The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1883-12-07
THE WICKED FLEA ON THE THEATRICAL
BOARDS


theatres Of the cities is most lauubob,. and
Will result in much fun to audiences in the
future unless some action is taken at once
on the part of the managers. 1t seems that
many Of the best theatres of the cities have
| become infested with tleas 1t is believed
the neas have been brought to the theatres
On the pet dogs of actresses and BY the do-s
used IN plays and they have multiplied and
replonlShed tie places Of amusement until
they are u formidable army. 1t is said that
| when theatre has not had performance
ior several days the fleas become hungry and
when the next company arrives upon tine
stage the iica> take possession of the mem
berS too quick. Some aver that the tieas
are divided of iuio squads, each SQUAD with
leader. aud each squad is assigned to one
particular actor or actress, as the case NAV
be. tieas are no fools, and it would not be
strange 1t they had II choice as to which
niemocr OF company should be assigned to
them. vi course, it is possible that the
boss tlcas shake dice to decide which shall
have i'st choice for his squad, and vet it
may be that flcas Know nothing of dice, and
20 up"p the principle of first come first
served. While the flea is not human we
uu>t give the 10 sect credit for knowing the
difference between the taste of young and
beautiful actress and an old man or woman
The flea is no fool. Mhatevcr else may be-
SAID OF him, and any person with auy heart
at hil Will feel Tor the young actress whose.
part compcls her to so upon the stage of a
nealhicctcd theatre with Il low necked
drcss, bare arms, or stockings that are per-
foratcd by fashion on the instcp. or which
hlv mat Il l.
Such person has got much beside her art
to attend L" and her uiud must be constantly
occupied ID devising means to mash neas and
not give it away TO the audience.
An actress eau, if she feels flea grazing
around, suddenly place her hand on her
heart. aud while the audience is looking IL.
the expression Of pain on her face, she eau let
one or two fingers wander down where the
tea is and paraIyze him, and the audience
will think that it Is gesture that is in the
play. But there are places on every person
where flea might walk arm in arm with
another flea, slipping the life blood and b..
coming intoxicated where no gesture laid
Gown in a play will hit.
Suppose Mary Anderson, while tying to
haul Romeo up to the balcony SO she can see
IT he has been chewing cloves, feels flea
eFaHEDGo AE Iasr bblReak aSb Shf Vile f saying h
"Whereforc art thou, Romeo 2" she eau
everlastinSly dig her nails into tie opening
in the corset and kill the flea, and tho audi
cnce would be none the wiser, while if she
bncked up against the railing and scratched
her back on n scene, it would be noticed
and commented on to her discredit as an
artist, aud besides she might push down the
scenery. Again, if a flea should appear to
be exploring the vicinity of her waist, while
it would not bc admissible for her to create
gesture that would lit the case, she could,
by the poetic license that is granted all great
"eniuscs. lean against the railing, on the
point where the flea was, and, while giving
,afy to Romeo. she cohld make the flea
think he had got in the wrong pew. And
yet, in that scene, if a few fcas should get
among her stockings. as is almost certain to
be the case, Mary would not have any ex.
cuse, by any act or gesture in the play, to
pay any attention to the flea, and she would
have to so on with the play and die game.
IN opera it is different. The costumes
are such that the hunting of fleas is mere
pastme. Especially is this the case in the
opera Of "La SOmnambula," where the
s'eep-walkcr is attired with candle
and garment that has always been
highly recommended for the pursuit of feas.
1t is supposed that actors are impcrvious.
10 the influence Of feas, but such is not the
case. Booth, Barrett, Jeff .rsou and McCuls
Tough are nervous as women, and We may
expect any evening to see Booth as Hamlet
drop his sword aud roll down his black
tights, while the ghost is telling him the old
story, and catch flea and crush it between
his two thumb nails, Dull up his stockings
and tell the ghost that he will go home and
make it red hot for his mother and the uncle
who poured melted scaling wax 10 the ghosts
ear In the play Of Francesca da Rims
ini," when Lawrence BarreL starts home
from the army to kill his brother and his
wife for being too numerous, and he is all
cxci emcnt it would look strange to see him
sit down on II stump and 90 to catching feas
before an audience, and yet this is what
the stage is coming to il fcas and dogs are
not Guarantned. 1t would look queer to
set jefferson, when he rises up on the stage
after the twenty years sleep. 20 to hunting
around his decayed and mldewed leggings
for heas and to see Mccullough as Othello
stop on the way to murder DesdemoHa and
search for ficas TEis would be going from
the sublime to the ridiculous, and the Sun
mentions these possibilities that managers
may see what is liable to happen unless they
cause insect powder TO be freely used on
the stage and cause all dogs brought by
actresses TO bring certificate from an NJ I.
d. that they are free from feas. 1t takes u
manager with nerve to stand up before an
actress who has gall enough to carry dog
or one who has married husband for the