long ago as 1913.* These showed four or more square pillars, or pylons, rising out of sight behind the proscenium frame, long hanging curtains, stairs, and an impressionistic "tree-form" against a clear white back-wall. The designer amused himself and his friends by re-arranging these elements to provide proper atmosphere for such plays as might be suggested. He claimed that with a lifesize equipment of the same sort, and without any of the usual painted drops, borders, etc., he could set adequately the scene for any poetic drama, or any scene for that increasing group of plays that demand atmospheric background rather than definite locality. At Detroit he has more than made good the claim.

Nineteen plays were produced during the season at the Arts and Crafts Theatre, in twenty scenes. The settings for eleven of these were merely variations of the permanent setting. The range covered such widely differing requirements as the interior of a mediæval château for "The Intruder," the Gates of Thalanna for "The Tents of the Arabs," the wall of Heaven for "The Glittering Gate," and a Spartan palace for "Helena's Husband."

The permanent setting at the Arts and Crafts Playhouse includes the following: four pylons, constructed of canvas on wooden frames, each of the three covered faces measuring two and one-half by eighteen feet; two canvas flats, each three by eighteen feet; two sections of stairs three feet long, and one section eight feet long, of uniform eighteen-inch height; three platforms of the same height, respectively six, eight and twelve feet long; dark green hangings as long as the pylons; two folding screens for masking, covered with the same cloth as used in the hangings, and as high as the pylons; and two irregular tree-forms in silhouette.

The pylons, flats, and stairs, and such added pieces as the arch and window, were painted in broken color, after the system introduced by Joseph Urban, so that the surfaces would take on any desired color under proper lighting.

The setting was seen in its simplest form in The Wonder Hat on the opening bill. The arrangement is indicated in the first diagram. The four pylons were set in pairs with the stairs between, with the curtains and screens used only to frame the picture at the sides. The two flats were laid on their sides to form the balustrade back of the platforms.

For The Tents of the Arabs the first important addition was made to the setting, in the form of an arch. The pylons, central stairs, platforms, hangings, screens and tree-forms were set exactly

* See The Theatre of To-day, The New Movement in the Theatre, or How to Produce Amateur Plays.

The permanent setting at the Arts and Crafts Theatre as arranged for Maeterlinck's The Intruder. Every structural piece used in this setting is seen again in that for The Romance of the Rose, shown on the third page following. Designed by Sam Hume. (Photograph by Frank Scott Clark.)

The upper picture shows the setting for The Tents of the Arabs, while the lower is that for Helena's Husband. Here Sam Hume has used exactly the same structural elements, the decorative curtain alone being added in the second set. The atmosphere, however, is entirely different. The Tents of the Arabs cut is used by courtesy of The American Magazine of Art. (Photographs by Frank Scott Clark.)