Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1873-01-22
How Edwin Forrest RehearSed and
Handled Subordinate Actors,

invariably the cue for either fear o
rebellion among those who had actet
with him, and Oftner among thOs
who had never had that privilege
One actor would relate to the other
instances of Mr.. Forests tyranny
which would set the company up il
arms against him, and when he arri-
we'd in the best of dispositions, anC
the desire to get through his engage
ment as happily as possible, he woulC
hnd his supporters in rebellion, On'
half hating, the other half fearing
him. The dread that actors had o
him Is almost beyond belief. Young
men who were accustomed to get thro
their minor parts with credit on OTdi
nary nights, would falter, stammer
and ingloriousiy break down while
rehearsing with him. In an engage
ment played by him in Washington
a few years ago, some notable instan
ces of this occurred. Mr.. Forrest was
to open in Macbeth" and attended
the last rehearsal himself, the other re
hearsals generally being conducted by
the actor who travelled with him. Or
this occasion the company was a par.
ticularly bad one, even for Washing.
ton; consisting principally of what
were known as war aetOrs.n Mr.
| Forrest came on the stage with a very
pleasant smile, but before the first aci
was over the smile disappeared, and
by the third act a heavy frown anC
Ominous shaking of the head denoted
that Mr.. Forrest was himself again.
The readings of the actors were as baC
as bad could be. He endeavored to
instruct them, but to no purpose
When the caldron scene in the fourth
act was reached the tragedianis little
stock of patience was quite worn out
The cue was given for the apparitioni
to rise through the caldrOn. The
First ApparitiOn did so, and spoke
his two lines without difficulty. The
second one was not so successful. He
had to say Immediately upon mis- ap-
pearance Macbeth Macbeth Mac
BETH" to which Macbeth replies
"Had 1 three ears, I'd hear thee ~
The apparition, before speaking
glanced at Mr.. Forrest, and immedi
ately lost his voice, his words beinG
inaudible. Forrest replied in the
words of the text, laying scornful en-
phasis on the words three, and, much
confused, the aparition continued in
the words "Be bloody, bold and reso
lute," laying the emphasis upon the
word bloody, as though it were {
/ qualification of the word bold, thu:
giving an original and ridiculous read
ing to the sentence. Mr.. Forrest rush.
Ell at the unfortunate young man
roaring out, YOU'RE q butcher SIR
/ A1hD L Tna1nfN 20 \.
bloody bold; he wants me to be bloody
bold and reso ute. Go down, sir e
down." Seven times that young man
came up the caldrOn, never to get fur,
ther than bloody bold, &c, and so ex
asperated did Forrest become that he
insisted eventually on the person per
forming the First ApparitiOn, "doub-
limo" the other two, although all threG
should be entirely different in appear
ance and manner. The troubles with
the young man, however, were not L
end there. In the fifth act the un
fortunate youth had to play the sec
ond officer, aud rush in to announces
to Macbeth the approach of Malcolm!
amy. This is very trying salata
ton for novice, and many failures
have been caused by it. Mr.. Forests
| young man, however, rushed in a
the proper moment and dropped upoI
one knee, the usual business. The
tragedian, who was as energetic at re
her al as he was at night, rushed a
him, seized him by the throat, anC
shouted:
''The devil damn thee black, thou cream
Where gottest thou that goose IOok?'
The young man replied in the text
"There are ten thousand.n Geese
vii iain," roared Forrest, giving him
/ n shaKe; when, instead of replying
in the simple words of his part, "SOl
diers. sir" the poor wretch cried out
" Ye-e-e-s, Mr.. Forrest" This was
too much for Forrest, who threw him
off with tremendous force, and then
stamped up and down the stage boil
ing with rage. In one OF his turns
his eye again lighted on the second
officer, who had picked himself up,
and stood wondering what would
come next, Forrest gazed at him fix
edly, and in a voice of the utmost
calmness said, "Sir, you are butch
er by trade, are you not y " No, sir,
Il AL IEDlAEu
Forrest; "you are not, sir; you are a
butcher, sir go and resume your call
ing; kill sheep, kill oxen, kill asses,
if you will, but never kill Shake.
speare more" This ebullition cooled
the tragedian down, and the rest of
the rehearsal and the performance
passed off without further trouble.
Mr.. Forrest, however, never forgot
the "yOung butcher" as he called
him, and has been heard to say that
he followed him everywhere.
In Cincinnati, few months after
ward, an actor playing Seyton in.the
same tragedy, on coming in to an
nOunce the death of Lady Macbeth,
eonfOunded Mr.. Forests ears by say
ing, instead of the words, 1.-THE Queen,
my lord, is dead" said, The King,
my lord, is dead" to which Mr.. For
rest equally astonished his audience
by forgetting himself, and replying,
Is he, then what am doing here?'i
Forrest vowed that this was the young
butcher from Washington, and it took
much persuasion to convince him to
the contrary. To a man of so much
eXcitability as Mr.. Forrest, no calling
in the world was so likely to draw
forth the toughest portions of his ma
ture. The homage, mingled with fear,
he everywhere received from his fel-
lOw-actOrs ser 5ed only to increase his
natural vanity. OF late years, when
his temper received additional aeTi-
m0ny from illness, the lines of the
actors playing in Forests pieces were
by no means cast in pleasant places.
One Of the most trying Ordeals through
which a young actor ever had to pass
was to play Lucullus 70 Forests Da-
mon in the play of damon and Pyth-
las" Lueullus is Damon's servant,
and upon him depends the success of
Forests greatest scene in the play,
viz: that in which Lueullus an
nounees to Damon that he has slam
his horse. Here Forrest rose to the
very height of his grandeur, and his
passion was something terrible to be-
hold. He always seized Lucullus by
the waist, threw him down, picked
him up again, threw him down, and
finally rushed off to Syracuse, drag
ging Lucullus after him. The unfOr-
tunate actor playing Lueullus had al
ways to be provided with a strong
Ieathern belt around his waist, by
which Forrest seized him, and many
a time when Mr.. Forrest was in more
than ordinary vigor, he has been
known to lift Lucullus by this same
belt, and actually throw him off at
the wing, with the most utter reck
lessness of the consequences either to
the poor actor the scenery. or the
prompter. So great dread arose in
the minds of actors regarding this
part of Lueullus, that at one time Mr..
Forrest was obliged to travel with his