New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-06-24
THE 4CTORS QUALITIES.
A NEW EXPERIMENT IN DRAMATIC TRAIN
ING

be trained as ACTORS ana dCifcsscs Wy w"
stage manager, author and actor has, athoush ''0
first announcement was made only about week ago,
aeady attracted a great deal OF attention. oh We"
nesday when Messrs. Boucicault and Palmer met ior
the first time during last week, over two hundeu anu
fifty applications for admission TO the company hd'
been received These from men and women III
widely different conditions of lfe Some are addressed
from private houses the fashionable avenues anu
others are from much poorer quarters. Several befay
in bad spelling Indifferent writing and ungrammscai
phrases their authors lack Of education ana Deeoe
One young woman writes that she has always pceh
struck for the stage" and cites as ono Oh icf a'"
tagcs that she has been to dancing class Tor year
A reporter was fortunate enough to ma MesSis'
Palmer and Boucicault together and willing to discuss
as far as settled tho details Of their pans MI.
Bouccaut was first asked how, in the case OF people
who had not had any experience on the STAGE hc
would be able TO Judge Of their fitness TO DO ehrohcu
In the company.
"By throwing them in the water and seeing II tnes
have any notion of how TO SWIM replied the actor
dramatfst. "That is not, of course, to be TAKEN
literally for we are not going to have swimming
school but shall put them upon the stage and make
them do something Acting is only TO be iearneu upon
the stage swimming IS in the water, or rdng upon
horseback Theory and explanation are all very WE'LL
but they don't do much to help person VINO mas
himself in the water or on horse for the hist unc
But you do not expect TO secure people who can
Assuredly not 1 do think. however, that can
weed out from the mass of applicants those who are
not likely ever to become available. IL Is easy
enough for the experienced man 10 tell whether the
face is pleasing and expressive, the figure free from
defects the movements easy and graceful, the voice
agreeable and the cnuncation clear. You may have
noticed a tall young woman talking TO me when you
first came in. Now she seems by figure, face, ana
manner fitted TO play aiventuresses and characters OF
type similar say to the heroine in IIcme.' There
were brightness, intelligence and snap In her eyes,
and her of addressing me and OF entering ana
leaving tho room perfect 1t might take SIX
months OF hard work TO impart to another woman
those qualities which she brings TO the start she,
however, has been taking lessons In acting, and her
instructors have told her tina: she must study parts en-
irey opposed TO those for which she seems tempera-
mentally and physically fitted because them fors0oth
she will be learning to aci This Is OF course RANK
nonsense You must do upon the stage what you
can do what you are fitted by nature to DO. Now
don't say that this woman VIC have been speaking Oh
can or will be able to act She Is one OF those
who will be left after the first wedding out is done
These preciptants or resuants whatever you like
to call Them Will be tried and tried again by Mr
Palmer and myself TIL we think we have secured the
fifteen or perhaps moro that are needed TO make up
well-balanccd stock company. Now this Will neces-
sarily afford chances TO people OF the most widely
diverse appearance and qualities For instance, the
be bar TO a mans In leading parts would not
initiate against him as a comedian And so on. IN a
grcaten or less degree In all the different lines OF
characters, whether male On female. When we have
finally selected the company, who Will be paid, we
shall also admit to the rehearsals the lectures ana
exercises number Of the most promising OF the
others Then as from timo TO time those selected
fail or succeed and drafted into other companies,
vacancies Will DO filed from tho second rank Some
of the company may be temporarily set back, till they
have improved their powers and qualifications. Only
those enrolled in the company Will receive salary
"Mr Palmer said the other day that the first plays
rebearsed would be of the class known legtmatc,'
observed the reporter.
$50 far as / am concerned said Mr.. Boucicault,
all the plays in which propose to train the company
will be Of that class. Later when the company is in
working order, Mr.. Palmer will doubtless have them
understudy his current piece, and then he will be
doubly prepared for illness accident in his regular
company and will, II there IS great demand for the
piece in nearby towns have cast all ready for its
presentation"
"wiIl not exclusive training in class Of plays
which require manner not in to-day and greater
freedom of gesture and action than are now employed
unfit the pupils for appearance In modern society
piecesl'
"Not at all; it is the only way they properly
learn to act. People who can play the legitimate
can play anything"
"Actlng,, interjected MI. Palmer, al at its best
largely the result of tradition. The traditions of the
stage its greatest treasures and these we arc In
extreme danger of losing. They in the hands of
very few men, of whom Mr.. Bouccault is probably
the most conspicuous example Without HIN my
scheme would have necessarily had much more limited
proportions, as it would have been restricted to
modern plays. For years the profession and its
critics have been crying, and crying truly 'We have
training glound cannot become artists, but can
only pick up hint here and there when we see some
old actor Now, with Mr. Koucicaults assistance, /
propose to provide such training ground. 1t is
mainly business speculation but am In hopes that
1t will result benccally for the dramatic ant ana pro-
fesslon."
"We have a great advantage resumed Mr. BoucI-
cault In having paid instead Of paying students Our
object will be TO fit them TO earn salaries as speedily
as possible whereas there can scarcely be the
desire for haste the part Of those who live on fees
Besides shall be able TO enforce sricter discipline
than would be otherwise possible
"A great actor once said to me- observed the re-
porter that the requisites for his art sensibty
and Imagination"
That sounds very WE'LL returned Mr.. Boucicault,
"but It is only another way Of describing the power
of imitation. scnslbty shows him what of the
actual and ina ginaton what Of that transcendng his
experience, which he must reproduce"
as great Intellectual power help or bar to an
actorl"
"Hm sure / don't know. have known great
actors who extremely soft headed and Others
who were men OF remarkable mental qualities We
know that wonderful musical ability may exist In
people of extremely moderate intellect, and acting
seems somewhat though not to so great degree to
be a gift independent OF mental development There
is one thing in which think extreme intellect is
bar TO the actor and that is in pathos lie reasons
out his feelings and their cause, and he is not apt to
strike so true nete the one who apprehends the
situation through some instructive process
"In the assumption of indivldualities at all differ
ing from his own,' remarked Mr.. Palmer, :" l think
strong intellectual power is generally against the actor
The man Of highly cultured mind is more likely to DO
set and unpliant in manner"
ais 1t possible, Mr. Bouclcault, to teach people to
act?n
"Yas and no. You can't put powers into them
they don't naturally possess, and as before said,
,ba has acf a natural horn