The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-09-28
A CHAT WITH AN ACTOR.
HOW FRENCH AND GERMAN PLAY
HOUSES TURN OUT PLAYERS.


eign Company-IIsuGh "A Young Ac-
tor with Delicate Fcelings--Study of Au-
diences-HesuIt of Varying Conditions.
When the curtain falls on the last act of
'sPrince Karl" the comedy, Mr. Richard
Mansfield skips blithely to his dressing room,
throws his stage costume to his valet and in
five minutes is dining at the Carleton club.
Usually he is surrou"Gcd there by n small
circle of friends to whom his "reminiscences OF
his unique career and terse comments on the
stage, interspcrsed with anecdotes and MINI
icries, unfailing source of entertain
ment.
"If some of our ambitious young American
actors could take short course of training on
the German or French stage" he was saying
the other evening, "they would be apt To modify
their ideas about their art very materially
Here, if n manager or the head of n company
complains about the way n utility man reads
a line or does a bit of business he is immedi-
ately denounced either rs an ignorant crank,
who knows nothing about dramatic effects,
or an overbeaTing, inSolent, intolcrable ego
fist Over there the young actor has to en-
dure a great many worse things than receiv-
ing mild suggestions about his work. He is
pretty liable to get t8Tent of abuse ut
every rehearsal very like the floods of billings
gate that n western steamboat mate pours out
on n Likely he VIII
have to repeat one line fifty times, while at
every repetition the stage manager or author
informs him in the most vigorous language
that he is driveling IDIOT and ought To be Mt
work on the streets. | have seen even as old
n man as Coquelin or Slrdou put an actor
through one piece of business for an hour, all
the time stamping up AMI down the stage and
turning the air blue with French profanity
and abuse. OF course, that sort of thing is
pretty rough on n young man with delicate
feelings, but he gets used 20 il after awhile or
dies, or gives up the stage. That is the way they
make great actors-by patient, persistent,
laborious training III the minutest details, I'M
til the dramatic picture is as perfectly and
delicately wrought out in every light and
shadow rs a MeiSSonicr And it is the lack
of that sort of inceSSant and painstaking pol
ishing that affiicts the American stage with
young persons with good natural ability who
are not capable actors.
The Germans and the French have the best
actors in the world-the Germans in tragedy,
the French in comedy The Germans, US a
rule, are not particularly successful Us come
dams, and the French are woeful in tragedy
This is the result of the respective charac-
teristics of the nations. The French sing
tragedy through the nose, rs the English dis
covered to their disgust when they heard
Mime. Bernhardt in Macbeth. In their own
field, however, they are exemplaIS. The Eng
lish stage, too, is filled with people who have
gone through just the kind of rigorous train
ing spoke of n moment ago, and are compe-
tent actors. None of these countries is any
better supplied with dramatic ability in the
crude than are. But their acting, as a
rule i superior To anything possess.
There is n very great difference in
the audience, too. American audiences
are quicker to appreciate good points,
ifsnl ty in Inn Ina
diences are more loyal and faithful to their
favorites. Here the people have many
other things to think Of that they forget the
actor who has pleased them ten minutes after
they have left the theatre. There they never
forget him. l have seen half n dozen sue
cesses on the stage in this country that
the rage of the moment and quickly passed
into oblivion. Any one OF them would have
made It's creator a permanently great man on
the English stage.
1T is n curious thing-this study of audi
There is almost much difference
between your hearers in the same house one
night and the next as there would lie if one
were composed of college professors and the
other of ESquimauX. One night your audi
ence is dull, languid, slow to notice good
points, tardy in applause in spite of all you
can do. The next night it is eager, attentive
quick to notice everything, ready and appre-
ciative. Every experienced actor has noticed
this again and again. believe that the at
mospheric condition is accountable for these
things. On cool night, with fine bracing
air. you can do almost anything with your
audience. Another thing, perhaps, is to get
n wave of magnetism and good feeling started
as the play begins. l know that the differ
ence cannot be in the different conditions OF
the actors themselves.
what is the secret of success on the Stagel
Magnetism-magnetism and hard work. or
course a man mustn't be fool. That being
granted, the other things are bound to bring
him some measure of success in time
"Of course the secret of the success of the
great creation of the stage is their nearneSs
interest. Consequently, when an ambitious
and thoughtful actor gets a part TO create, he
Immediately thinks over the mental photo
graphs which he has of all the types OF men
he has ever known. When he finds one that
will fit the case he makes his stage creation u
close copy in every detail of the living ideal.
When played the Old Baron in the Paris
ian Romance had constantly in mind my
old grandfather. When | play Prince Karl
have before me the image of student friend
of mine in Germany. Every part L have
ever played with any success has been
nodded after some one have seen or known,
or a combination, perhaps, of two persons.
That sort of thing is not mere mimicry,
either. Ii Is the trucSt kind Of holding up To
nature her own image
An Ideal Summer Hotel.