The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-02-07
THE STAGE FALL.
q reae which Few Actors Have A..
CURED. RxplaAAtien es Asw &c 10
nAnA.

00srOOss 1AU1 ~ 0OW ~ ~
Dose.
lCrohFut's Letter In Boston 0lobe.l
How 10 fall gracefully and sriely b.
fore On audience II . feat which only 1
few actors have thoroughly acquired.
A good many fall % awkwardly - "a
excite mirth. and good many hurt
themselves. remember . young lady
IN one OF Days plays few years sgc
70 whom he said, "Herei You must fall
It this cue.s Al that cue, accordingly,
she tainted and fell, but she knocked
over chair ano . stand, broke lamp
and net the stage aArsi The cur
tain was rung down, the fire put ont,
and, indignant, he asked her what she
meant BY such elumsiness. "Well."
she said, "you never told me how TO
fall, and nobody over showed me-" She
had never thought Of taking ) lesson II
% important matter. Fanny Daven-
port i now ! large and solid woman,
but her fall in "Fedora" ID one Of the
most effective bits Of stage business.
she reels fainting 10 The sofa, quivexs
and dies IN On instant. half lying on her
face, and a. her Mortified husband runs
up 70 look and learns The
dreadful truth, she rolls entirely
over BY sheer force Of gravity and drops
with startling thud upon the door.
The best fall remember having seen
il that Of Francis Wilson in the
sPrincess Of Trebisonds" at tho Casino.
He posed among the comic statuary on
: pedestal foot and half high, with
: brass-drum on his breast. he would
fall directly over, backward, or on
either side. without putting ont hand
or bending his body-fali straight
upon the door. like . stone figure. I
wonder il didn't kill specially
when he was encored . half dozen
times. dou't think . death or fatal
injury ought 70 DO repeated too often.
Agnes Booth doesn't know how 70 fall
easily unless she has learned lately.
When she was playing the wife in THE
Celebrated Case, she used TO hurt her
self every night-got black and blue
till shs finally throw up the part. and
Miss Cowsll took IL and "fell" into h
gracefully.
These reoollectious have bssn sue-
gested by . technical lesson. The
other afternoon I dropped into Fro
bisher's college Of acting. and found
him engaged teaching class Of thsatre-
bound young ladies how 10 fall, illus
trating h;s teaching with them one By
one. Remember this, ho said, per
sons fall either from fainting, drunksn-
ness or sudden death. They die either
BY dagger. sword. pistol Or poison
except m oocasional case like Mans
field, who dies Of spoplsxy. Sudden
death 10 followed By sudden relaxatioo,
which causes tho knees 70 bend
- one Of The first visible signs.
The knees bend, the shoulders
droop, the victim turns partially
in his tracks-so-and falls-so-h
mot" he resumed on recovering hia
feet, as II he were built Of iron, Oh
wood. or even Of fiesh and bone. but a
II he were made Of snow or Of sand
melting away q the bottom first."
"Now. Miss Wright, let's sec you fall
-At tho cut, Wretch, hers I ami
There are two things 70 be avoided, r.
member. Don't crouch down q II you
were afraid. and don't dop your ieea
and show your stockings, for that 10 not
impressive. Now, then-'Wretch here
I ann"
Tho young Lady gathered herself up
.Ah, that isn't fart" he said; .you
at downl Yon must always strike Arst
On the aide Of your knees.
II am afraid il will hurt me-"
"Nonsenssl Do Jon want 70 b a
actressl"
YES; I win do anything. 0ivs N.
tho cue
Il was trisd again with better suc
ossa Always fall diagonally. !" No con
tinued, shead toward ono Of the corners
oi the stage. Another thing. In reoov.
sring from swoon the head should b
the lest 10 rise. In regaining conscious
ness the heart stirs drst, then the hands
and the framo-the man rolls half over
perhaps, before he ilts his head q all
Sometimes il il necessary 70 fall q
being struck with the iist-men usually
Il il . back-fall, and il effected b,
holding tho body rigid. Withdrawing the
tongue from between tho teeth, raisina
tho head slightly and falling straight or
tho shoulders. can teach anybody il
IN hour % % 10 make tho back-fall IN
erringly and safely" Then Professo,
Frobisher resumed his lesson and
came away.
This back tall remember seeins
Charlotte Cushman make in surprie
ing manner. think Il was in sMoa
Msrrils." She jumped mp foot from
tho door and took the back fall With
tremendous effect.
In drunken falls the most reckless
ever sav was that Of Harry Watkins
the Unknown actor. who has probabl,
played more parts and written more
plays that were put on the boards thar
any other living man. / remember see
ing him jump fifteen or twenty fee
during the delirium tremens soenes Q.
Middleton in "The Drunkard," hi
own play. and / asked him how b.
could stand il. @Wsll." he said, IN,
right s.ds j. terribly bruised, and l hav,
skinned my arms, but ! am pretty vel
bAndagod, and l am having some pad,
made 70 case my fall"
By tha way. Harry Watkins. Jsme
Wallack and Old Burton were thc onl,
actors ever saw whose drunkenness
seemed real. Az for Sothern's drunken
ness in david Garrick" and Irving's il
the last scene Of .Ths Lyons Mail" i
u the veriest caricature. Il 10 sort o
staggering dance-an irregular hop
When men are drunk they do not hol
Or dance. They put their fest down Of
the ground and take them up - seldom
. possible. Barton and Watkins WOOL.
both glue their feet 10 tho stage .
they had suckers on them. and thsi
drunkenness WAS very drunk indeed.
wonder why Watkins @Drunkard" ism
on the road now. In these piping
times Of Temperance il ought 10 b . 90
Pascal: One Of the greatest arti6ce
the devil uses TO engage men in vice m,
dsbsuchexy II 10 fasten names Of con
tempt on certain virtues. aud thus 3
all weak souls with . foolish fear q
passing for scrnpulous, should they q