77Scene Division

An Humorous Dayʼs Mirth is not divided into scenes and is the only one of Chapmanʼs plays to be thus printed, apart from The Blind Beggar of Alexandria. Both these plays were written for Hensloweʼs outdoor theatre, which required no acts or scenes, unlike plays written for the indoor theatre, in which act divisions were a requirement to enable the candles to be trimmed. Scene divisions were introduced into the next printed Chapman play, All Fools (1605), which was written for an indoor theatre.

78Parrott was the first of the playʼs editors to insert scene divisions. There are two differences between his scene labelling and that of this edition: Scene 8.5 (this edition) is labelled Scene 10, and therefore a separate, rather than part of a continuous, scene; Scenes 13 and 14 (this edition) are combined and become Scene 14 (Parrott). Holaday opts to divide the play into acts and scenes. If scene divisions are to be imposed on a play to segregate dramatic action and facilitate easy reference, there is no need to further insert act divisions, since the former are sufficient for this purpose. This edition has decided to point to the continuity of action from Scenes 8 to 8.5. Scene 9 seems to occur elsewhere (see ‘Above Spaceʼ). The stage is not cleared after 8 and therefore a method of making this clear to the reader was required. Dividing the scene into two parts, a) and b), seemed the most appropriate method, where 8 refers to the part of Scene 8 occurring before Scene 9, and 8.5 refers to the four lines spoken after it.

79Scene 10 poses problems which challenge the usual requirements for a new scene, the rule for which is described by Gurr and Ichikawa: ‘A break between Shakespearian scenes generally begins with the exit of all characters, and the new scene opens with the entrance of other characters.ʼ^[196] Scene 10 involves groups of characters entering and exiting very quickly after speaking only a few lines. This rolling action is of a kind that does not require separate scene labels, but is part of one scenic sequence. Therefore, scene breaks have not been inserted to segregate the action. Gurr and Ichikawa further helpfully comment on how this rolling action effect might be achieved:

It is reasonable to assume that the closing exit of one scene and the opening entrance of the next are made through different doors. Variations on this pattern might, however, occur where the exit at the end of one scene and the next sceneʼs entrance overlap.^[197]

80It makes sense in Scene 10 for characters to enter through one door, speak their lines, and hurry offstage through another door, while the next group of characters enter through the ‘enteringʼ door.