmly estab-
`ment
`relief,
`They must begin where’ the
`“tickets being delivered to those who
`lished.
`e
`Broadwaystage leaves off. They must~ina
`vent and create and consolidate.
`wish to secure places for each Night’s
`In conclusion,
`it must be pointed
`They
`out, that the evolution of the theatre
`must examine every new idea and_tech-
`Performance, on paying half the Price
`at
`the Time of
`taking them,
`the re-
`ticket has here been traced only in
`nique and develop those which prove to be
`mainder on the Night of Admission,
`of value. They may make mistakes, but
`outline.
`“Exceptions
`and
`addenda
`not, we hope,
`the same mistake twice. On
`the Half so deposited to be forfeited
`could be..pointed out at every turn.
`the other, hand, they may succeed in dis-
`And many are the traditions
`in Case of Disappointment.”
`covering one new playwright or introduc-
`which still survive.
`They were sold with the ad-
`ing one new method of directing or acting
`monition
`that
`they were
`Even today,
`in some large
`or in inventing one newlighting or scenic
`theatres, separateticketoffices
`“printed with the name of the
`effect. They may do more. They may learn
`particular night they are de-
`are still kept for the different
`how to-spend ‘the: taxpayers’ money so
`signed for and will not be
`_parts of the house.
`In pro-
`well that the taxpayers themselves will get
`admitted on anyother.” This
`vincial,‘and indeed somecity
`the
`best’ possible
`return on
`it.
`‘Many
`theatres, both in England and
`inaugurated the regular use of.
`European countries have thriving National
`America, metal
`checks
`are
`Theatres, supported by the good will of the
`printed dated tickets and the
`general public. We are too large and
`still used where seats are not
`modern system of prepay-
`ment.
`It
`also invested additional
`varied a country to limit ourselves to any
`reserved.. And. of course, even our
`one theatre or form of theatrical expres-
`power in the box-keeper who now kept
`grandest movie palaces, with their
`sion. What Mrs. Flanagan and these people
`regular office hours for
`the purpose
`checks and unnumberedseats, still re-
`of the Federal Theatre Project are work-
`of selling tickets in advance. Before
`tain the system which admitted be-
`ing toward, is not one, but many national
`long, special pit and. gallery offices
`wigged and beruffled ‘beaux’ into the
`theatres, each alone and unique, yet all
`were also established.
`“At the time of
`theatres of the Restoration.
`bound together by anidea.
`
`The Bear-Garden or Hope Theatre, London; built in the year
`1610.,
`(Illustration from Early London Theatres, by T. Faic-
`man Ordish.)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`2
`
`