The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-06-17
Mistakes of the Stage

A blunder committed by a supernu-
merary may give an actor much annoy
anee, but mistake made by himself is
even more provoking. Mr. Cooper was
once performing in the character of Vir-
ginius. After stabbing his daughter to
save her from the polluting touch of APP
Plus Claudius, Virginius stands over her
dead body, holding aloft the bloody
knife. Appius commands his hctors to
seize him. The frenzied father shrieks
out, in tones of desperaion-
''If they dare
To tempt the desperate weapon that is mad
dened
With drinking my daughters blood, why let
them,
Thus
1t rushes in amongst them!
Way there, wayl"
Then dashes at the advancing hctors.
he cuts his way through and escapes.
By some unaccountable freak of the
tongue, however, when he heard the
command of Appius to seize him, in
stead of exclaiming, ''Thus it rushes in
amongst Them" he yelled out, in the
most intense rage, ''Thus it mushes in
arungst them!" and dashing off the
stage, left the audience convulsed with
irrepressible laughter
In the same play, when the female
slave, instigated by Appius Claudius,
makes oath that she is the mother of
Virginia, Virginius brings his daughter
forward, and, appealing to the citizens
In the Forum, exclalms:
SIS this the daughter OF slave? know
| IT'S not with men as shrubs and trees, that by
The shoot you know the rank and order of
The stem; yet who from such stem
(pOinting 105b SCOrTl at The 1conlan,
| Would look for such a shootY-
laying his hand tenderly on the head OF
his child.
In delivering these lines the tragedian,
Mr.. John R. Scott, with great earnest
ness and feeling once made the following
strange transposition Of the closing
words of the text:
''Who from such shoot (pointiaq to HE
| aCOnlGn)
Would look (taking has daughter by the hand
| For such stem?"
Then followed a dead silence. The
actor was quite unconscious of the blum
der he had made until slight demon
stration from the audience gave him an
impression that something had gone
awry, when the sternness of his features
gradually gave way to an unmistakable
smile, and the whole house, performers
and all, burst into an uncomfortable fit
of laughter.
I will venture to add yet another Incl
dent of a somewhat similar character.
In the tragedy Of Macbeth" when
Malcome's army is seen approaching the
castle, one of the officers of the usurping
Thane rushes into his presence crying
out, ''There-is ten thousand" when
he is cut short by Macbeth's contemptu-
Gus and indignant exclamation of ''Geese,
villain?" to which the messenger replies,
SOLDIERS, sir" Now, on the occasion
alluded to, the man came on in hot haste,
and said, ''There is ten thousand
when Macbeth, turning fiercely on him,
cried out, Soldiers, villain?" ono, d
said the messenger, in a tone of Devil
derment; ono, no. Geese, sir AND
then the two actors stood staring at one
another in blank dismay, while peal on
peal of laughter burst from the audience,
in which the tragedian, unable to pre-
serve his gravity. at last joined. Order
having been restored, an attempt was
made to go on with the scene, but the
first line to be uttered by Macbeth being
in reference to the affrighted appearance
of the messenger, followed by an indig-
nant inquiry as to who the soldiers were,
it was too much for both actor and au-
dience; the laugh recommended, and did
not cease until the curtain fell
A comical effect was once produced by
Charles Kemble Gas Shylock,) by trans
posing unconsciously several letters in
the phrase, ''Shall [ lay perjury upon
my soul?'' and making of it, "Shall ]
lay surgery upon my poll? No, not for
| Venicep'