The OED and The Changeling: A Correction

Hutchings examines the stage direction from The Changeling, a play written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. The stage direction in question is of particular interest precisely because it refers to an action between the acts, in this case during the interval separating the second and third acts. Like all plays staged at indoor theatres, The Changeling did not run straight through, without a break, as was the practice at outdoor venues. Indoor theatres were lit, at least in part, by candles, candles which needed to be trimmed or replaced during the course of a performance: they could not last untended for the length of a play.