Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-01-11

FORRuyr.

tFre~ Asccsotes # Forrest in the f,As!adespkia
= ta-l.2 Press.Ic s<.14
To the majority OF actors he was o sOuce Of
tenor. The announcement OF his coming TO .
theatre was almost inv zriably the cue for either
fear or rebellion aInon5 those who had acted
with INN, ard often among those VITO had nsver
had that privilege. One actor would relate to
the Others instances OF Mr.. Forrest's tyranny,
which would set the company up In arms against
him, and when lac arrived in the best OF DISPOSE
tons, and the desire to get through his engage
nent as happily as possible, he would fluid his
supp orters in rebellion, one-half hating and the
other half fearing him. The dread that actors
who were accustomed 10 get through their minor
parts with credit on ordinary nights, would fall
ter, stammer, and inglori0usly break down
played by him n washington few sssSs ago,
some notable instances Of this 1oceNrrcd.
Mr.. Forrest was to open in Macbeth" and ~
tended the last rehearsel himself, the other re-
who travelled with him. On this occasion the
company was particularly bad one, even for
washington, consisting principally of what were
the stage with . very pleasant smile, but before
the first act was over the smile disappeared, and
by the third act heavy frown and OminOiIs
shaking Of the head denoted that Mr.. Forrest
was himself again. The readings of the &C
tors were bad bad could be. He en-
deayored to instruct them, but to no pur-
was reached the tragcdian's little stock of pa
tience was quite worn out. The cue was given
for the appaTitiOns to rise through The caIdron
The First Apparit1Oa did 50, and spoke his two
lines without difficulty. The second one was
not 20 successful. He had to say Immediately
upon his appearance, " Macbeth! Macbeth!
Macbeth To which Macbeth replies, Z" Had L
three cars, I'd hear theer' The apparition, be-
fore speaking, glanced at MIR. Forrest and i'm
mediately lost his voice, his words being inaudi-
BILE. Forrest replied in the words of the te xt.
and, much confused, the spparition continued
in the words, 50 Be bloody, bold and
resoiute," laying the emphasis upon the
word bloody, as though it were qnalI
original and ridiculous reading to the sentence.
Mr.. Forrest rushed at the unfortunate young
man. roaring out :" You're butcher, sir;
Shakespeare doesn't want me to be bloody bold;
he wants me to be bloody, bold and resOlute.
90 down, sir, 60 down." Seven times that young
man came up the caldrOn, never to get further
Forrest become that he insisted eventually ON
the person performing the first apparitiOn,
doubling the other two, although all three
should be entirely. different in appearance And
manner. The troubles with the young man,
however, were not to end there. In the fifth act
the unfortunate youth had to play the second
officer and rush In TO announce to Macbeth the
trying situation for a novice, and many failures
have been caused by IL. Mr.. Forests young
man. however, rushed in at the proper moment
and dropped upon one knee, the usual business.
The tTagedian, who was rs energetic at rchear
sails he was at night, rushed at him, seized him
by the throat, and shOuted:
The devil damn thee black, thou cream faced loon,
Where gottest thou that goose lookrn
The Young man replied in the text, g There
are ten thousand :. Geese, villain,r rOared
Forrest, giving him a shake who, Instead OF
diers, sir" the poor wretch cried out, ..Yee-e
Mr.. Forrest" who threw him OFF with tremen-
dous force, and stamped up and down the stage
boiling with rage. In one of his turns his eyes
again lighted on the secOrd officer, who had
picked himself up and stood wondering what
would come next. Forrest gazed at him tixedly,
and in a voice of the utmost calmness said, 'Sir,
you are a butcher by trade, are you not 2" ''NO,
sir, / am an actor ''An actor replied For
rest; you not, sir, you are butcher, sir;
go resume your calling, kill sheep, kill oxen,
Kill asses, if you will, but never kill Shakespeare
more" This ebUllition cooled the tragedian
down. and the rest OF the rehearsal and the per-
formance passed OF without fprthsr trouble.
butcher" as he called him, and has been heard
to say that he followed him everywhere.
In Cincinnati, few months aiterward, an
actor aging Seytoh in the same tragedy.
coming in to announce the death of Lady Mac
beth. cOntounded Mr.. FORESTS ears by saying,
instead or the words, ''The Queen, my Lord, is
dead, said. "The King. my Lord, Is dead" to
which Mr.. Forrest equally astonished his audi
ence by forgetting lllaself and replying. sis he,
then what am L doing here?' Forrest vowed
that this was the Young butcher from Washing
him tO the contrary. 10 "a man OF so much eN-
ctability Mr.. Forrest. no calling in the world
So likely to draw forth the toughest portions
of his nature. The homage. mingled with fear.
he everywhere received from his fellOw-actors
servosl only b increase his natural vanity. OF
late years, when his temper received additional
acrimony from Illness the lines of the actors
playing in Forests pieces we're by no means
cast in pleasant places. One of the most trying
Ordeais through which a young actor ever had
to pass was to play Lucullus TO FORESTS Damon
in the play OF 81 Damon and Pythas." Lucul-
lus is DamOn's servant, and upon him depends
the success of Forests greatest scene in the
play, viz, that in which Lucullus announces TO
Damon that he has slain his horse. Here For
rest rose to the very height of his grandeur, and
his passion was something terrible to behold
He always seized Lucullus by the waist, threw
dragging Lucullus after him. The unfortunate
actor playing Lucullus has always to be pro-
vided with a strong leather belt around the
and many a time when Mr.. Forrest was
in more than ordinary vigOr, he has been
known to lift Lucullus by the same belt and
actually throw him of ut the wing, with the
most utter recklessness 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 Lucullus that
with his own Lucullus, as the only means of Sc
curing the proper Interpretation Of the great
scene.
Nearly every actor who has ever PLAYED with
Mr.. Forrest has his little anecdote to tell of
Forests grim humer athing sarcasm, hut
such anecdotes mainly depend for appreciation
upon All lmltatlOn Oh the tagculahs voice anu
manner. That Mr.. Forrest had abundant
humor of its kind no one can doubt. remark
OF his made in Baltimore few years ago has be-
come famous as tradition. Mr.. Forests legs
were a theme OF great admiration to the world
at large, and OF no little pride to himself. The
play was "Virginius," and Mr.. Forrest, in the
costume of Roman General, was standing at
the wings in his usual firm attitude, and with his
usual scOrnfh smile, gazing at the actors and
supernumeraries standing on the stage. The
lower limbs of the actors for the most part be-
ing plentifully padded, presented a respectable
appearance, but the poor supers, being, as is
usually the case in American theaters, mere
overgrown boys, and having no pads, their limbs
were ridiculous, and the fcshings with which
they were covered being world too wide for
their shrunk shauks, their appearance reused
the ire OF Mr.. Forrest. Dir. Ford, the manager,
passing at the time, Forrest called his attention
TO the supers, and said: Mr.. Ford, for heavens
sake what are tllOse?" ''ThOse,' said the mana
ger, ''are Roman citizens, Mr.. Forrest" IS RO-
man citizens! We Gods, did Roman have legs
like thoss?" The air OF utter disgust attending
the words was Undesirable, and Forrest stalked
on the stage as if he could devOur the Roman
citizens legs and all. tF1
sheep ON Poor Farms.
The impression is very prev aientE that sh sep
upon pastures bite the grass SO very close that
they are therefore of injury to the field but it