The principal floor is that at the boxes level

The principal floor is that at the boxes level, the plan being followed, which is now very common, of sinking the pit, the stage, and its cellar in a huge excavation below the ground, it having been found that by this means exit is rendered more rapid, while the introduction of scenery from without is made easy, and in case of panic or fire access can readily be obtained to all the parts. It will be noticed, on reference to the plan, that the theatre is arranged longitudinally along a straight frontage to Charing Cross Road, from which there are several entrances.
The main entrance serves through the grand vestibule to the stalls by means of staircases which pass down- wards, and to the boxes at the level of the back row ; while, although there is a separate door for the upper boxes, the staircase leading to them also communicates with the main entrance, so that the same box office serves for the boxes and stalls. The stairs require a
good deal of careful investigation, as they are planned so as to overlie one another, this being a common feature in theatre work ; for it is essential that each part of the house may be reached independently, and shall have exits quite separate from one another, and from all else, leading to two different streets or sides of the building at least. Thus the boxes are reached, as
has just been said, through the main entrance and the grand vestibule, but they have an emergency exit on the same level to the back lane. The stalls have two stairways down to them from the vestibule, and as this is large there is no necessity for giving a further
emergency exit, though it could be obtained by climbing over the barrier between the stalls and the pit, shown on the plan at pit level. The upper boxes are reached from the main entrance, up quite a short flight of stairs which passes up beneath the lavatory shown on the front of the plan at the upper boxes level, while an emergency exit is found at the back beside the bar, for
which, like the other stairs, a single straight flight suffices. There is an entrance for royalty, marked with a crown, in the middle of the principal frontage, yet set back so as to secure a certain amount of privacy. A private room is reached through a porch, whence the
private boxes can be reached at the boxes level by passing down a few stairs ; for it may be noticed that when we speak of the boxes level we do not necessarily mean a horizontal plane, as the seats on each of the "levels" are necessarily arranged in tiers, so that the persons seated in the back rows may see over the heads of those in front. In case of emergency royalty can
escape through their private room or else by any of the other means of escape from the boxes.