Preparation of a Shakespeare Play

NARRATOR:Listen to a conversation between a student and a university theater manager.

FEMALE STUDENT:I'm sorry if my e-mail wasn't clear.It's probably best that we're meeting now. I have a lot of questions.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:So do I. But first let me say that I'm so glad that this tradition is continuing.I guess for the last twenty years now every senior class has put on a Shakespeare play.

FEMALE STUDENT:It won't be anything like the drama department's productions in the main theater, but we're really excited.We're doing As You Like It this year.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:Great. Let's start with the timing.You-you want the production to run on two consecutive nights...a Thursday and Friday?

FEMALE STUDENT:Right. The end of April would be best. Maybe the last Thursday and Friday?We're flexible with the dates.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:The only bookings at the small theater are some recitals in the beginning of the month.So I'll make sure to get it on the calendar.But your other questions. Let's see... [taken aback] you want to use fire on stage?

FEMALE STUDENT:Well, our idea is to reproduce the conditions of an Elizabethan playhouse... make it as authentic as possible.And of course they didn't have electric lights five hundred years ago.So we thought if we had candles... a lot of candles, actually...

MALE THEATER MANAGER:To light the stage?

FEMALE STUDENT:Yeah.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:OK. [explaining why the student’s idea isn’t feasible] Um... you'd need a special permit.Y-You could get one from the city council.But...for one thing, it's difficult and time-consuming to get permission-and expensive.And it's not just the permit, you'd have to pay for an inspection and to have a fire marshal present at the shows...

FEMALE STUDENT:That does sound expensive.If we had a budget like the drama department [trailing off]... But it looks like we'll have to scale back a bit...

MALE THEATER MANAGER:Are you charging admission?

FEMALE STUDENT:There'll be a small admission fee.In Shakespeare's time, if you paid a little more you got a more comfortable seat.I don't see how we could do that, though. I mean, all the seats are the same, right?

MALE THEATER MANAGER:Right. I guess you could charge more for the seats up front. But it's a small theater...

FEMALE STUDENT:And there isn't much difference between the front and the back.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:Anyway, for lighting, you could buy those electric lanterns that are made to look as if they have a natural flame.

FEMALE STUDENT:[resigned] If that's the best we can do. Not exactly authentic, though.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:But safer and less expensive. And about the food...

FEMALE STUDENT:Selling food was also done in Shakespeare's time. It's related to the candles, actually.When the candles burned down, they stopped the play-so they could bring out new ones-and that's when they sold snacks.That's how the custom of having an intermission started.

MALE THEATER MANAGER:I'd always thought intermissions began as a way to change the scenery.

FEMALE STUDENT:Oh, speaking of scenery, do you have the exact dimensions of the stage?

MALE THEATER MANAGER:Sure.