pass off smoothly. There may be something in this. In any case, no one can prove the contrary, owing to the fact that there has never been a dress rehearsal without a row.
The size of the row varies with the amount of authority possessed by the producer. The finest rows take place when the director of the theatre is himself producing. But if, by chance, the producer does not happen to be strong enough to cause a disturbance, then the scenic designer, the stage-manager, the foreman of the technical staff, the chief electrician, the mechanic, the upholsterer, the property-man, the prompter, the head tailor, the wardrobe mistress, the man up in the flies, the hairdresser, or any other technical authority in the theatre will see to it that a real row does take place.
There is but one rule to be observed in this battle: neither fire-arms nor weapons for stabbing purposes may be used. All other methods of attack and defence are more or less permissible: especially screaming, shouting, weeping, insults, complaints to the
67