The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-06-06

49, SOA.oANSOA0N &VVO ellOuSus lWOCu0C8l
in-law have long been at . discount, but
it would seem that young men have now
come to the conclusion that ready caah
is . better asset than fathsr-in-lsw."
STAGE DEA3Hn.
How Actors Resolve sh.ar oonssp tsoas
ape such Scenes.
From the Cleveland Leader.
& w. E. Sheridan. the tragedian. stA,od
before Q mirror in circumscribed roam
opening on the stage OF the Academy, Of
Music. Theatrical paraphernalia VA 8
Uttered everywhere. Costumes ahs.t
might have been fashionable before the
days of Shakespeare hung about the
room pendent from pegs. A tiger skin
stretched along the ador took up what
space had not been reegated to boxes
and bundles. On long shelf placed
breast-high beneath the mirror were
strewn'an extravagant display Of COS
metics. Mr.. Sherida1's lower extrem-
tiles were already encssed in black-col-
ored knee-breeches and sable-huei
stockings, and was brsily engaged in
making up" to impersonate BSiweF's
masterly conception Of tho celebrated
Cardinal Richelieu.
"Where do actors GET the ideas of khe
various death-scsnes which they ptor-
tray?" said Mr.. Sheridan in answer 70
question Of that character which had
just been propounded. "Well, the,
death scene in Louis XI.' is almost
an exact reproduction Of what took
place on the deathbed OF my friend Ned
Adams. His death was the result of q
general breaking down of his constitu-
ton. was then playing at the Chest
nut street theatre in Philadelphia. Dur
ing his last sickness the actors at the
theatre were in the habit of sitting up
with Adams by turns. On the night of
his death was with him, and his final
throes impressed themselves most vi
wildly upon my mind. II was from this
principally that I constructed the cul-
minary scene in Louis XII"
Mr.. Sheridan had paused from his
work for moment in recollection of
his friends death, but soon began to
rub an unguent into the skin of his face.
"When 1 first undertook to portray q
death scene" continued Mr.. Sheridan,
making a few deft. strokes with black
crayon, which on the stage would sim
ulate the wrinkles of the cardinal, nv
conceptions were criticised by my ply
sician. 1t was by his advice that in
troduced the three final gasps which
mark the culmination of the death strug-
gle in Louis XI.' As to the picking at
the covering and tho other features,
they ore what I saw at the deathbed of
poor Ned Adams. I do not think that
you will find rs a rule, that actors are.
frequent visitors at5hospitals to witness
such scenes. It is impossible to time.
your visit properly so as to often see ex-
actly what You want SO see, and in the
second place actors find themselves
pretty completely occupied with their
studies and other work. Some
time ago physician made On ap-
pointmcnt with me to witness the
death throbs of o patient. It happened
that 1 was unable to keep the engage
ment, and the man soon afterward got
WE'LL"
BY this time the actor, with the aid
of cosmetics and dress, had almost COM
pletely transformed himself into his
character.
"As Sir Giles Overreach," continued
Mr.. Sheriden after a moments pause.
Il die standing in my boots. Apo
plexy is supposed to be the cause. In
'Othello' the death is likewise instan-
foOnouo tn p;o>,,lo% s,,<p Az, ,1ooA1,, r
am guided entirely by my own concep-
tion Of such scene. I never saw q
man die from apoplexy, nor have I ever
seen man stabbed to death. Both are
merely my individual creations of such
scenes"
Thomas w. Keene was met in his
apartments of the Weddell house.
'All the death scenes which I por-
tray are of course violent in their char
acter, from the massive and monumental
despair of 'Othello' to the fatal termin-
alton of Richards ambitious career, {"
said Mr.. Keene. II got the idea of an
appropriate death scene for Hamlet
from the mortal agonies of a man dying
from poisoning at Washington hospital
in Boston. One evening several years
ago J. went to that institution to study
delirium tremens, which it was my de-
sign to portray in the drama Drink.
While there I found a patient in the
death throes from some of the slower
forms of poisoning I think.
Ny death scene in Hamlet is as nearly
an exact representation of that as I can
make it."
"Every legitimate actor" continued
Mr.. Keene, "makes nature basis of his
delineations, whether they he death
scenes or otherwise. B natural death
scene and simulated death scene must
be essentially different from an artistic
standpoint. In stage death the strik-
ing effects must. be prominently pre-
duced. The idea that must govern the
actor is relatively the same as that which
governs the theatrical scene painter o.
compared with the oil painter. The
gross effects are sought after. In por-
traying sudden deaths very little finesse
is required"
At this point Mr.. Keene was inter-
rupted by the entrance of another call
er, and the reporter Withdrew.