Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-13
PRIVATE THEATRlCALS.
THE PRESENT CRAZE ABOUT THEM
AND THEIR RAPID GROWTH.
Amateur Acting q Domestic Evil
How IL Affects Young Wom-n-The
Harm IL Does Them-t state
of Perpetual Rehearsal.


rsI-~-isI C'rrST-ondenna1
NEW YORK, Dec. l0-Every period, par
tcularly in this country. has its rags One
of the RACES of the present time Is private
thestrlcais, which seem {" L. 50 rapidly
spr,,, ding here and elsewhere that they may
invade every household as they have already
Invaded every social circle. There must he
at least twenty-five to thirty neguar organ-
gations in this city, independent of the num-
t.rleSs small cliques that devote themselves
III an sna.eur way to dramatic Representa-
tons Certain sets are full TO overtlowinE of
this sort Of entertainment They are either
always preparing for play or talking ct one
they have INST produced, and preparing for
another. They are in perpetual rehearsal,
and they generally want all their anqualnt-
ancrs whether interested in the thing or
not, To assist them in r-hsarSinG
They never rest themselves. and tiry arc
unwilling that anybody else shall r'st No
SORT of business would or could b. :" ali
s,rhing as their pleasure. which Is seldom
out of their mind. 1t is kind Of lristus-
tinn while II lasts. and il is apt Ia last much
longer than anything 81 int"n-a usually lasts.
Indeed, some persons never quit" recover
from it; the effect rsmaintnS when the
passion has been spent
Naturally, the great ma joritv of the in
fntuatei are very young. younger IN eNPA
Renee than years: hut many are Old enough
to be bayond such folly
,,as,s H., e
nearly every one of whom regards herself a
the Juliet that Shak speare ought to have
had in his Imagination. They 50 eNaggerate
and idealibe their own charms and CAPACITIES
that they are prone to believe that every
heroine of the drama can lie completely and
exactly portrayed toy them This Is one of
the ,sarCionable Illusions and delusions of
pretty girls-and they are all pretty, at least
U their own mind-but their persistence in
private theatricals is likely TO deepen their
vanity 20 Il point of discomfort for them
selves, and of diSagreeahlen,ss to others
An occasional or periodic venture into the
mimic realm is entirely harmless; it Is a
change and recreation. and likely 10 be hene-
fetal But Ii is otherwise when taken seri-
ou>ly and regularly. when the amateurs he-
come In a sense professional without making
II profession They ara not satisfied with
one season. or two. or three; they not only
euter into il, it enters into them, and 10 such
a degI-se as to leave little or no room for any
other employment During the summer they
talk Of and discnss private theatricals; what,
when, where and how they shall he the com
Ing winter They get TO be form Of mono
mania Ii is hard to understand why pri-
vsta theatricals should 50 dominst. and de
hgntiully harass the women who have un-
reservedly embarked in them; but it is
unpleasantly obvious that they do
Men, however immature, and however en-
thusiastic at the outset, allow their ardor 10
cool after q certain amount Of experience.
But feminine ardor increases with .indul-
gelce. THIS may tie a characteristic trait of
the sexes in other things than private the
atrical,; IN these 1t surely is One rarely
sees a man past five-an i-twenty who is fond
Of playing even the parts i'll which, two or
three years before, he may have won the
most cordial applause. He Is apt TO reckon
nothing a young man is more dtsirous to
kave behind and have forgotten than any
self testimony Of such rawneSs. He would
usually drop out Of the histrionic circle he
fore he does were he not persuaded 10 "
main, fairly kept in it by the c"axing and
hadgering of some woman or women who are
looking for fresh triuInphs and complete rec
ognition on the irregular stage.
What numbers of plain. staii couples, who
have daughters in their tens and early
twenties, are tormented almost constantly
with private theatricals by which their girls
are possessed The mothers advice about
this or that costume Is asked. or the best
reading of a certain passage. or the most
graceful position at such a juncture. Know
ing nothing of such matters, she frankly con
fessss her ignorance, saying that, when she
WIS young, private theatricals We're not the
fashion. Still, full of maternal pride, she
ventures the assertion that whatever her
daughter does or thinks Of doing Is lovely;
indeed. that nothing could lie better than the
last arrangement of drapery, the last reading
or the last pose But, a. thes. are cuutinu-
ally changed. and exactly the same enco-
NUNS lavished, the daughter, with all her
self love gets vexed with the iteration and
declares pe,ulantly that her mothers opinion
l. valuele-s. The meek reply that she has
already made such admission, and tha, she
would be only too happy TO render any aid.
If were possible, etc, etc, etc, does not
help things The girl is 50 neryous by this
time that she i half b->ide herself She al
ternately scolds and weeps, and the two
women finally fall into one anoth,rs arms
asking mutual forgiveness, only 10 have very
The poor mother bears il all uncomplain-
ingly. tut she wishes, in her secret heart,
that private theatricais had never been III
vented
The father has his trials, too. When he
comes home from business, worried and
tired. Fanny or Dora, or both, hrs-.ch hlm
70 buy some expensive article, without which
their next performance will te incomplete
He says that he can't afford it. and tries to
tell why But it is Useless They must have
It. How would he like to have them appear
to disadv antage before all the other girlsf
II il positively too bad, and tears-the last
feminine argument-are successful He will
agree TO anything for the sake of peace; but
he purchases It at a high price for only
fyw daya Something slse, equally expensive
I'D essaIly unreasonable, IL demanded, and,