I. THE PHYSICAL PROPORTIONS OF THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE

The footlights are the equator of the theatre, separating the
"front of the house," or auditorium, from the "back of the house,"
or stage. The frame through which the audience views the stage
is the "proscenium arch." Flat against the stage side of the arch
run the "house curtain" and the asbestos curtain that are raised
at the beginning and lowered at the end of the performance.

That portion of the stage which lies between the curving footlights
and a line drawn between the bases of the proscenium arch is called
the "apron." The apron is very wide in old-fashioned theatres,
but is seldom more than two or three feet wide in recently built
houses.

1. One

Back of the proscenium arch--four feet or more behind it--you have
noticed canvas-covered wings painted in neutral-toned draperies
to harmonize with every sort of curtain, and you have noticed that
they are pushed forward or drawn back as it is found necessary to
widen or make narrow the stage opening. These first wings, called
"tormentors," [1] extend upward from the floor--anywhere from
18 to 25 feet,--to the "Grand Drapery" and "Working Drapery," or
first "border," which extend and hang just in front of them across
the stage and hide the stage-rigging from the audience. The space
lying between the tormentors and a line drawn between the bases
of the proscenium arch is called "One."

[1] No one of the score I have asked for the origin of the word