partments are intended to hold four or five persons each, and their number on the ground floor or the pit varies with different theatres, being a hundred or more in the largest. On either side of the pit is an entrance-passage, level with the top of the compartments and running from the front to the stage. This is called the flowery path as its sides were formerly adorned with flowers. The west path is the principal one used, and is generally wider than the other, the stage being always supposed to face the south, whatever its actual bearing may be. There are two or more rows of compartments outside the flowery path, on a slightly higher level than the pit,
THE ENTRANCE-PASSAGE.
while the auditorium is closed on both sides by two-storied rows of boxes constructed in a similar manner to the other compartments. Facing the stage on the second storey are also compartments in tiers rising one behind another, until they are bounded by a long window with vertical iron bars. Outside this window is a passage, into which spectators are admitted to see a single act and are only allowed to witness the next upon further payment. The curtain is drawn from side to side; and when it is withdrawn, the first thing to be noticed is a large turn-table in the centre of the stage. By means of this revolving stage as it is called, scenes can be changed without first drawing the curtain. A whole scene set on one semicircle revolves to present a new one on the other. The turn-table, which is level with the rest of the stage, revolves on a strong wooden pivot, worked by men in the space under the boards, expressively named “Hell.” There are two entrances to the stage near
