Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-08-28

II
"f have seen Lord Beaeonsfield. %
said TO Mr. Irving, "whsn he was hgr
Disrseli, rise In the House of Comssoa,
and begin speech ina vein and man.
ner evidently considered beforehand
which. proving cut Of harmony with the
feelings Of the H0ust, be has ensirely
changed 10 suit the imrnediate mood and
temper Of BIS audience. Now. sympa-
Ihefic - sou are with zeHr audience,
| have yous under theif ial|nenee in che
development n neH charscfer, ever
altered yoar 6rst idesldpr1ne las co,..Ae
EOfe iirss represenlasiah -
- You open Up IN Interesting tram oi
Though" Mr- Irving answered. "Ex-
eeps once have. never altered my orr
ginal idea under The circumstances you
suggest. That was in .vanderdecken,
and ! changed the last scene. I can
always tell when the audience is with
me. IL was not with me in Wander
decken. Neither was il on tlie FIRST
night Of Hamlet. which il perhaps
curious. considering my subsequent suc-
cess. On the first night I felt that the
audience did not 20 with me until the
6rst meeting with OpkeKa, when they
sshsnged towards me entirely. Bot as
night succeeded night my Hamlet grew
in their estimation. could feel IL ell
the time, and now Iknow that they like
h-that they are with me, heart and
soul. I'LL tell you a curious thing about
my Hamlet audience. Il 10 the most
interesting audience play 10. For any
other piece we have . difficulty in get
ting the people seated by $50. For
'Hamlet' the house 10 foil and qulet and
waiting for che curtain to 90 up by z 80.
On the FIRST night the curtain dropped
at 1916"
"What were the two unprecedented
runs at Hamlet 70
"The FIRST was 900 nights; the second
fO7, and in the country have often
played itten times out ofa twelve nights
engagement. But as we have got into
this line of thought about audiences IL
should be remembered that, with the
exception OF benefit performance on
one occasion years ago, had never
played Hamlet before that first night
at the Lyceum. Indeed, SO far as re-
CARDS what 10 called the classic and the
legitimate drama, my successes, such
as they were, had been outside Il. real
ly in eccentric comedy. As rule ac-
tors who have appeared for the first time
IN London in such uarts a. Richard Ill.,,
Macbeth, Hamlet and OihelIo, have
played them previously for years in the ]
Sf;';lu ny s;luudiie6aess. a e4Tey' y'Rmfa point about
sure they estimated the periofmanaJ am
cordingly, giving me their special SYM
pathy and good wishes. i believe in
the Justice Of audiences; they are sin
cere and hearty in their approval of
what they like, and have the greatest
hand in making the actors reputation.
journalistic power cannot be overvalued.
II is enormous; but in regard 10 actors
il is a remarkable fact that their perma-
nent regulations, the final and lasting
verdict Of their merits, are made chiefly
by their audiences. Sometimes the true
record comes sfter the players are dead,
or il is written by men who possibly
never saw them. Edmund Kean's may
be called posthumous reputation. II
you read the newspapers Of his time you
win find that during his acting days he
was considerably cut up and mauled.
CarFick' 'simpersonations were not much
written about 10 his day. As 10 Bur-
bidee, Betterton and other famous actors
Of their time, whose names are familiar
to ~, when they lived there were prac-
tieally no newspapers to chronicle their
work % iaolay7s' - ~ Igsf A
"You believe, then, that merit even
tnally makes tsnsark. IA spite OF profess
sional criticism, and that like Masonic
ritual the story OF success may 90 down
orally TO posterity s'' - - -
E'.I believe that what audiences real
~ like they stand by; believe they
hand down the actors name to future
generations. They, are the Judge and
iary who find the verdict and pronounce
the sentence. Twill give you an exam.
pie in keeping with this rapid age. ]
am quite certain that wIthintwelve hours
Of the production Of anew play of any
importance ell London knows whether
The piece is a success or a failure, no
matter whether it has been noticed in
the papers or not. Each one Of the an-
dience is the centre of little cOterie
and the word Is passed on from one to
the other" - 100 80
% s'-What is year feeling in regard TO
lirst-night audiences. apart from the reg
uIar play going pubic ~ 20. - ssar :
.g''I confess am hsppiest IN presence
Of what you call the regular pIay-going
public. am apt % become depressed
on d first night. Some Of my friends and
fell0w-aFtists are stimulated and excited
by . sense of opposition. fear Il low
ersme. know thas while thcreis good
hearty crowd who come 10 be pleased,
there are some who have not come TO
be pleased. God help - if We we're in
the hands ofthe few who. from personal
or other motives. come In the hope Of
seeing failure. and who pour out their
malice and spite IN anoayInous letters"
II was in his chambers at the corner
OF GFailon street, on Wednesday week,
that 1 bad this pleasant talk with the
most notable aetor- oi -osir lime. The
windows are filed with coIored glass,
| illustrative Of birds and their pIdmsge;
| the hlantel-piece 10 an old 6ak eSbinet,
with d silver shield Is i eentfe-pi
Over tbe book shelves which line one
end Of The room 8 ! siaiTed raven. The
] room Is full OF bvie-a-brae, histrio1ic rel
ics. presents. purchases. kniek.knarks,
| In admired dis0rdef % aiI'tiie more seat
y tered this morning becaElke Mr.. Irving