change of scene, a

New surroundings, referring to a trip or vacation, new employment, or similar event. The term comes from the theater, where changing the scenery has been important since Shakespeare’s time. The figu- rative use of “scene” dates at least from the seventeenth century. “Through all the changing scenes of life,” wrote Nicholas Brady and Nahum Tate in their New Versions of the Psalms (1696).