Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-12-05
Powerful Acting.


English theatrical paper, known as
the Era, gives these amusing but
apocryphal anecdotes of"powerful"
American acting:
On one occasion, Mr.. Edwin For
rest, then young man, gave tre-
mendous display Of really powerful
acting. He was supposed to repre-;
sent Roman warrior, and to be at
tackled by six minions of a detested
tyrant. AT the rehearsals Mr.. For
rest found great deal of fault with
the supers who condescended to
play the minions. They didn't lay
hold of him. TheNwouldn't 60 in
as if it were real fight. The su-
pers skulked and consulted. At
length the captain of the supers in
quired in his local slang, "yerwants
this to be a1ully fight, ch?'' 81 do,"
replied Mr.. Forrest. "All right"
rejoincd the Captain, and then the
rehcarsals quietly proceeded. In
the evening the little theatre was
crowded, and Mr.. Forrest was en-
Enthusiastically received. When the
fighting scene occurred the great ira
gedlan took the middle of the stage
and the six minions entered rapidly
and deployed in skirmishing order.
AT the cue, "Seize himw one minion
assumed pugilistic attitude, and
struck blow straight from the
shoulder upon the prominent nose
of the Roman hero; another raised
him about six inches from the stage
by a well directed kick, and the 9TH
crs made ready to rush in for a de-
cisive tussle. For a moment Mr..
Forrest stood astounded, his broad
chest heaying with rage, his great
eyes flashing fire, his sturdy legs
planted like columns upon the stage.
Then came few moments Of pow
erful acting, at the end of which,
one super was seen sticking head
foremost in the bass drum in the or
chestra, four were having their
wounds dressed In the green-room,
and one, finding himself in the flies,
rushed ont upon the roof Of the the
atre and shouted "Fire!" at the top
of his voice; while Mr.. Forrest, be-
ing called before the curtain, bow
cd his thanks pantingly to the ap-
plauding audience, who looked upon
the whole affair as part of the piece
and chad never seen Forrest act SO
splendidly."
Upon another occasion, however,
the powerful acting was upon the
part of the supers. For the sake Of
poetic justice let us hope they were
the same supers. The hero was
Mr.. George Jones, afterward known
as Count Johannes. Mr.. Jones was
impersonating the theatrical British
sailor, transformed of course into
the theatrical Yankee sailor), who
fights broad-sword combat with
four pirates, and rescues a lovely
damscl in distress. BY some means
or other Mr.. Jones had offended
the free and Independent supers
who played the pirates, and the re-
suit was material alteration in
the dcnouement of the drama. The
damsel was in distress; the four pi-
rates were just about to bind her
and bear her away to their secret
cave; the feelings of the audience
were wrought up to their highest
pitch, when suddenly Mr.. Jones (as
a Yankee tar) dashed upon the scene
threw himself before the unhappy
damsel, fourished his cutlass and
shouted, "Comc on Williams! One
Yankee sailor is more than match
for four such lubberly sharks!' 81
guess not" replied one ofthc pirates
and the four of them took the aston
ishcd Jones by the legs and arms,
and in spite Of his desperate strug-
giles, carried him bodily off the stage
locked him in the property.closet,
and returning, bore off the maiden
to their mountain cavern behind the
scenes. The curtain fell.