CHAPTER XXVIII

A THEATRE

This is a toy that will provide hours of happy play.

There are many effective ways of making a toy theatre, and the planning and designing of one is a pleasant piece of work. This chapter gives a few suggestions to future theatre builders, who must adopt those that appeal most to them. A large stage is the most necessary part, so that there is plenty of room to set up the scenes and room for the actors. A small stage limits the choice of plays considerably.

A pretty and useful theatre can be made thus. Get a wooden box 8-3/4 inches wide, about 1 foot long and 2-1/4 inches deep. (The theatre described in this chapter was made from a wooden box containing Fry's Nut Milk Chocolate--this box is exactly the right size.) This box forms the basis of the platform; stand it bottom upward, nail to the back of it a piece of wood, G H C D, which is 1 foot square (see Fig. 548). The platform, A B L M, is a piece of stiff cardboard or wood, A B is length of box, L M is 2 feet. This makes a fine large platform for arranging scenes.

Pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch are glued across the platform, A L B M, each strip a little over a 1/4 inch from the other (the 1/4 inch side is glued to platform). About eleven strips can be thus glued across; their ends should project about 1/4 inch beyond the platform.

The grooves thus formed are for running the actors up and down in.

A piece of wood, _a b c d_, is now cut 2 feet by 3-1/4 inches.

Holes are drilled along the top of it about 1/4 inch in diameter, and red paper gummed at the back of them for the footlights. Panels or a pretty design of some kind should be painted on it, or it may have coloured paper pasted on it. This piece of wood is glued to K J E F so that its ends project equally on each side.

Now cut two pieces of stripwood 1/2" × 1/4" × 16-1/4" (_e b_ and _f d_ in Fig. 548). Bevel the top ends to hold up cardboard roof _e f_ G H (the measurements for which can be easily found). The roof is secured by a flap glued behind A G H B, the roof is also glued to the tops of the strips _eb_ and _fd_. These posts are glued to sides of _abcd_. Before they are glued on, however, they must have holes drilled near their upper ends for pole, N O, to pass through. The curtain must be made of fairly thin stuff glued to pole, N O. It can be pulled up and down by means of pulley wheels attached on each side. (For making pulley see