lighting up time* - the time when lights are switched on
until further notice - until next order or instruction
playhouse - a theatre
convenience - a water closet, a (public) lavatory
diddle* - to cheat or swindle
entrancing - that entrances, transporting entrance
gad - god; the action of gadding or rambling about
quality - nobility, people of good social position
billed - announced or advertised by a bill
weekday* - a day of the week other than Saturday or Sunday (formerly, other than Sunday).
somnus (l) - dream Sunday
arraignment - accusation before tribunal, indictment, charge; accusation, hostile criticism.
children's hour* - an hour of recreation in the evening, spent in former times by children with their parents; (with capital initials) a B.B.C. radio programme thus entitled (first broadcast 1922, discontinued 1961).
rinse - to wash down with liquor
in token of* - as a sign, symbol or evidence of
nightly - coming, happening, or occuring during the night; happening or occuring every night.
redistribution - a fresh distribution
puppetry - mimic action or representation as of puppets; masquerade, mummery; puppet-play, debased dramatic action.
dub - to name, style, nickname; to dress, clothe, adorn
ghoster - a sail similar to a genoa but made of very light material for use in light airs.
archimime* - a chief buffoon, or jester; the chief mimic, who in Roman funeral processions imitated the gait and gestures of the deceased.
patronage - the action of a patron in giving influential support, favour, encouragement, or countenance, to a person, institution, work, art, etc.
eldership - seniority, the position of being elder or senior
olden - belonging to a bygone age or time; ancient, old
the four corners (of the earth, heavens or world)* - the remotest parts; coroner - an officer of a county, district, or municipality (formerly also of the royal household), originally charged with maintaining the rights of the private property of the crown; in modern times his chief function is to hold inquest on the bodies of those supposed to have died by violence or accident.
coarb - successor in an ecclesiastical office, abbot, vicar; an order of old Irish monks.
Caesar - an absolute monarch, an autocrat, emperor
in chief - in the chief or highest place or position (Commander-in-chief, etc.)
sennet - a set of notes on the trumpet or cornet, ordered in the stage-directions of Elizabethan plays, apparently as a signal for the ceremonial entrance or exit of a body of players.
Adelphi - the name of a group of buildings in London between the Strand and the Thames, laid out by the four brothers, James, John, Robert, and William Adam and hence called Adelphi (Gr. brothers); the name of the theatre in the vicinity of these buildings, at which a certain type of melodrama was prevalent c 1882-1900, and so allusively.
humpty dumpty* - a short, dumpy, hump-shouldered person. In the well-known nursery rime or riddle (quoted below) commonly explained as signifying an egg (in reference to its shape); thence allusively used of persons or things which when once overthrown or shattered cannot be restored. (In the nursery rime or riddle there are numerous variations of the last two lines, e.g. 'Not all the king's horses and all the king's men Could [can] set [put] Humpty Dumpty up again [in his place again, together again]'.)
revival - the act of restoring an old play to the stage
wireless* - to send a message by wireless
seven seas - the Arctic, Antarctic, North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
crowd - an ancient Celtic musical instrument of the viol class
tabloid* - a popular newspaper which presents its news and features in a concentrated, easily assimilable, and often sensational form, esp. one with smaller pages than those of a regular newspaper.
cald = cold; p. of call (obs.)
firn - (Ger. firn, firne, lit. 'last year's' (snow)) a name given to snow above the glaciers which is partly consolidated by alternate thawing and freezing Finn
mime - a kind of simple farcical drama among the Greeks and Romans, characterized by mimicry and the ludicrous representation of familiar types of character; (The art of) gesture, movement, etc. (as distinct from words) used to express emotion and dramatic action or character; dumb show.
Mick - Michael (short.); a Roman Catholic
Nick - Nicholas (short.); the devil
bedridden* - confined to bed through sickness or infirmity
murther - murderer
robot - a person whose work or activities are entirely mechanical
dress circle* - In a theatre, usually the gallery next above the floor
gagster - one who makes 'gags' or jokes; a gag-writer or comedian
rogue's gallery - a collection of the portraits of criminals; also transf. and fig.
bleak - pale, pallid, wan; fig. Cheerless, dreary
story book - a book containing stories, esp. children's stories; also occas. a novel or romance; freq. fig. with allusion to the conventionally happy ending of children's stories.
tabs = tableau curtain - any front curtain, curtain settings on the stage