6.31 The Scarlattan Theatre.

The theatre is designed to allow the staging of plays by troupes of
performers. It's fairly flexible and with a little effort on your part
can be used to produce some high-quality performances with props,
costumes, backdrops, and some special effects.

The Scarlattan Theatre makes its home in Fellowship Hall in Delos.

Manager
-------

The manager is responsible for the overall welfare of the theatre and
is in charge of ensuring it is run properly, etc.

The manager may (via tells to Spalding, the stage manager):
* APPOINT people to the position of director.
* See who has requested use of the theatre.

Director
--------
The first step in using it is to have the manager appoint a director.
The director has overall responsibility for the production which
includes casting and appointing people to other positions of
responsibility. The director is also responsible for the vision of the
production.

The director may (via tells to Spalding, the stage manager):
* APPOINT people to the positions of designer, conductor, or promoter.
* TITLE the current production.
* APPOINT a replacement as director.
* CAST an adventurer into a particular role, or UNCAST an adventurer.
* Put the theatre into REHEARSAL mode (see Acting, below).
* Open the CURTAIN on the current play, and close it again at the end

In addition, the director may use most of the commands available to the
other office holders. A reference to all commands appears at the end of
this scroll.


Designer
--------
The designer is responsible for the props, costumes, and backdrops used
in the production. The designer may also operate the effects machine,
located just offstage. Props and backdrops are modified by giving them
to Joshua, the head carpenter, and telling him what's required.
Costumes are modified by giving them to Rose, the costumes mistress,
and telling her what the costume is to look like.

Props
* Give prop to Joshua.
* Joshua will ask you what you want it to look like; answer with a short
description, such as 'a shining longsword' or 'the eye of Proteus.'
* Joshua will then modify it and hand you the modified prop.
* Props are used on stage; selected actions performed on them are visible
throughout the theatre.

Backdrops
* Give backdrop to Joshua.
* Joshua will ask you what you want it to look like; answer with the
description of a scene (ideally one you've written earlier), of a few
hundred words (minimum 50 words).
* Joshua will hand you the painted backdrop.
* Backdrops are used by being taken up to the rigging above the stage
and DROPping them into place at the appropriate cues.

Costumes
* Give costume to Rose.
* She will ask you who it's to be a costume of. Give her a one-word name
such as "Nicator."
* She will then ask you to give a description of the person, such as,
"He is a human and is (etc.)." If you have no description to give her,
say 'no', and she will improvise.
* She will then hand you the modified costume.

Effects machine
* Recognised effects are: rain, wind, thunder, lightning, waves, smoke,
fog, rainbow.
* Say the name of the effect while in the same room as the machine to
play it once.
* Say '<effect name> on' to have the effect repeat periodically;
'<effect name> off' to turn it off again.
* Say 'Storm on' to switch on rain, wind, thunder and lightning with the
one command, 'Storm off' to switch them all off again.
* Say 'set custom <effect name> <text>' to associate a custom effect
with a one-word name; say 'custom <effect name>' to play the custom effect.


Conductor
---------

The conductor has control of the orchestra, located in a pit below the
level of the stage.
* The orchestra recognises the following preset pieces: fanfare,
requiem, fugue, march, minuet, aubade. Saying the name of the preset
while in the orchestra pit will cause the orchestra to play it.
* The conductor may say 'play <text>' to have the orchestra play custom
text.
* The orchestra responds to emotes from the conductor. If it has not yet
been taught how to play a particular emote it will associate the text
from the next 'play' command with the emote.


Promoter
--------

The promoter is responsible for the selling and pricing of tickets and
the allocating of private boxes. All promoter commands are carried out
via tells to Roderick, the Usher.

Promoter commands
* 'set price gallery <amount>' and 'set price balcony <amount>' set the
ticket prices for gallery and balcony seats, respectively. This must be
done before the box office can be opened (see below).
* 'Allocate box <person>' will allocate the next available private box
to an individual. 'Unallocate box <person>' will remove that privilege.
* 'Open' will open the box office. Tickets may now be bought from the
usher; anyone entering an audience room without the correct ticket, will
be taken to the correct place by the ushers.
* The box office closes automatically when the director closes the
curtain on the production. Takings will then be placed in the inventory
of the promoter (or director, if there is no promoter).

Boxholder commands
* Anyone holding a private box may tell the usher 'Invite <person>'.
That person will now be seated in the private box for the next show.
* 'Uninvite <person>' withdraws the invitation.

Seatholder commands
* Tickets may be bought after the box office opens, but before the
curtain rises on the show.
* Greet the usher. If you have a seat in the theatre, you will be shown
to it. If not, you will be told ticket prices.
* Give gold to usher. The amount should correspond to either the price
of a gallery ticket, or the price of a balcony ticket. You will be
marked as seated accordingly. Greeting the usher will take you to the
correct room.


Acting
------
Words and certain actions on stage will be repeated throughout the
entire theatre, eg.:

Thespis, the drama teacher says, "Good evening, lords, ladies and gentlemen!"
Thespis picks up a prop resembling a shining longsword.

The rest of the theatre sees:
[ONSTAGE] Thespis says, "Good evening, lords, ladies and gentlemen!"
[ONSTAGE] Thespis picks up a shining longsword.

Things said can be formatted by starting them with modifiers.
Recognised modifiers are: shrieks, shouts, cries, announces, intones,
declaims, sings, trills, croons, exclaims, gasps, asks, begs, pleads,
ponders, sighs, whines, muses, mutters, rasps, murmurs, whispers,
mouths. Example:

Thespis, the drama teacher says, "Declaims and welcome, to tonights'
performance!"

The rest of the theatre sees:
[ONSTAGE] Thespis declaims, "And welcome, to tonights' performance!"

Emotes are performed by saying the intended text, prefixed by the word
'emote'.
Example:

Thespis, the drama teacher says, "Emote flourishes his longsword, and
performs a low bow."

The rest of the theatre sees:
[ONSTAGE] Thespis flourishes his longsword, and performs a low bow.

When the theatre is put into rehearsal mode by the director, actors'
names will be replaced by the names of the characters they are playing,
and props will appear as the actual items. People not cast will not be
affected. Example:

Thespis, the drama teacher says, "Announces tonight, I will be playing
Callisto."
Thespis drops a prop resembling a shining longsword.
Bruce the stagehand says, "Did you mean to drop that?"

The rest of the theatre sees:
[ONSTAGE] Callisto announces, "Tonight, I will be playing Callisto."
[ONSTAGE] Callisto drops a shining longsword.
[ONSTAGE] Bruce says, "Did you mean to drop that?"

Once the curtain goes up people not cast will be ignored. The theatre returns
to rehearsal mode when the curtain goes down. Example:

Bruce drops a hammer.
Bruce the stagehand says, "Oops."
Bruce leaves to the west.
The rest of the theatre sees:
[ONSTAGE] A hammer falls to the stage.


Theatre Commands Reference
--------------------------
Syntax: tell Spalding appoint manager <person>
Who: Immortal
Appoints the manager.

Syntax: tell Spalding Who wants to use the theatre
Who: Immortal, Manager
Shows who wishes to use the theatre

Syntax: tell Spalding I would like to use the theatre
Who: Anyone
Notes that the player would like to use the theatre

Syntax: tell Spalding I no longer wish to use the theatre
Who: Anyone who has registered
Removes the person from the list

Syntax: tell Spalding who is using the theatre
Who: Manager, Immortal
Shows who is currently using the theatre

Syntax: tell Spalding appoint director <person>
Who: Director, Immortal, Manager
Appoints a director.

Syntax: tell Spalding appoint designer | conductor | promoter <person>
Who: Director
Appoints a person to the given position.

Syntax: tell Spalding Title play <title>
Who: Director
Sets the title of the current production.

Syntax: tell Spalding Cast <person> as <character>
Who: Director
Sets the actor playing a character.

Syntax: tell Spalding Uncast <person>
Who: Director
Removes an actor from the playlist.

Syntax: tell Spalding Rehearsals
Who: Director
Puts the theatre into rehearsal mode.

Syntax: tell Spalding Curtain
Who: Director
Starts performance of the play, and marks the end of the performance.

Syntax: tell Spalding Close production
Who: Director
Closes down the current production.

Carpenter
---------
Syntax: give prop to Joshua
say <short description>
[while onstage] take | drop | push | pull | turn | touch | drink from
| put <item> in prop | take <item> from prop | put prop in <item> | take
prop from <item>
Who: Director, designer
Used on the stage, props will appear to be the items they have been
crafted to resemble. The actions above, when performed on them, will be
visible throughout the theatre.

Syntax: give backdrop to Joshua
say <long description>
drop backdrop
Who: Director, designer
Take backdrops into the rigging above the stage, and drop them at the
appropriate cues. Backdrops will signal scene changes and alter the
appearance of the stage.

Costumes mistress
-----------------
Syntax: give costume to Rose
say <character name>
[say <character description>]
Who: Director, designer
Will customise costumes.

Acting (while onstage)

Syntax: say emote <text>
say [modifier] <text>
Who: any cast member
If the first word of an utterance a cast member makes on stage is
'emote', the remainder will be seen by the audience as if the character
were emoting. Otherwise, anything a cast member says on stage will be
heard by the audience as if their character had said it. If the first
word of the utterance is a modifier, what the audience hears will be
modified accordingly. Recognised modifiers are: shrieks, shouts, cries,
announces, intones, declaims, sings, trills, croons, exclaims, gasps,
asks, begs, pleads, ponders, sighs, whines, muses, mutters, rasps,
murmurs, whispers, mouths.

For example, Laurence, playing Hamlet, says: "Emote lifts the skull to
eye level and ponders it", then "Declaims Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him
well."
The audience would see:
Hamlet lifts the skull to eye level and ponders it.
Hamlet declaims, "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well."

Effects machine
---------------
Syntax: say <effect name> [on | off]
say set custom <custom name> <text>
say custom <custom name>
Who: Director, designer
The effects machine will recognise the following commands from the designer,
echoing the corresponding effects to the entire theatre:
lightning, thunder, wind, rain, smoke, fog, rainbow, waves, storm.

Conductor
---------
Syntax: say <preset>
Who: Director, conductor

Syntax: say play <text>
Who: Conductor

Syntax: <emote> orchestra
Who: Conductor
The orchestra will recognise certain preset commands from the conductor
and produce custom effects using the command 'play <text>'. Current

presets are:
fanfare, requiem, fugue, march, minuet, aubade. It can be taught to
associate particular emotes with particular musical effects.

Usher
-----
Syntax: tell usher Set price gallery | balcony <amount>
Who: Director, promoter
Sets ticket prices for the gallery and balconies.

Syntax: tell usher Allocate | Unallocate box <person>
Who: Director, promoter
Allocates or unallocates a private box for the next show.

Syntax: tell usher Open
Who: Director, promoter
Opens the box office for the next show, commences selling tickets.

Syntax: tell usher Invite | Uninvite <person>
Who: Box holder 
Holders of private boxes may invite anyone to share their box with them, or
withdraw the invitation.

Syntax: Give <ticket price> gold to usher
Who: Anyone not already allocated a seat Buys a ticket for the next performance
of the current production.

Syntax: Greet usher
Who: Ticketholders, boxholders, guests 
Usher will take ticketholders, owners of private boxes, and their guests, to
the correct seat.