The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-05-01
FORESTS STAGE MANAGES.
qe Contrasts the Present With the Past In
Stage Decoration.

Mage Dec0Tatl0n.
ssThe stage costuming of to-day is
aothing as it was a few years ago.
said one of Boston's best known eos
sumers, once a favorite actor. He
stood, busily engaged in transform
ing, three bright-eyed, beardless boys
into red-coated soldiers of the Queen,
in one of those peculiar rooms, an
Gent medieval and modern in decora-
ton. that often are so fascinating tor
the visitors eye.
''If you look at the earlier pictures
of Garriek or Slddons, in Hamlet. Lear
or Macbeth, you will find that, int cv-
cry character, they are dressed in the
costumes of Washingtcn's time, the
Continental costumes as shey are call
ed. They never made any attempt TO
follow the costumes of the period.
''Who started the reform in this
matterpn
st was first introduced in England
by McCready and Charles Kean. For
merly the actors wore either jEst what
they happened 80 have, or Just what
the wardrobe wcman gave them, and
ID often made the most motlev combi-
nation you aver saw. / remember
onee / was playing with Forrest, and
was stage manager also. Now For
rest was one who was very particular
abeat his costumes. He would go on
to play his part, and / could see him
casting his eyes all ever the stage to
see how his people looked, but he new
or would say anything. Well, one
night we opened somewhere with
King Lear, and when i went to get The
costumes from the wardrobe woman /
said
What are you going to dress the
DOCTOR in4''
A domino, of course. We always
play him in a domino
s'Why, how is thatP" / said. s'The
doctor is u gentleman, and should play
in a gentleman's costume"
well, he always has played in a !
domino, and he can either use that or
20 without | went home and
faxed" up some kind of a costume of
;he gentleman of the period, and we
played himin it that night.
During the play Forrest came
round to me and said:
"'Where did you get the idea of
playing the doctor in that costumep'
"sThe idea is partly historical and
partly my own, i totd him.
"'It's a good idea-a mighty good
dea,' he said, with a few of those or
1amental words he often used; let him
Keep it on
s'That is al instance of how these
title changesfor the better creep in"
Where do You obtain all your ideas
Tor costuming a historical play"
"Chiefy from reading and expert
snce. / have n library of works on
;he subject, and of general literature,
[ wouldn't take 81, 1000 for. Yes, plates
lelp us a great deal in getting the col
Or. We can't gain much information
from the ordinary novelist. He isn't
definite enough. Now there Is one
hing i don't, think every one has no
iced about Henry Irving's costumes
and those of his company. He owns
and designs them all, as you know, but
there is hardly one of them that has
any gold or silver ornamentation, ex-.
,ept a little on the cloaks. He has
;he very richest stuffs; and the actor
las no choice but TO take what Irving
gives him. / consider Irving one of
the very best stage managers we have
ever had"
do the star actors, as a rule, look
after the costumes of their companypn
mo; the costumer and the stage
manager attend to that. Lawrence
Rarrett I helieye, designs many COS
tunes, and is, perhaps more particu-
liar tGan most of them. The lady stars
have all they can do TO look after their
own wardrobes. Sarah Bernhardt,
though, is simply a marvel of asstage
manager She will dodge behind the
scenes and set six different persons GO
ing In different directions all at once,
steps into her dressing-room and
change her magnificent costumes so
quickly you can hardly believe she has
lone it, and reappears IN the stage
milling. Janauschek, too, when she
brought out Brunhilde here for the
irst time, procured a lot of copies of
he German stage setting-she wa the
original Brunhilde in Germany-and
he scene painter made up all his
scenes from them, and they were. Of
course, accurate. Take il in Hanlon's
Fantasma, for instance. The artists.
tent US word that in one scene we,
must use only silver and white to.
match his scene, and then we know
lust how to go to work"
aYes, the Germans have the finest
stage settings in the world, simply be-
,ause they have schools where the bus
ness Is taught. But look at us We
lave nothing of the sort. We have a
great deal to learn yet. p-Boston
Globe.