Litchfield enquirer., 1876-05-25
Anna Dickinson UndIsmayed


 Miss Dickinson intends to continue up- on the stage. Her Boston auditors testi- fy that her acting steadily and rapidly nm proved through the week, and that they were strongly moved during the last pre- sentations. She has had numerous offers from managers, and will accept and make 'four." Beiug interviewed by Boston paper, she acknowledges that she did not on her first night, but thinks that on the whole she has succeeded. Sine if sorry to have been judged by the first night; she was nervous and excited; her voice was ..sharp and high" and unnatural; her ges- tunes " .re rieii Of this she said.
 I had nothing like age-fright. and my mndience did not trouble me. lam too we'll used to them; but my surroundings s ere so strange, my clothes were so new, and I had snch a sense of them. Then when I lecture have everything my own way; the platform is clear and will go where I will. But here it is so differen'. 1 would stat on some quick impulse. and suddenly find human opposing my way, or I would become painfully aware of a chair or table. and it was such shock to my enthusiasm, like cold water plunge. When get accustomed to other presence and to the stage accessories l shall be much more free in action Then, too, the first night was nothing more or less han a rehe irsal It was agreed when made the engagement that 1 shUnld have aight rehearsals and dress rehearsal; but tn, ough some misunderstanding We h"d only four rehearsals and no dress rehear- sal at all, which was scarcely fair to me, when SO much was at stake. However, that is all over noa, and did not do So badly as I feared.
 Of the New York criticisms she saya:
 "The Times vas as brutal as The Fri bune WIS malevolent. The World was kind CT to me han had any reason to suppose It would be- The Herald was nIxsure of misunderstanding and an endeavor to deal justly. The Sun was fair; Tbe Graphic generous.
 She likes all the Boston papers but one; she has no acquaintances with the critics When it was suggested that she did not consider the New York criticisms honest, she replied:
 "Pardon mel didn't say that pre- fer to be non-committal. They were prei- udiced, and I was preiudiced. But must confess they perplex me. I can find no two who agree One says I have no sense of humor, and, if am fit for anything. it is only the most tragical of tragedy An other says am good for nothing in trag- edy, but would be exactly adapted to light comedy. Another says my play hampers me. and that I should get my plays written for me. Another that my | play is good, but am not good in it, and SO on, each one to different tune, in a different key, until am bewilderod, ol should be if I regarded their opIn1ons, which, I must confess, do not in the 1 least" She wrote this play because she found no other female character that suited her. In this connection she says:
 l ""Most dramatists are men. And like the male novelists they hays all failed in l portraying women's characters. If wo- 1 man is good she is weak and silly. Ii she is strong and intellectual she is bad and intriguing. The idea that woman can be at once clever and amiable. possess l both brains and virtue, seems never tC have entered the masculine writer's r"ind. , She was asked if she should always write her own plays, and answered.
 "I can'ttell. may play other charac. ters, but shall not abandon play writing l My first attempt has been too much of a success, and I can write, you know, when I am too 1oassS for acting"
 To the inquiry. But you do not in tend to abandon acting?" she said:
 "Not at all. feel.that have the roo of the matter within me, and am not going to give it up. will show what can do yet. And am sure that even my enemies accredit me with some powe since they criticise me, not as de6utant, but as an actress with an assured position I mean to make them all retract thei words. I think can do it in time.