The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-05-22
AMATEUR ELocuTioN.
The Reader of "'Ostler Joe" Relates Her
Experience Before the Public.

The Reader of "'Ostler Joe" Relates Hen
Experience Before the Public.
Every audience has to be won over,
and an amateur does not always have
the time or chance. l find my own
frame of mind more or less reflected
by the audience, in the shape of cold.
less, If L am tired or nervous. Con-
slant habit and practice and knowl-
edge of stage methods enables a pro-
fessional to play part evenly and
well, however little he may fancy it;
but find l must feel the beauty of the
lines or the lesson they teach to do
good work. and at any rate, after recit-
ing or acting l feel discouraged and
disappointed. The theatrical managers
and professionals have always treated
me with unvarying courtesy and kind
ness, and even encouragement. The
success of recitation naturally depends
much on the choice of the piece, and |
rarely decide upon my selection until
the last moment, when l am on the
spot and have made my estimate of the
general character of the audience.
Our judgment on a question of this
sort is anything but infallible, and at
times, when trusting to my own in
stincts, have arrived at very unfor-
tunate results, But if a piece touches
me and l feel its pathos, it is very
natural to suppose it will affect others
in the same way if properly interpreted.
/ am only beginner, however, and
my experiences are almost all expert
mentS.
| find it far easier to interest an audi
ence by story with moral than by
something abstract, however superior
the versiication of the latter may be,
and l have generally found country
audiences more appreciative of serious
pieces than those in the city. City
people want something gayer and
more amusing, that will not make them
think. Nor am / ashamed to confess
that my most enthusiastic and generous
critics have been workingmen and
shop-girls and newsboys. For if they
have had fewer advantages in educa-
ton and refining associations than
those in q more fortunate position,
their wits have been sharpened by
practical trials and adversely, 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 art,
and the pleasure of contributing through
it to some very worthy objects, have
stimulated me to continue performing,
Notwithstanding much misconception
and much that is annoying; more than
once my inclination has been strong to
give it all up; for after failure or an
unsatisfactory performance you have
no chance to retrieve yourself for per-
haps six months or a year. But in
these things our natures are perhaps a
little stronger than we are.
However hard and intelligently an
amateur may study, it is impossible for
him to acquire the stage-ease that the
habit of appearing in front of foot
light gives professional, making him
appear to better advantage than an
amateur who has possibly better nat
urai gifts. If along with the emotions
we are attempting to describe, we con-
jvey to the audience half of the nervous
and rickety feeling we really have,
then we must make our audiences in
deed uncomfortable. But I am speak
ing for myself only, as there are other
amateurs with far more experience,
and, am sure, much greater ability to
express it than |. Cora Urquhart Potter,
IN LapptncoHs Magazine.