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XXV1 . 24operation of the See also:act of 1737 as creating a See also:monopoly. The exclusive rights of the patent theatres were also recognized in the Disorderly Houses Act, 1751, and in private acts dealing with Covent See also:Garden and See also:Drury See also:Lane, and regulating the rights of parties, the application of charitable funds, &c. (see 16 Geo. III. cc. 13, 31; 50 Geo. III. c. ccxiv.; 52 Geo. III. c. xix.; 1 Geo. IV. c. lx.). The results of theatrical monopoly were beneficial neither to the public nor to the monopolists them-selves. In 1832 a select See also:committee of the See also:House of See also:Commons recommended the legal recognition of " See also:stage-right " and the abolition of theatrical monopoly. The recommendations of the See also:report as to stage-right were carried out immediately by Bulwer See also:Lytton's Act, 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 15 (see See also:COPYRIGHT). But it was not till eleven years later that the Theatres Act, 1843, was passed, a previous See also:bill on the same lines having been rejected by the House of Lords. The act of 1843 inaugurated a more liberal policy, and there is now See also:complete " See also:free See also:trade " in theatres, subject to the conditions imposed by the act. The growth of theatres since that See also:time has been enormous. Nor does the See also:extension seem to have been attended with the social dangers anticipated by some of the witnesses before the committee of 1832. The suppression of objectionable plays was the ground of many See also:early statutes and proclamations. While the religious See also:drama was dying out, the See also:theatre was used as a vehicle for enforcing religious and See also:political views not always as orthodox as those of a See also:miracle See also:play. Thus the act of 34 & 35 See also:Hen. VIII. c. 1 made it criminal to play in an interlude contrary to the orthodox faith declared, or to be declared, by that monarch. See also:Profanity in theatres seems to have been a crying evil of the time. See also:Stephen See also:Gosson attacked it as early as 1579 in his School of Abuse. The first business of the See also:government of See also:Edward VI. was to pass an act reciting that the most See also:holy and blessed See also:sacrament was named in plays by such vile and unseemly words as See also:Christian ears did abhor to hear rehearsed, and inflicting See also:fine and imprisonment upon any See also:person advisedly contemning, despising or reviling the said most blessed sacrament (1 Edw. VI. c. 1). A See also:proclamation of the same See also: In consequence of the See also:appearance of players in the characters of the king of See also:Spain and See also:Gondomar, an See also:ordinance of See also: " If the players," said he, " are to be punished, let it be by the See also:laws of their See also:country, and not by the will of an irresponsible See also:despot." A stage play must now be duly licensed before performance. § 12 of the act of 1843 prescribes that a copy of every new play and of every addition to an old play, and of every new See also:prologue or See also:epilogue or addition thereto (such copy to be signed by the master or manager), shall be sent to the lord chamberlain, and, if the lord chamberlain does not forbid it within seven days, it may be represented. § 13 empowers the lord chamberlain to See also:fix a See also:scale of fees for examination; the See also:fee is now two guineas for a play of three or more acts, one See also:guinea for a play of less than three acts. All plays represented previously to the act are held to be licensed. A play once licensed is licensed once for all unless the See also:licence be revoked under § 14. The examination is the See also:duty of a See also:special officer of the lord chamberlain's See also:department, the examiner of stage plays. In spite of occasional lapses of See also:judgment, a belief in the See also:wisdom generally shown in the ex 'rcise of the censorship has been confirmed by the report of t}:. select committee of the House of Commons in 1866, and also 'by the report of the See also:joint committee of both Houses in 1909. The censorship has been consistently supported in See also:recent years by theatrical managers, but violently opposed by an advanced See also:section of dramatic authors. There have been instances, no doubt, where perhaps both the lord chamberlain and his subordinate officer, the examiner of stage plays, have been somewhat See also:nice in their objections. Thus, during the illness of See also:George III., King See also:Lear was inhibited. George See also:Colman, when examiner, showed an extraordinary antipathy to such words as " See also:heaven " or " See also:angel." The lord chamberlain's See also:powers are still occasionally exerted against scriptural dramas, less frequently for political reasons. Later instances are Oscar See also:Wilde's See also:Salome (1892), See also:Joseph of See also:Canaan (1896), See also:Maeterlinck's See also:Manna Vanna (1902), See also:Housman's See also:Bethlehem (1902), See also: (1910). Before 1866 the lord chamberlain appears to have taken into See also:consideration the wants of the neighbourhood before granting a licence, but since that See also:year such a course has been abandoned. The joint committee in 1909 recommended that it should be optional for an author to submit a play for licence, and legal to perform an unlicensed play whether submitted or not, the See also:risk of See also:police intervention being taken. They also recommended that the reasons for which a licence should be refused should be: in-decency, offensive personalities, the representation in an invidious manner of a living person or a person recently dead, violation of the sentiments of religious reverence, the presence of anything likely to conduce to crime or See also:vice, or to cause a See also:breach with a friendly See also:power, or a breach of the See also:peace. A theatre may be defined with sufficient accuracy for the present purpose as a See also:building in which a stage play is performed for hire. It will be seen from the following See also:sketch of the law that there are a considerable number of different persons. corporate and unincorporate, with jurisdiction over theatres. A consolidation of the law and the placing of jurisdiction in the hands of a central authority for the See also:United See also:Kingdom would probably be convenient. The committee of 1866 recommended the See also:transfer to the lord chamber-lain of the regulation of all places of amusement, and an See also:appeal from him to the See also:home secretary in certain cases, as also the extension of his authority to preventive censorship in all public entertainments; but no legislation resulted. The committee of 1909 ' It was probably through his See also:influence that the expletives in See also:Shakespeare were edited. The See also:quarto of 1622 contains more than the See also:folio of 1623.recommended the abolition of any distinction between theatres and See also:music-halls. Several bills for the See also:amendment of the law have been introduced, but without success in the See also:face of more burning political questions' Building.—A theatre (at any See also:rate to make it such a building as can be licensed) must be a permanent building, not a See also:mere teat or See also:booth, unless when licensed by justices at a lawful See also:fair by § 23 of the act of 1843. It must, if in the See also:metropolis, conform to the regulations as to structure contained in the Metropolis Management Act 1878, and the See also:Local Government Act 1888. These acts make a certificate of structural fitness from the See also:county council necessary as a See also:condition precedent for licence in the See also:case of all theatres of a superficial See also:area of not less than 500 sq. ft. licensed after the passing of the act, give power to the council in certain cases to See also:call upon proprietors of existing theatres to remedy structural defects, and enable it to make regulations for See also:protection from See also:fire. The existing regulations were issued on the 30th of See also:July 1901 and 25th of See also: C. 47, and in many local acts. A performance may also be proceeded against as a See also:nuisance at common law, if, for instance, it be contra bonos mores or draw together a great concourse of vehicles, or if so much See also:noise be heard in the neighbourhood as to interfere with the See also:ordinary occupations of See also:life. Very curious instances of proceedings at common law are recorded. In Sir See also:Anthony See also:Ashley's case (2 Rolle's See also:Rep. 109), 1615, players were indicted for See also:riot and unlawful See also:assembly. In 1700 the See also:grand See also:jury of See also:Middlesex presented the two play-houses and also the See also:bear-garden on Bankside (the " See also:Paris garden " of See also: The Dangerous Performances Acts, 1879 and 1897, forbid under a penalty of f to any public See also:exhibition or performance whereby the life or limbs of a See also:child under the See also:age of sixteen if a boy, eighteen if a girl, shall be endangered. It also makes the employer of any such child indictable for See also:assault where an See also:accident causing actual bodily harm has happened to the child, and enables the See also:court on conviction of the employer to order him to pay the child See also:compensation not exceeding f 2O. The Prevention of See also:Cruelty to See also:Children Act 1904 forbids a child to appear in any public entertainment without a licence from a See also:petty sessional court. (b) The performance must be for hire. § 16 of the act of 1843 makes a building one in which acting for hire takes place, not only where See also:money is taken directly or indirectly, but also where the See also:purchase of any See also:article is a condition of See also:admission, and where a play is per-formed in a place in which excisable liquor is sold. In the case of See also:Shelley v. Bethell, 1883 (Law Reports, 12 Q.B.D. II), it was held that the proprietor of a private theatre was liable to penalties under the act, though he See also:lent the theatre gratuitously, because tickets of admission were sold in aid of a charity. Licensing of Building.—By § 2 of the act of 1843 all theatres (other than patent theatres) must be licensed. By § 7 no licence 2 See also:Dryden's words in the " See also:Essay on See also:Satire " (addressed to the See also:earl of See also:Dorset, lord chamberlain) still describe the duties of the See also:office. " As lord chamberlain I know you are See also:absolute by your office in all that belongs to the decency and good manners of the stage. You can banish from thence scurrility and profaneness, and restrain the licentious insolence of poets and their actors in all things that See also:shock the public quiet or the reputation of private persons under the notion of See also:humour." is to be granted except to the actual and responsible manager, who is to be See also:bound by himself and two sureties for due observance of rules and for securing See also:payment of any penalties incurred. The See also:metropolitan theatres other than the patent theatres (as far at least as they are included in the boroughs named in the act of 1843) are licensed by the lord chamberlain. By § 4 his fee on See also: The regulations of the See also:London County Council are dated the 27th of July 1897. Penalties are imposed by the act for keeping or acting in an unlicensed theatre, and for producing or acting in an unlicensed play. A See also:contract to perform in an unlicensed theatre is unenforceable.
Music Ilalls.—Music was at no time the See also:object of restrictions as severe as those imposed upon the drama. The present English act governing music halls, the Disorderly Houses Act 1751, was passed probably in consequence of the publication in 1750 of
See also:Fielding's Inquiry into the Causes of the See also:late Increase of Robbers.
It is remarkable that two See also:works of the same writer should from opposite causes have led to both theatre and music-See also: Public See also:notice of the licence is to be given by affixing over the See also:door the inscription " Licensed in pursuance of act of parliament for," with the addition of words showing the purpose. The penalty for keeping an unlicensed music hall is f See also:loo. This act is amended as to Middlesex by the Music and Dancing Licences (Middlesex) Act 1894, putting the licensing into the hands of the county council. Regulations were made by the council under this act on the 31st of July 1900 and the 27th of See also:June 1901. Music halls beyond the See also:radius of 20 M. from London and Westminster are mainly governed by the Public Health Act 1890, the licensing authority being the licensing justices. There is no censorship of music-hall performance, the only remedy for anything objectionable is for the licensing authority to withdraw the licence or refuse to renew it. See generally W. N. M. Geary, Law of Theatres and Music Halls (1885); C. Hamlyn, See also:Manual of Theatrical Law (1891); A. A. Strong, Dramatic and Musical Law (1898); J. B. See also:Williamson, Law of Licensing (1902).
See also:Scotland.—In Scotland the theatre has always exercised a smaller amount of influence than in See also:England, and there has been little exclusively Scottish legislation on the subject. 1555, c. 40, discountenanced certain amusements of a semi-theatrical See also:kind by enacting that no one was to be chosen See also:Robert -See also:Rude (sic), Little John, See also: The chamberlain of Scotland, while such an office existed, appears to have exercised a certain police jurisdiction over theatres. The Theatres Act 1843 extends to Scotland, as did also the previous act of 1737, and further provisions are made by the See also:Burgh Police Act 1892. See also:Ireland.—Theatrical legislation, as far as it went, was based upon English See also:models. Thus ridicule of the See also:liturgy was forbidden by 2 Eliz. c. 2 (Ir.) ; common players of interludes and wandering 1 The councils may delegate their authority to justices, a See also:district council, or a committee of their own See also:body, such as the Theatre and Music Hall Committee of the London County Council.minstrels were deemed vagabonds, to & ii See also:Car. I. c. 4 (Ir.). In 1786 an act was passed to enable the crown to grant letters patent for one or more theatres in See also:Dublin See also:city and county, 26 Geo. III. c. 57 (Ir.). The See also:preamble alleges that the establishing of a well-regulated theatre at the seat of government will be productive of public See also:advantage and tend to improve the morals of the See also:people. Exceptions from the restrictions of the act were made in favour of entertainments for the benefit of the Dublin lying-in See also:hospital and exhibitions of See also:horsemanship or puppet-shows. The existing theatre and music-hall acts do not apply to Ireland, except the Public Health Act 1890, s. 51. See also:British Colonies.—There is a large amount of legislation. An example is the See also:Victoria Act, No 1430 (1897), giving the See also:chief secretary power to See also:cancel or suspend the licence of any theatre if used on Sunday without special permit. United States.—Public entertainments, dramatic or other, are usually under the See also:control of the municipal authorities, and there is no act of See also:Congress on the subject, except one of 1898 imposing a temporary See also:war tax on the theatres. In most states there is state legislation, requiring places of public entertainment to be licensed by the proper authority. In many states it is a condition of the licence that intoxicating liquors shall not be sold in such places. Other conditions, more or less usual, are that there shall be no Sunday or dangerous performances, that acrobats shall be properly protected, and that See also:female waiters shall not be employed. Structural qualifications are in some cases made necessary. Thus in 1885 the New York legislature passed an act containing many See also:minute provisions for ensuring the safety of theatres against fire. A characteristic piece of legislation is the New York Act of 1873, c. 186, enacting that no See also:citizen is to be excluded from a theatre by See also:reason of See also:race, See also:colour or previous condition of See also:servitude. This act of course merely carries out the important principle affirmed in See also:art. xiv. of the amendments to the constitution of the United States. There are two curious and conflicting decisions of other states on the See also:matter. See also:Missouri held that a manager could discriminate against a person of colour, See also:Michigan that he could not (see See also:Green's See also:Digest, vol. i. 642). See also:Continental See also:Europe.—The See also:principal points in which the continental theatre differs from the English are that Sunday is the most important day, and that the theatre is often owned or subsidized by the state or a See also:municipality. In See also:France there has been much legislation since the days of the Revolution, the principal law being one of 1864. A feature is the tax known as le See also:droit See also:des pauvres, which has been the subject of much discussion. The censure prealble was abolished in 1906. The object is attained by police penalties. Most of the authorities will be found in Dalloz, Supplement, vol. xvii., and, for the older law, Lacan, La Legislation et la See also:jurisprudence des theatres (1853), and Maugras, See also:Les Comediens hors de la loi (1887), may be consulted. See also:Italy has produced at least two See also:modern works on the subject, Rivalta, Storia e Sistema del Diritto dei Teatri (1886), and Tabanelli, Codice del Teatro (1901). What strikes one is how little special legislation there is on the subject. The penal code meets most cases. Spain retained the autos sacramentales much longer than other countries retained the religious drama. Legislation begins very early. The Siete Partidas enacts that the See also:clergy are not to take part as actors or spectators in scurrilous plays (juegos See also:por escarnio). Cervantes in the first part of See also:Don Quixote makes the See also:canon of See also:Toledo xegret that the government had not appointed a censor to prevent the acting of plays not only injurious to morals but also offending against the classical rules of the drama. There is a considerable amount of law in the See also:Ottoman See also:empire; details will be found in G. See also:Young, See also:Corps de droit ottoman, vol. ii. 320 (1904). U. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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