River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-07-29
MRS. JAMES BROWN POTTER

has asked me for my experience as an
amateur elocutionist, and it is with
much difference tina. | undertake the
task of attempting to describe the inn
pressions of that hybrid creature. an
amateur player who appears in public.
We are all reciters to a greater or less
degree in our youth. but it is seldom
that an innate attraction for dramatic
effects, or sentimental nature, or
whatever else we choose to call it, car
ries us beyond our crude childish reel
tations when the stern maternal inn
pulse is removed. Even when such is
gained so gradually, and the artistic
effort is so associated and interwined
with social questions. that in point of
fact an amateur scarcely knows when
he did begin or where he stands. An
amateur never addresses an ordinary
theatre or concert hall audience,
\ gathered of its own will, presumably at
a performance congenial to its tastes;
and il is therefore hard to establish
! that sympathy which must mutually
exist between the performer and the
| listener before the former can display
/ his best forces. Our audiences are
usually extremes, all women, all men,
all young. all old, all poor. all rich,
all sOmething-generallv with their
minds made mp for or against the en-
/ tertainment, or at any rate, for or
against the player.
| 1t is said that Mr.. Labouchere desires
never TO know an artist personally I'M
til he has passed judgment on his
wCrk-recOgnizing how much merely
personal likes or dislikes may warp the
! justice of his criticism. In an amateur
audience there are but few not predis-
posed one way or another. The7 have
heard of you through a friend or de-
tractor, who has painted you black or
white, as the case may be. The word
amateur in itself is killing, and to the
public means work half done, with
some charitable purpose as its excuse.
| One is more or less compelled il to a
charitable act; it is rarely free gift.
and ameteur tickets are cranmed
down the public throat Is il to be
wondered at they do not digest well,
and that our audiences are ofdyspeptic
turn by the time we face them?
But my personal experiences has
been asked for. | scarcely remember
the day when | did not recite; as
child | was made to learn a verse of
poetry daily, and such is the force of
habit that a day never passes that do
not memOrize few lines. All children
are fond of the heroic style; but as we
lived during the war, in the lonely
mountains of North Carolina, anu
went through many stirring and excl
ting experiences, our thoughts took
particularly martial turn, The lays of
Aytoun and Macaulay were gospel to
to us. and L think my debut was as
"Horatius who kept the bridge
One .day l was reciting this poem
out of doors near little stream and
when came To that verse in which
Horatius, after addressing a prayer to
the Tiber. with his harness on his back
plunged headlong in the tide" / be-
came so jealous that | jumped into
the homemade Tiber. whose name
was Mud Greek" dragging with pe
nv 2-year old sister and brother and
made for the opposite bank. We were
seen ald pulled out like three little
drowned rats, and | was sOundly
smacked and sent to bed: shoes and
clothes were not to be triiied with in
war days.
Every audience has to be won over,
and an amateur does not always have
the time or chance. | find my own
frame of mind more or less reflected by
the audience in the shape of GOODNESS,
I if | am tired or nervous. Constant
habit and practice aud knowledge of
stage methods enables professional
/ TO play part evenly and well, how
ever little he may fancy it; but find
| must feel the beauty OF the lines or
the lesson they teach to do good work.
and at any rate, after reciting or act
inc feel discouraged and disappoint-
ed. The theatrical managers and
professionals have always treated me
with unvarying courtesy and kindness.
and even encouragement To Mr..
/ David Belasco especially am indebted
/ for much valuable advice and friendly
counsel. The success of recitation
naturally depends much on the piece,
and | rarely decide upon my selection
until the last moment, when | am on
/ the spot and have made my estimate of
/ the general character of the audience.
| Nv debut was not a success. Still,
at all the little family gatherings | was
called on to contribute to the general
entertainment, and finally began APP
pearing in public. But NV first eff
4 forts could only have been borne with
/ by reason of their earnestness, as L
knew nothing of artistic efforts and
methods. | usually find nv first reel
tation ineffective,a as my audience seems
taken up with my personality; this
leads me to believe ] must have dis
tracing mannerisms.
Our Judgment on a question of this
sort is anything but infallible. aud at
times trusting to my own instincts, |
have arrived at very unfortunate re-
suits. But if piece touches me and |
feel its pathos, it is very natural to sup
pose it will effect others in the same
way if properly interpreted. | am on
" beginner, however. and my ex-
periences are experiments.
| find il far easier to interest an audi
ence By a story with a moral than by
something abstract, however superior
the versifcation of the latter may be,
and | have generally found country
audiences more appreciative of serious
pieces than those in the city. City peo-
pie want something gayer and
more amusing. that will not
make them think. Now | am
ashamed to confess that my most en-
thusias;ic and generous critics have
been working men and shop girls and
newsbovs. For if they have had fewer
advantages in education and refining
associations than those in a more for
tunate position. their wits have been
sharpened by practical trials and adj
versity. and the absence of affectatiOn in
themselves makes them quick to see
through false sentiment and appreciate
what is true.
An increasing fondness for the ar
and the pleasure of contributing
through it 20 some very worthy object:
have stimulated me to continue per
forming, Notwithstanding much mis-
conception and much that is annoying
More than once my inclination ha:
been strong to give it all up. but after {
failure or an unsatisfs Glory perform
ance Won have a chance to retrieve
yourself for perhaps six months or (
year But in these things our nature
is perhaps little stronger than We
are.
However hard and inteiligently an am
ateur may study it is impossible for hin
to acquire the stage ease that the habi
IN front ~ fha faCttsc-l,s,