Most houses have a floor cloth, and medallion or carpet, in addition to the properties hereafter described.  Reference to the diagrams will show that the tormentors have a “flipper,” which runs to the proscenium arch wall; in the flipper is usually a door or a curtained opening for the entrances and exits of acts in One.

If you will combine with the diagrams shown these elements which cannot be diagrammed, you will have a clear idea of the way in which any scene is constructed.  Then if you will imagine the scene you have in mind as being set up on a stage like that of the Palace Theatre, shown in the last chapter, you will have a working understanding of the vaudeville stage.

WHAT THE DIAGRAMS INCLUDE

A well-ordered vaudeville stage, as has been described, possesses Drops for use in One, one or more Fancy Interiors, a Kitchen Set, and Exterior Sets.  The Drops in One are omitted from these diagrams, because they would be represented merely by a line drawn behind the tormentors.

The Fancy Interiors may include a Light Fancy, a Dark Fancy, an Oak Interior, and a Plain Chamber set.  As the differences are largely of painting, the usual Centre-door Fancy is taken as the basis for the variations—­five different ways of setting it are shown.

Two out of the many different ways of setting the Kitchen Set are given.

The Exterior Set allows little or no variation; the only thing that can be done is to place balustrades, vases, etc., in different positions on the stage; therefore but one diagram is supplied.

DIAGRAM I.—­FANCY INTERIOR No. 1

Showing the usual method of setting a “Fancy.”  It may be made shallower by omitting a wing on either side.

DIAGRAM II.—­FANCY INTERIOR No. 2

The double arch is thrown from the centre to the side, the landscape drop being used to back the scene—­the drop may be seen through the window on stage-left.  The window of the Fancy Interior is always of the French type, opening full to the floor.

DIAGRAM III.—­FANCY INTERIOR No. 3

This is a deeper and narrower set, approximating more closely a room in an ordinary house.  The double arch at the rear may be backed with an interior backing or a conservatory backing.  If the interior backing is used, the conservatory backing may be used to back the single four-foot arch at stage-left.

DIAGRAM IV.—­FANCY INTERIOR No. 4

This shows the double arch flanked by a single arch on each side, making three large openings looking out on the conservatory drop.

DIAGRAM V.—­FANCY INTERIOR No. 5

The fireplace is here brought into prominence by setting it in a corner with two “jogs” on each side.  The window is backed with a landscape or garden drop as desired.